Nicholas Hoult is rumored to play either Superman or Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, but one character suits his talents particularly well. Under the newly formed DC Studios, Superman: Legacy is set to be the kick-off movie of the DCU, with the movie hitting theaters on July 11, 2025, and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn is writing and directing the film. Casting is underway for the movie, with numerous names in contention to play Superman.
Among those reportedly under consideration to portray Superman is Nicholas Hoult, but rumors of his involvement in Superman: Legacy are unusually complex, with Hoult also being rumored to play Lex Luthor in the film. With Superman: Legacy‘s frontrunners including David Corenswet, Tom Brittney, and Andrew Richardson alongside Hoult, the latter’s attachment to the project is the most open to speculation and theorizing. With that said, Hoult’s preceding career and some other factors suggest that he would be best suited to play Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy.
Nicholas Hoult’s Best Roles Better Fit With Lex Luthor
While Hoult made a strong impression as Dr. Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast in the X-Men prequel series, his career has also seen him play much more outside the box of traditional heroism. In roles like the zombie R in Warm Bodies and his performances in The Menu and The Favorite, Hoult’s shown the extent of his range as an actor and how much he excels outside of more straightforwardly heroic characters. Hoult’s portrayal of the War Boy Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road showcases this better than perhaps any of his performances.
Despite beginning Fury Road in alliance with the villainous Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), Nux switches sides to join forces with Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron), sacrificing himself in the movie’s climactic chase. Nux’s layered story arc is one of the stand-out character stories of Fury Road and one in which Hoult shows his capacity for playing a complex antagonist. In all, Hoult’s past performances and most especially Nux point to where he would most shine in Superman: Legacy.
Why Nicholas Hoult Should Play Lex Luthor In Superman: Legacy
With rumors pointing to Hoult as playing both Superman and Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, the latter dovetails more with his strengths as an actor. Paradoxically, his prior superhero role of Beast in the X-Men franchise makes a particularly strong case for Hoult as Lex with the shared scientific genius of both characters. Though known in the modern age as a sinister billionaire, Lex Luthor began his comic book villain history as an evil scientist, a trait that is still somewhat present in his contemporary machinations against Superman. Hoult’s magnetism as a scientific genius like Hank McCoy would translate well to a villainous spin on the same idea in Lex.
Hoult’s prior consideration for Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’s The Batman also makes a similar case for him as Lex Luthor; both he and Bruce Wayne are characters with a chip on their shoulders that they manage in very different ways. With many of Hoult’s best performances being of characters dealing with an internal battle between good and evil (most recently as Dracula’s titular henchman in Renfield), this is where Hoult could really stand out in Superman: Legacy. That could be especially true with how different Superman: Legacy‘s Lex Luthor could be, with the Apex Lex Luthor being his potential basis.
Superman Or Lex Luthor: Who Is Nicholas Hoult More Likely To Play?
Of course, whether Hoult will portray Superman or Lex Luthor is the call of James Gunn, and, at this point, there’s no hard confirmation about which role the actor is more likely to get. However, other rumors that Bradley Cooper has been approached for Lex may indicate that Hoult is not in the age range that Gunn wants for his Lex Luthor. Instead, he seems to be more in line with the other actors mentioned as Clark Kent short-listers.
With other names floating around to play the Man of Steel, the fact that Hoult is rumored for both Superman and Lex might be a case of information simply getting mixed up in the midst of an extensive casting process for Superman: Legacy. That said, the fact that Hoult is rumored for both roles makes the likelihood of his involvement in Superman: Legacy in one way or another particularly strong.
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