X-Men: First Class star Nicholas Hoult will play the DCU's Lex Luthor in James Gunn's SUPERMAN reboot, and he follows in the footsteps of actors like Gene Hackman, Jon Cryer, Jesse Eisenberg, and Michael Rosenbaum.
The latter played Lex for longer than anyone, starring in 154 episodes of Smallville across 10 seasons. He left the show after season 7, though, later returning for a guest spot in the show's final year on television (attempts to continue Lex's story without the actor were incredibly hit-and-miss).
Rosenbaum recently interviewed Hoult for his long-running "Inside of You" podcast and, while the British actor couldn't say much about his DCU debut, he did heap praise on his predecessor.
"I think the first-ever Lex I saw was you. Smallville was on...I was 11, 12, I guess," Hoult started. "That was the show I would watch and see my first iterations of Superman and Lex in all those stories. Since, I've seen Richard Donner's movies and all the other ones and performances."
"I love [your performance as Lex]. It's the best, yeah," he continued. "You did inhabit him with such depth and charm. That ability to switch which makes him dangerous and formidable and a great opponent. I just love what you did."
Elsewhere in the interview, Hoult talks about shaving his head, the audition process, and his hopes to do Lex justice on screen. Asked by Rosenbaum about his preparation and whether he watched other performances, he added, "Yeah, I tried to get a viewpoint on everything. The prep always changes. It can go off on weird tangents."
"[James Gunn's] ability to keep things fun and alive and try things in the moment," Hoult said of their collaboration thus far. "That's something I really enjoy."
Watch the full interview in the player below.
SUPERMAN tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
David Corenswet is playing the Man of Steel, while Rachel Brosnahan has been tapped to star as Lois Lane. Other recent casting additions include Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White.
SUPERMAN is currently set to be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.