With it looking increasingly likely that the first Superman trailer will be released this week, there's a lot of intriguing surrounding what exactly James Gunn plans to reveal in the long-awaited sneak peek.
Set photos were plentiful earlier this year, of course, but seeing the Man of Tomorrow take flight in official footage from the reboot will inevitably have a whole different feel.
In a recent interview, Gunn promised that Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor is going to be the most "imposing" version of the villain we've seen on screen yet. The character has taken centre stage in several movies and TV shows over the years, so making this Lex feel different is a must.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hoult was asked if being "imposing" was his jumping-off point for him while approaching this role.
"I don’t know if that was the first jumping-off point. James writes such wonderful scripts. He has such a great understanding of storytelling and filmmaking. I just love watching his movies, and I have complete trust in him. We went back and forth on the energy behind certain scenes and the Lex in this movie, when you meet him and where he goes to. So it was really fun to create with him because he’s a director who pushed me in exciting ways."
"I left set each day looking forward to going back, so I really enjoyed the process with James. I was like, 'Oh, this is exciting where he imagines this character being, and hopefully I can bring the energy that he wants to what he’s written on the page.' Yeah, you do want him to be imposing and dangerous. That’s something about that character. Whenever you’re playing the villain, I suppose you want people to feel that they are dangerous."
Asked if he and David Corenswet had a competitive dynamic off-camera, Hoult dismissed the notion and instead heaped praise on his co-star for what he brought to the table as the DCU's Man of Steel.
"No, we didn’t try to create a competitive dynamic off camera. David is such a wonderful guy and a brilliant actor. And the atmosphere that James’ sets have with all his collaborators is very supportive to ideas and creativity. So there was no sense of trying to create a rivalry behind the scenes. It would’ve felt manufactured and fake, and that wouldn’t have been beneficial just because of the overall atmosphere."
"We’re two actors that can separate what we’re doing within a scene and also support each other and what’s best for the storytelling in that moment as well. I’m there to support him, and he embodies Superman in such a wonderful way. So I’m very excited for people to see his performance. I think it’s incredible."
It won't be easy to put a new spin on Luthor and, with this movie set to take place much earlier in Superman's career, we can't imagine this adventure will mark the end of his story in the DCU. President Luthor would be an exciting next step, but we'll see what Gunn has planned.
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.
Superman is currently set to be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.