Nicholas Hoult reportedly cast as Lex Luthor in ‘Superman: Legacy’

Renfield and The Great star Nicholas Hoult has reportedly been tapped to star as Lex Luthor in James Gunn‘s Superman: Legacy.

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According to a report from Deadline Hollywood, Hoult – who has also starred in films like The Menu and Mad Max: Fury Road – has been confirmed to play the supervillain in Gunn’s upcoming superhero film.

Deadline reports that Hoult had been in talks with DC prior to the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike. Hoult is now the latest actor to be attached to the upcoming Superman film. Most recently, Venezuelan actress María Gabriela de Faría landed the role of villain The Engineer.

Hoult will now be the fourth actor to play the role of Lex Luthor on the big screen following Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey and Jesse Eisenberg.

In June this year, it was revealed that David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan have been cast in the film as Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane respectively in Gunn’s movie.

Superman: Legacy will be written and directed by Gunn, who previously described the film as being about the character’s heritage. On Twitter, he wrote: “Less than a year ago I saw a way in, in many ways centering around Superman’s heritage – how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes.”

Superman: Legacy will notably focus on a younger version of the superhero, with Gunn confirming in December that longtime Superman actor Henry Cavill will not be involved in his vision of the DC Universe. Gunn said at the time: “In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.”

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