Now that the actors' strike is concluded and writer/director James Gunn has confirmed that his Superman: Legacy team is going full tilt to meet the film's planned 2025 release slot, the announcements about casting have geared back up. Following on from last week's word of María Gabriela De Faría landing the role of The Engineer, we now have confirmation of a rumour that has been floating around about the film since the first news of casting sessions for the main character: Nicholas Hoult will play Lex Luthor.
Yes, the most iconic Superman villain, traditionally bald-headed and previously brought to big screens by Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey and, more recently, Jesse Eisenberg, will be causing trouble for our hero in this new movie, which carries the additional burden of launching Gunn's vision for the new DC universe in movie terms.
Hoult, who has comic book form via playing Beast in the more recent X-Men movies, feels like a fine choice to play Luthor, his blend of offbeat charm and way with a speech likely to help him breathe fresh life into the character.
And he'll need to stand out given the cast already boasts David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman and Lois Lane, plus Isabela Merced, Nathan Fillion, Ed Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan and, as previously mentioned, María Gabriela De Faría.
Superman: Legacy is flying faster than a speeding bullet towards an 11 July, 2025 release.