Nicholas Hoult reveals that his Lex Luthor is in Superman will have to be ruthless to outmaneuver the Man of Steel in the new DC film. After fans were able to see the first trailer for James Gunn’s new film Superman There will be many questions about Superman’s arch-enemy Lex Luthor in the film. Nicholas Hoult is the latest actor to take on the role of Lex Luthor, but he’s more than up to the challenge. According to Hoult, Lex Luthor must do everything at his disposal to keep up with someone on Superman’s power level.

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ComicBook was on hand at the Warner Bros. lot for a general question and answer session Superman Trailer premiere where Nicholas Hoult gave new insights into his portrayal of Lex Luthor. “The most exciting thing about this Lex for me was that I was in a James Gunn universe. Like you said, so emotionally raw and powerful, but huge in terms of the world and what he creates.”

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He then talked about how “ruthless” Lex has to be to stay one step ahead of the Man of Steel, and how some fans will understand Lex’s thought process in believing he is better for the world than Superman. “And I think this Lex is obviously smart and ruthless and needs to outmaneuver Superman on certain levels because he can’t keep up with him on others,” he said. “But there’s also something about this character, hopefully from my perspective, that even though you might not agree with his process, there’s an element that can make you understand on some levels where he’s coming from and why maybe what he does than his ideology advocates.” is perhaps better for humanity.”

It’s been almost exactly a year since Nicholas Hoult was confirmed for the role of Lex Luthor Superman. Director James Gunn, never one to shy away from debunking or confirming speculative news on social media, confirmed Hoult’s casting in November 2023 by posing in a photo with the actor.

“Yes, finally I can answer, @nicholashoult is Lex Luthor in #SupermanLegacy and I couldn’t be happier,” Gunn wrote on Instagram. “We went to dinner last night to celebrate and discuss how we can create a Lex that is different from anything you have seen before and one you will never forget. “But, James, we heard that weeks ago, why didn’t you tell us it was true?” Because even though we talked about it, it was only final a few days ago and I don’t want to tell you all what is not certain. Anyway, here’s Lex (and Nicholas!), one of my favorite characters in the DCU.”

Comic book inspirations for Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor in Superman

Because Superman is such a popular character, there have been a variety of interpretations for Superman characters in comics, films, television shows, and cartoons. Back in November, Hoult spoke about taking parts from many of these iconic versions. “I think it’s about taking all the previous interpretations of the character and the comics and building on them. That’s the funny thing about movies and comics, and in some ways all media, it’s the story of everything. It’s all a kind of structural amalgamation,” Hoult said on the website Happy, sad, confused Podcast.

He also talked about some of his Lex comic inspirations. “There are so many and James (Gunn) has already talked about a few that obviously influence the entire film.” All-Star Supermanand there are little things you pull out of everyone, Birthright and all these all these comics,” Hoult said. “But the one I really called…and the one I read a lot, but the one I revisited a lot was Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. A lot of it touched me.”

Superman is the first film in the new DC Universe from DC Studios. Director: James Gunn, Superman The film stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Other DC heroes fans can expect include Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Green Lanter Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), Authority’s Angela Spica / Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo).

DC Studios’ Superman will be in theaters on July 11, 2025.