Nicholas Hoult will be the latest actor to bring Superman’s archenemy to the big screen. According to Deadline, Hoult has been cast as Lex Luthor in writer/director James Gunn’s upcoming film Superman: Legacy.
Hoult previously played the Marvel Comics character Beast/Hank McCoy in several of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men movies, starting with 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Hoult’s other previous work includes Renfield (2023), The Menu (2022), and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021).
Hoult had been considered for the role of Superman/Clark Kent in the film, which later went to David Corenswet. He was also considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which would later star Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight.
Lex Luthor was created by Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first introduced in Action Comics #23 in 1940. On the big screen, the villain was previously played by Gene Hackman in the Christopher Reeve Superman films, Kevin Spacey in 2006’s Superman Returns, and Jesse Eisenberg in the DC Extended Universe. Several versions of Luthor have recently appeared on television, including Jon Cryer's in the Arrowverse and Michael Cudlitz's in Superman & Lois.
Eve Teschmacher, who is typically shown as one of Luthor’s assistants, has also been cast for Superman: Legacy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she will be played by Sara Sampaio. Eve Teschmacher was first introduced in the 1978 Superman movie, where she was played by Valerie Perrine. Although she worked for Luthor in the film, she later saved Superman from kryptonite after she learned that her mother was in danger from Lex’s plan. However, she later helped Luthor escape from prison in Superman II (1981). In The CW’s Supergirl, Eve Teschmacher was played by Andrea Brooks.
Superman’s pal has also been cast for the upcoming movie. Skyler Gisondo will play Jimmy Olsen in the film. Gisondo’s previous work includes Peacock’s The Resort and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones. He also appeared as Gwen Stacy’s (Emma Stone) younger brother Howard in The Amazing Spider-Man films, which starred Andrew Garfield.
In the comic books, Jimmy Olsen is a young photographer who works with Clark Kent and Lois Lane at The Daily Planet. On the big screen, the character was previously played by Marc McClure in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, and by Sam Huntington in Superman Returns. Recently, Mehcad Brooks played Olsen in Supergirl.
Superman: Legacy will be the first film set in the new DC Universe, which is being created under the leadership of Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-CEOs of DC Studios. A Supergirl movie set in the DCU is also in development.
Superman: Legacy is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2025.
