Nicholas Hoult is a Fan of Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor; Teases His Physical Approach To The Villain in SUPERMAN

Nicholas Hoult is taking on the role of the villain Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman movie. He’s a very interesting choice for the role and I’m curious to see what his version of the character will be like. The actor was recently a guest on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You, and it’s there he expressed how much he admired Rosenbaum’s performance as Lex Luthor in the classic series Smallville. He said:

“I think the first ever Lex I saw was you. Yeah, I grew up when Smallville was on, I can’t remember if it was Channel 4 or Channel 5 in the UK, but like growing up. I was like 11, 12, I guess. And so that was like the show that I would watch and see my first iterations of Superman and Lex and all those stories. Since I’ve seen Richard Donner’smovies and all the other ones and kind of seen some of the other performances, but you’re like the one. I love [your portrayal], it’s the best.”

He went on to share what he liked about Rosenbaum’s performance, saying:

“You inhabit him with such depth and charm. And then, yeah, that ability to switch, which makes him dangerous and formidable and a great opponent. I just loved what you did.”

The actor went on to talk about what he’s done to prepare for the role physically and teases that his version of Lex is going to be muscular:

“I have been working out. No, you know what, there’s that bit in All-Star Superman where he talks about his muscles being real and like hard work and all that. I kind of took that as a little bit of like fuel for the fire.”

Superman will tell 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 stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman; Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane; Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor; Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern; Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl; Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific; Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen; María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica, aka The Engineer; Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher; and Terence Rosemore as Otis.

Superman is currently in production and will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.