]
Nicholas Hoult is looking delightfully devilish! The latest image from Superman gives fans a much cooler look at Lex Luthor in the DC Universe.
Fans have seen quite a bit from Superman, from the heroes joining the Man of Steel to the monsters he’ll be fighting along the way. However, there is one aspect of the DC Universe debut that has been slightly lacking in promotion: Lex Luthor. Yes, despite Nicholas Hoult playing the film’s main villain, the actor has only appeared in short snippets of each of the trailers, with most of the focus being on kaijus and metahumans.
Yet with a mount to launch, Lex Luthor seems to finally be getting the respect he deserves. Empire recently released an exclusive image from Superman featuring Lex Luthor as the Smartest Man Alive. This image seems to come from the scene shown off in the teaser, with Lex Luthor, Eve Tessmacher, and The Engineer breaking into the Fortress of Solitude. And if there’s one word to describe it, that word would be cool.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨
Nicholas Hoult looked to Gene Hackman and Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum for his Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s #Superman.
“It’s fun to draw inspiration from all of those places,” he tells Empire.
Read more: https://t.co/1Xxw8gQjSs pic.twitter.com/e96cIdBcdc
— Empire (@empiremagazine) June 2, 2025
The Inspiration Behind Lex Luthor
Behind every great villain is a great inspiration, and Lex Luthor is no exception. Nicholas Hoult has talked a lot about his preparations for playing the main villain in Superman, with most of his focus being on singing praise for the great Michael Rosenbaum. However, when speaking to the outlet, the actor revealed that Gene Hackman was also a major inspiration for how he played Lex Luthor in the DC Universe film.
“Gene’s one of my all-time faves, just as an actor in general. I went back and watched Gene. And Michael Rosenbaum, who was the first Lex I saw, growing up watching Smallville [on TV]. It’s interesting when you play a character that’s been played before – you’re working from a different script, but it’s fun to draw inspiration from all of those places.”
Of course, Nicholas Hoult is a tour de force in his own right. It’s certain that he’ll bring his own brand of panache to Lex Luthor, especially as he continues to play the character in future projects in the DC Universe. But just as Superman is standing on the shoulders of all the actors that came before him, Lex Luthor is pushing off their necks to bring himself to even greater heights!
Superman is currently scheduled to hit theaters on July 11, 2025. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
