Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor: James Gunn shares new picture of the iconic villain from Superman

Superman's Earth-based archenemy Lex Luthor was last seen in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), where Jesse Eisenberg played the supervillain. Snyder's buddy, James Gunn, is helming the new DC boat and Nicholas Hoult is stepping in the Luthor's shoes.

We have already seen a glimpse of the actor playing the character in the Superman trailer but James Gunn thought of dropping another exclusive photo for celebrating the 85th anniversary of the character.

The film is set to release on July 11, 2025, where other than Nicholas Halt's character, David Corenswet is Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan is Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion is Guy Gardner, and more.

Hoult appears to be an Apex Luthor in his own rights in Superman

The bald-headed evil genius is one character telling us how creepy corporations can be. Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of the character is one suitable depiction of this. But Nicholas Hoult's version appears more like a soldier ready to take others head-on.

James Gunn posted an exclusive picture of the actor and that screams Apex Luthor. In his post, the DC Studios co-CEO writes,

"In celebration of the 85th anniversary of Lex Luthor here’s an exclusive photo of Nicholas Hoult as Lex in our upcoming movie, @Superman."

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The photo was taken by Stephane Ceretti, a VFX supervisor part of the first DC Studios film.

It seems like Hoult has learned a lot about the supervillain for the upcoming film. In one interview with CBR, when asked if he's right about the threat of Superman, he said,

"If someone had ultimate power and the ability to do anything, then what happens when what he does doesn’t align with everyone’s belief of what is right?"

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Although we don't know if Hoult will be playing Apex Lex in the film, he appears to be the most perfect iteration of Lex Luthor seen in the live-action films. In the comic book, Luthor becomes Apex Lex after becoming the champion of Perpetua, a god-like being in the universe.

Maybe he isn't playing Apex Lex, but the Hoult version definitely holds the potential to be the apex version of Lex Luthor in films to date. The actor's inspiration to play the character comes from Michael Rosenbaum, who is known for portraying Luthor in Smallville. Hoult revealed that to Rosenbaum on his podcast Inside of You.

In what should be called the best helping hand for his preparation of the role would be his older son, who got the clippers out to give him that bald-headed look, as Hoult recalls during a discussion with the People magazine.