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Superman: Legacy <\/span><\/em>has officially found its Lex Luthor. On Monday, director\u00a0<\/span>James Gunn<\/a>\u00a0confirmed that actor <\/span>Nicholas Hoult<\/a>\u00a0has been cast as the iconic supervillain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gunn <\/span>made the announcement on his Instagram page<\/a>, promising his followers that Hoult will portray a “Lex that will be different from anything you’ve seen before and will never forget.”<\/span><\/p>\n “Yes, finally I can answer, @nicholashoult is Lex Luthor in #SupermanLegacy and I couldn’t be happier,” Gunn captioned a photo of him and Hoult. “We went out to dinner last night to celebrate and discuss how we can create a Lex that will be different from anything you’ve seen before and will never forget.”<\/span><\/p>\n Gunn explained that he couldn’t announce the news when rumors began circulating because the casting hadn’t been finalized. “Although we were discussing it, it wasn’t final until a couple days ago and I don’t want to tell you all something that isn’t certain,” he wrote. “Anyway, here’s to Lex (and Nicholas!), one of my very favorite characters in the DCU. \ud83d\ude4c\ud83e\uddec\ud83d\udd2c\u2697\ufe0f”<\/span><\/p>\n Hoult joins previously announced co-stars\u00a0<\/span>Nathan Fillion<\/a>,\u00a0Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, David Corenswet and <\/span>Rachel Brosnahan<\/a>\u00a0in the upcoming\u00a0DC Comics film, which will be\u00a0the first under the new DC Studios mantle following the hiring of\u00a0Gunn and Peter Safran as co-chairs and co-CEOs.<\/span><\/p>\n As first reported by <\/span>Vanity Fair<\/em><\/a>, Merced will play Hawkgirl, Gathegi will be Mister Terrific and Fillion will portray a Green Lantern. Warner Bros. has confirmed the casting news to ET.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gunn also <\/span>shared the news on Twitter<\/a>, elaborating on which version of Green Lantern Fillion will be playing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Welcome to the cast of<\/span> Superman: Legacy<\/span><\/em>:<\/span>@NathanFillion<\/a>\u00a0as Green Lantern Guy Gardner,\u00a0<\/span>@isabelamerced<\/a>\u00a0as Hawkgirl, and\u00a0<\/span>@iamedigathegi<\/a>\u00a0as Mister Terrific,” he posted.<\/span><\/p>\n Last month, the studio revealed that Corenswet and Brosnahan would be taking on the roles of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The film, set for a July 2025 release, will be written and directed by Gunn, who has said he’s drawing from the<\/span> All-Star Superman<\/span><\/em> comic run by\u00a0Grant Morrison\u00a0and\u00a0Frank Quitely. While not an origin story, the film will focus on Clark’s younger years as a reporter at the Daily Planet and budding superhero in Metropolis.<\/span><\/p>\n Corenswet is best known for his roles in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series <\/span>The Politician<\/span><\/em>, as well as the Mia Goth-led A24 horror film <\/span>Pearl<\/span><\/em>, while Brosnahan just wrapped her acclaimed five-season run as the titular lead of Prime Video’s <\/span>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,<\/span><\/em> which netted her an Emmy Award and two Golden Globes.<\/span><\/p>\n Gunn also <\/span>confirmed the lead casting news<\/a> on Twitter, writing that his stars are “not only both incredible actors, but also wonderful people.”<\/span><\/p>\n The casting came after <\/span>Henry Cavill<\/a> announced last October that he would be returning to play Superman after making a cameo in the credits of <\/span>Dwayne Johnson’s<\/a> DC debut, <\/span>Black Adam.<\/span><\/em> However, after Gunn and Safran took over DC Studios, Cavill <\/span>returned to social media<\/a> to share that he would not, in fact, be suiting up again.<\/span><\/p>\n “I will, after all, not be returning as Superman,”\u00a0Cavill wrote at the time. “After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that.”<\/span><\/p>\n For his part, Gunn said <\/span>the upcoming DC films<\/a> — which includes Bat-family-focused <\/span>The Brave and the Bold,<\/span><\/em> a standalone <\/span>Supergirl<\/span><\/em> movie and a James Mangold-directed <\/span>Swamp Thing <\/span><\/em>feature — are simply headed in a different direction.<\/span><\/p>\n “Peter and I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn\u2019t be more over-the-moon about; we\u2019ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year,” <\/span>he shared late last year<\/a>. “Among those on the slate is Superman. In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.”<\/span><\/p>\n “But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we\u2019re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future,” Gunn added.<\/span><\/p>\n Superman: Legacy <\/span><\/em>is set for release on July 11, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n