Nicholas Hoult to Play Lex Luthor

James Gunn has found his Lex Luthor.

Nicholas Hoult will play the Man of Steel’s arch nemesis in “Superman: Legacy,” completing the core cast for the superhero reboot, with David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan already set to play Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Hoult was one of the actors who was reportedly in the running for the titular role; instead, Gunn — the co-chief of DC Studios and the writer-director of the film — picked Hoult to play Luthor, the industry titan with a bald head and an abiding fixation on bringing down the Last Son of Krypton.

With the actors strike over, Gunn has been busy filling out his cast. He confirmed on social media that María Gabriela de Faría was recently cast as another villain, the Engineer. On the superhero side, Superman will be backed by Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).

“Superman: Legacy” is the inaugural feature film in DC Studios’ relaunch of the DC universe in film and television, which Gunn and fellow co-chief Peter Safran announced in January. On Nov. 11, Gunn posted that due to the work of his production team during the strikes, the film is still set to make its originally scheduled release of July 11, 2025.

Hoult has had a busy docket of late: He’s starring in Clint Eastwood’s upcoming legal thriller “Juror #2”; he’s in the animated film “Garfield” as the voice of Jon, the titular cat’s owner; and he’s in Robert Eggers’ production of “Nosferatu” opposite Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bill Skarsgard.

Deadline first reported the news.