What a long, strange, and winding road it’s been for Nicholas Hoult. Originally at the finish line to star as Bruce Wayne in The Batman, and even almost chosen to play Superman, he’s finally in the fold in the DCU.
It didn’t play out as expected, but with the news that Hoult would play Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, the actor finally gets some closure – and a heck of a gig – in James Gunn’s comic book universe.
While you could certainly debate whether or not he’d make a good Batman or Superman, all anyone cares about now is if Nichola Hoult can pull off Lex Luthor.
Here’s 4 reasons why he totally can.
Hoult Has Displayed Smarts On Screen Already
Lex Luthor is no slouch. He’s passed over time and time again, but he’s incredibly smart, opportunistic, and while ultimately petty, he is ruthless and determined.
Hoult has exhibited all of these qualities to some degree in his past roles, but we know he can play a high-IQ individual from his work as Hank McCoy (aka Beast) from the X-Men franchise.
While Lex Luthor is a big bad, he didn’t necessarily start out that way. At his core, he’s a driven individual who simply has loads of money, is hungry for power, and is a borderline genius.
That’s a deadly combo, especially when you start getting jealous of an unstoppable alien dead set on saving all of humanity.
Simply put, Hoult has the brain power to take on this role. This movie needs a really good Lex Luthor, too, seeing as Superman kind of sucks as a superhero.
He Has Experience in the Comic Book Realm
As I pointed out, we already saw what Nicholas Hoult can do in a comic book film. His role was with Marvel, of course, so there’s a little bit of shifting gears going on here.
We don’t fully know the tone of his role or Superman: Legacy as a whole, either, but my guess is his take on Lex Luthor will be a tad more complex than how he portrayed Beast.
While true, Hoult at least has plenty of experience with this type of film, and he knows how to play a superhero-ish character.
We’ve Seen Him as a Bad Guy Before
Hoult has the intelligence to knock this role out of the park and we’ve seen him play a comic book character before. But perhaps the best reason for why he’s perfect for Lex Luthor is we’ve seen him at his worst.
And by that, I kind of mean at his best.
Hoult has always played into his youth for the most part, but there’s no denying this guy can dig deep into the psycho pool if he wants to.
Just look no further than his performance in Mad Max: Fury Road.
That role really allowed you to see an unhinged Hoult, but the role that may cement my belief in his ability here actually comes from The Menu.
If you want a view of Hoult’s ability to manipulate, deceive, and surprise the audience, take a gander at his part in that flick.
He’s also a straight up dick in Those Who Wish Me Dead. So, yeah, across the board, this guy can play a prick pretty well.
The point? There is a darkness brewing in Hoult’s acting career, just urging to bust out. We’ve seen light sprinkling of it before, but there’s something untapped that is about to be unleashed.
Hoult Has the Affability to Make Lex Luthor Redeemable
At just 33 years of age, Hoult is in his acting prime. That’s good for this new Superman franchise to have a villain it can grow with. It should also help us care about Luthor before he betrays Clark Kent (and us).
Hoult is not going to be totally likeable as the rich guy who always get what he wants. But he’s going to play that role flawlessly, and there should be enough of his charm and disarming abilities to make this a pretty complex role.
I look to Renfield to note his ability to make us laugh and offer up something redeeming.
That said, I’m not convinced we’ll care. He’s supposed to be a guy we don’t like, and at some point he’ll be trying to take down the hero we love.
This does make me wonder, though; is Lex Luthor now the main villain in Superman: Legacy? Or is this just leading up to something even wilder?
Regardless, Hoult will make a fantastic Lex Luthor and the casting decision-makers for Superman: Legacy continue to hit home runs with every new job they hand out.
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