Who Is Nicholas Hoult? The Possible Next Lex Luthor In Superman: Legacy
British actor Nicholas Hoult is rumored to be a potential candidate to play Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy. His career began very early in 1996 when he participated in the film Intimate Relations at seven years old. However, his career unfolded six years later in the production About a Boy. He went on to play more series roles, starting in the X-men franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road and a pretty good participation in the series Skins.
Beginning of Nicholas Hoult’s Career
Image: Universal Pictures
Hoult is of British origin. Specifically, he was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, whose parents were Glenis Hoult, a music teacher, especially piano, and Roger, who was a pilot in the British Airways company.
Nicholas Hoult’s beginnings in the theatrical world are linked to his attendance at the Sylvia Young Theatre School at eleven. This was one of the training centers in the world of acting in the city. However, he left three years later because he felt doubts that he should focus his life on this field.
After leaving the performing arts school, Hoult went to Ranelagh Church of England School in Bracknell, Berkshire. After that, he went to Farnborough Sixth Form; however, while studying there, he got the role of Tony Stonem in the series Skins, which made him decide his course towards acting and abandon traditional studies for good.
Nicholas Hoult’s Career in Acting
Image: Fox
His first appearance in cinema was in 1996, with the release of the film Intimate Relations. Subsequently, he would appear in pure television series until 2002, which would be the protagonist along with Hugh Grant in the film About a Boy, whose character was a nerdy guy named Marcus. Later he had an appearance in 2004 in the youth series Mystery Hunters.
In 2007 and 2008, he played the character of Tony Stonem in the series Skins, participating in 2 seasons of the saga, which earned him a nomination at the Walkers Home Grown Talent Award.
Nicholas Hoult’s participation increased in 2009, being in the theatrical work developed at Trafalgar Studios, New Boy, based on a novel by William Sutcliffe. He was also in the film A Single Man, directed by Tom Ford, his first official production. He received a BAFTA Award nomination in the Orange Rising Star Award category for his work in that film. Lastly, she was on the artist team for the “Help give them a voice” campaign.
Hoult won 2010 a supporting role in the film Rage of the Titans. In this film, he played Eusebios, the youngest guard who accompanied Perseus to look for Medusa’s head.
Nicholas Hoult’s Entry into Superhero Movies
Image: Fox
In 2011 he was part of the protagonists of the saga of The X-Men: First Class. In this, he developed the character of Hank McCoy, also known as Beast. He reappeared with this character in 2014 in the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past, in 2016 in X-Men: Apocalypse and in 2019 in the last production of the franchise so far, X-men: Dark Phoenix.
Other productions where he participated well as a protagonist were Jack the Giant Slayer, playing the character Jack and Warm Bodies, in which he represented the zombie R.
Nicholas Hoult played Nux in 2015 in the fourth installment of Mad Max, entitled Mad Max: Fury Road. His participation had several positive points from the critics, who greatly highlighted his performance.
Other notable performances of Hoult are True History of the Kelly Gang, released in 2019, along with the bibliographical film Tolkien, which narrates the life of the author of the Lord of the Rings franchise, the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien.
In 2023 Nicholas Hoult starred in the film Renfield, portraying Count Dracula’s (played by Nicolas Cages) vassal named Renfield, who seeks to break free from his vampire master’s control, provoking a confrontation with his vampire master.
Upcoming Hoult Productions: Garfield and Superman: Legacy
Image: MRC TV
One of the upcoming productions involving Hoult is Garfield, the lazy cat from the comic strips developed by cartoonist Jim Davis. Hoult will only do the voice this time, as is a 3D animation movie.
Another production being discussed is his participation in Superman: Legacy. In this one, he would play the role of Lex Luthor, the brilliant villain, Superman’s number 1 enemy. According to leaks, this is the main candidate chosen by James Gunn, director of the film and co-director of DC Studios, along with Peter Safran.
Hoult has several points in his favor to play the role of Luthor, stating that he has experience in the comic book world, for his time in the X-Men franchise to develop the role of Beast. He also has highly intelligent roles, including the character from The X-Men and Marcus from the production About a Boy.
A point against studying the repertoire of films the British actor has is that he never developed a villain. In the vast majority, he played the protagonist or a supporting character. That would be a single point that Gunn would consider antagonistic to choosing him for the role of Luthor.
However, even though he has no experience in this type of character, an important point in Nicholas Hoult’s career is the versatility of playing different roles. Highly intelligent mutants, the vassal of a bat to a Zombie in love with a human. All this adds up in his favor to portray Luthor. It should also be added that this version of the businessman will not be an established villain but will show his origin as Superman’s archenemy.
Will Hoult be the one Chosen to Play Lex Luthor?
Image: DC Comics
According to leaks from various media outlets, Nicholas Hoult is Gunn’s current top choice. Fans also prefer him; some even expressed it through Fanart, showing his appearance with Lex Luthor’s battle armor.
An important point is the age that the actor portraying Luthor should be if we consider Gunn’s statements that Clark Kent is at a young age, between 24 to 25 years of his life, time that will decide whether to be a human, a Kryptonian or a combination of both.
Considering that the choice of his rival, i.e. Superman, is David Corenswet and that they are of similar age, Hoult is older than the latter three and a half years. Placing both actors would be fitting, considering that both Luthor and Kent are contemporaries in the comics and animations.
However, he is not the only option for this role. Another actor considered for the role is Bradley Cooper, who plays Rocket racoon in Guardians of the Galaxy. The director James Gunn already unveiled that Superman: Legacy will cast one of these Marvel movie characters. However, there is an important age gap; from what we know, Gunn is looking for younger actors.
Featured Image Via DC Comics
I am a circus aerialist influenced by Dick Grayson and Spider-Man. Fortunate to write about the characters that inspired me. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in International Trade.
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