With Superman now available on 4K and Blu-ray and the second season of Peacemaker concluded, eyes are now turning toward James Gunn’s sequel Man of Tomorrow and Nicholas Hoult has spoken about his excitement to return as the villainous Lex Luthor.
Hoult starred as the main antagonist in Superman as the brilliant and deadly Lex Luthor worked to damage Superman’s reputation and destroy him once and for all. He made a brief cameo in the second season of Peacemaker, set after the events of Superman, where Frank Grillo’s Rick Flagg visited Lex at Belle Reeve prison.
Little is known about Man of Tomorrow except for promotional images drawn by DC artists Jim Lee, Jorge Jiménez and Mitch Gerads depict Lex in his green power suit he usually wears when fighting Superman, but a couple of the images see Lex alongside Superman. A potential reluctant team-up was confirmed by Gunn as Superman and Lex are forced to work together “against a much, much bigger threat.” In an interview with GQ, Hoult said he is excited to play Lex again and “subvert” the audience’s expectations of Superman’s infamous nemesis.
“I loved working with James Gunn,” Hoult said. “I think he’s a wonderful director and creative person and mind. I just spoke to him a week or two ago about the sequel and his idea for that. So I’m really excited to play that character again because I feel like there’s a lot to explore with him and expectations to subvert. It’s going to be exciting to step back into those shoes again.”
Hoult is known for often playing heroes or nice guys in most of his films and he also spoke of how portraying a villain like Lex opened up his performance. “I do really enjoy it, I suppose there’s a freedom in playing a villain because there’s nothing you can do that could be wrong. It’s really interesting to try and get into the mindset and psyche of those people and their obsessive nature and their belief system or ideology.”
Man of Tomorrow will begin production in April 2026 with Hoult, David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan reprising their Superman roles. While it is a long wait for the sequel’s 2027 release, DC Studios is releasing the next film in their slate Supergirl next summer with Milly Alcock picking up from her cameo as Kara/Supergirl at the end of Superman
“Superman tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.”
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern/Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, María Gabriela De Faría as The Engineer, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Milly Alcock as Supergirl, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe, Terence Rosemore as Otis, and Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Jonathan and Martha Kent.
Man of Tomorrow will fly into theatres on July 9th, 2027.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
