James Gunn On Superman: Why Nicholas Hoult Lost Leading Role Even With 'Really Good' Chemistry

The new Superman reboot with James Gunn's creative footprint is coming this week on 11 July 2025. Among notable castings were that of David Corenswet and Nicolas Hoult, who play as Superman and Lex Luthor, respectively.

During a recent interview on Jake's Takes, Gunn revealed that Hoult was in talks to play the film's titular character. Of course, he ultimately lost the role to Corenswet during auditions.

Hoult Impresses But Misses the Mark

Hoult has been an established name in film for over a decade. Some of his prominent projects include Nosferatu, The Menu, and even Mad Max: Fury Road. He's also familiar with the superhero film niche, having been involved in the X-Men franchise.

Gunn revealed that Hoult actually auditioned for the role of Superman, earning praise for his talent and presence. Gunn said that he was great at what he does. 'Some might say he's better than David in certain ways,' he commented.

'One of the things we were doing was mixing and matching Lois and Clark actors when we were auditioning them. I wanted to make sure we had that chemistry right,' he added.

'The truth is Nicholas had a really good chemistry with another Lois who was less controlled. They were opposites. David had better chemistry with Rachel because she's a very controlled actor and David is a little bit more loose.'

Gunn suggests that his script had more of a laid-back Superman paired with a more controlled version of Lois Lane. He also cited that the pairing of who was cast now made for more dynamism on screen.

For real: Hoult wasn't chosen for the role because his energy opposed the chosen Lois Lane's. He would end up being cast as Lex Luthor, Superman's most iconic enemy.

Initially, there was a bit of push from fans with the DC reboots. However, it seems Gunn is doubling down on storytelling and chemistry over lone star power.

While we await for the film's release, we've yet to see how the audience will resonate with the new names behind iconic characters.

Losing Roles and Potential with Superman reboot

A quick fact: Hoult previously auditioned to play Batman in Matt Reeves' rendition that was released in 2022. While we know that Robert Pattinson got the role instead, Hoult said he doesn't think that he could've 'fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.'

In an interview in GQ España in 2023 about not getting the role, Hoult said that 'it's painful, but then you have to accept it as normality. I think that's probably a strength of mine as an actor.'

He added that 'They knew what they were doing. So it's not like I'm sitting there like, 'Oh, I'm not going to watch it now.' It's a good movie and Rob is brilliant in it.

Hoult has taken this redirection in stride with his role as Superman's most consistent foe. We have yet to see how he takes on an antagonistic role as he mostly portrays Beast in 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise.

A commenter on Gunn's interview noted that Hoult has a similar situation with Tom Hiddleston. 'Tom auditioned for Thor but ended up with a role no one could play better: Loki.'

Hoult as Lex Luthor has a ton of potential as a key part of the DC cinematic genesis. Loki is a solid case study in what Hoult can achieve, so he shares the weight of Corenswet in making a solid first impression for the DC fanbase.