Nicholas Hoult dishes ‘process of prep’ to play villain in James Gunn’s Superman

Nicholas Hoult has recently dished out details about playing villain (Lex Luthor) in James Gunn’s upcoming movie, Superman.

Speaking on the latest episode of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, the Warm Bodies star revealed, “Gunn has an ability to keep things fun and alive and try things in the moment and be like, just shouting out from the monitors, ‘Say this line. Do this! Do that!’”

“And that’s something that I really enjoy, he continued.

Hoult noted, “That’s the whole process of prep for me is like, be prepared as possible so when you get there you can throw it all away and do whatever you want in the moment.”

Reflecting on the preparations to play Lex in the Gunn’s movie, the Renfield actor said, “There’s that bit in All-Star Superman [comic book series] where he talks about his muscles being real and hard work and all that.”

“I kind of took that as a little bit of fuel for the fire,” he stated.

Hoult pointed out, “The first ever Lex I saw was you. Yeah, I grew up, Smallville was on. That was the show I would watch and see my first iterations of Superman and Lex and all those stories.”

“I’ve since seen Richard Donner’s movies and all the other ones and kind of seen some of the other performances but you’re like the one… It’s the best,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gunn’s Superman is slated to release in theatres on July 11, 2025.