Not Your Dad’s Lex Luthor: Nicholas Hoult Gifts His Role with New Dimensions

Forget everything you thought you knew about Lex Luthor. The cold, calculating brainiac in a tailored suit? The smug billionaire stroking his ego while Superman saves the world? Nicholas Hoult is here to tear up the blueprint — muscle by muscle.

Appearing alongside his Superman castmates in Entertainment Weekly’s latest cover story, Hoult opened up about his radically reimagined Lex — one built less on boardroom sneers and more on physical sweat. Inspired by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman, this Luthor isn't just brilliant. He's built. And he's angry.

"That kind of captures, in my mind, the element of Lex," Hoult explained, referencing a standout comic scene where a jacked Luthor flexes his way through a prison monologue, sneering at Superman’s "lucky" Kryptonian genetics. "He’s worked hard and diligently for so many years… and then suddenly Superman shows up, and he’s all the things Lex aims to be — but without the effort."

And that, in Hoult’s hands, is where the resentment truly simmers. This isn’t the Lex who hides behind gadgets or hires goons. This is a man who hits the gym as hard as he hits the books — a self-made powerhouse standing toe-to-toe with a god and demanding respect.

So yes, fans have caught glimpses in the trailers — the intense stare, the unexpected brawn — but come July 11, expect a Lex who isn’t just smart, he’s sculpted. Who doesn’t just outthink his enemies, but looks like he could bench-press them too.