Superman: Legacy will see plenty of new faces step into the world of Metropolis to help kick off the new cinematic DC Universe, including a new Lex Luthor to battle the titular hero. With Nicholas Hoult set to step into the role for the 2025 film, the actor has been given some humorous advice from the previous actor who got the chance to bring the villain to life on the big screen.
Jesse Eisenberg touched on his time as Lex Luthor in the now-defunct DC Extended Universe at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, according to Variety, and shared one piece of advice to Hoult – “Don't watch me.” While the line poked small fun at Eisenberg's own performance, he went further into why Hoult shouldn't look at previous iterations of the Luthor in preparation for Superman: Legacy.
“Whenever you play a role you feel connected to it,” Eisenberg said. “There’s no way around it. Any time you do anything, even if it’s a movie that’s a Hollywood kind of thing, you connect.”
Eisenberg portrayed the iconic DC villain in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which presented Luthor as an eccentric CEO and hereditary heir to LexCorp that took inspiration from the tech-CEOs of Silicon Valley. The performance was largely criticized by critics at the time of release for its manic energy that many felt was trying to be on-par with Heath Ledger's Joker from 2008's The Dark Knight.
Eisenberg briefly returned as Luthor in a post-credits scene for Justice League and its later Snyder Cut, opposite Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke, in what would be his final appearance in the DCEU.
Hoult is set to takeover as Metropolis' leading businessman for Superman: Legacy opposite David Corenswet's titular hero and Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane. The film is also set to feature multiple other DC Comics heroes including Hawkgirl, Guy Gardner's Green Lantern, Mister Terrific, and Metamorpho.
Superman: Legacy is scheduled to release in theaters on July 11, 2025.
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