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Earlier this week, it was reported that Nicholas Hoult — known for his performances in projects such as the X-Men franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, and the Hulu series The Great — had been cast as Lex Luthor in the DCU.
According to a recent rumor from a purported Hollywood insider, James Gunn — who is creatively masterminding the DCU — actually approached his Guardians of the Galaxy pal Bradley Cooper to play the iconic Superman arch-enemy.
Given that the role went to Hoult, however, it’s safe to assume that Cooper — who seems more interested in directing than acting these days — turned down the part.
Next month, Cooper will be starring in his first live-action role since 2018’s A Star is Born, as he’ll be featuring alongside Carey Mulligan in the Netflix film Maestro, which he also directed.
As for Hoult, he’ll be starring in Superman: Legacy alongside David Corenswet, who landed the highly-coveted role of Clark Kent/Superman earlier this year. In fact, Hoult even auditioned for the role of Superman and was one of three finalists.
In addition to Corenswet and Hoult, Superman: Legacy — which will be hitting movie theaters in the United States on Friday, July 11, 2025 — also stars Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Cathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillon as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, María Gabriela de Faría as villain The Engineer, and more.
Superman: Legacy is set to be the first official movie in the DCU franchise and will then be followed by Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, The Authority, and Swamp Thing. At this time, the only one of those projects that has a director is Swamp Thing, which is set to be helmed by Logan and Ford v. Ferrari director James Mangold.
As for Cooper’s Maestro, the expected Best Picture nominee will begin streaming on Netflix on December 20.