The Greatest Criminal Mind of Our Time: Nicholas Hoult IS Lex Luthor

[Herolee10]

You mean you don’t wake up screaming at night at the thought of Eisenberg shoving a Jolly Rancher into your mouth?

 

[Sawyer]

*Clancy Brown voice*

Lex Luthor doesn’t eat French Fries, you dolt!

 

[StarLord]

I like Hoult.

Last thing I saw him in was ''Those Who Wish Me Dead''. Him and Aidan Gillen were like the Harry & Lloyd of the assassin world.

 

[flickchick85]

*Clancy Brown voice*

Lex Luthor doesn’t eat French Fries, you dolt!

That’s a man who would steal 40 cakes.

 

[GreenKToo]

That's terrible

 

[Silvermoth]

There’s some things too evil that you can’t show on screen

 

[Deck Rickard]

See, WB? Do you see, Marvel? All you had to do to make a well-rounded, compelling villain in your movies is show them robbing a bakery. It was right in front of you the whole time.

You have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[Jack Reacher]

I wouldn't mind if they use prosthetics to age this Lex up visually, especially after the great work of Colin Farrell in The Batman and the upcoming Penguin series.

I'd like a Corporate Lex who would be believable as a man who could run for US President.

We still haven't seen that on film yet, and it was one of the better DCAU arcs for Luthor.

 

[SupermansPal]

I wouldn't mind if they use prosthetics to age this Lex up visually, especially after the great work of Colin Farrell in The Batman and the upcoming Penguin series.

I'd like a Corporate Lex who would be believable as a man who could run for US President.

We still haven't seen that on film yet, and it was one of the better DCAU arcs for Luthor.

Gunn specifically said that he wanted Lex and Clark to be contemporaries, so I definitely don’t see that happening, I’m afraid.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

Yeah I don't see much point in aging him up? At least with penguin they turned traditionally handsome guy and knock out actor into a completely different person. Only think they need to do with Hoult is shave his melon.

 

[flickchick85]

I wouldn't mind if they use prosthetics to age this Lex up visually, especially after the great work of Colin Farrell in The Batman and the upcoming Penguin series.

Zero chance of this. If Gunn had wanted an older Lex, he would’ve cast an older Lex.

We can still get corporate tycoon Lex - and eventually President Lex - with Hoult though. He’ll be 35 when Legacy comes out. That’s old enough to run for president right there. And if that goes well, he will be playing the role for many years to come.

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah, comparing Hoult as Lex and Farrell’s Penguin really feels like apples and oranges.

With few exceptions, The Penguin almost never looks like Colin Farrell does normally, so it made all the sense in the world to change his appearance for the role. But Hoult? Shave his head and there’s Lex.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

couldn't you also argue that if Reeves wanted an fat/balding/older looking Penguin he would have just cast a fat older bald guy?

 

[Gamma Goliath]

couldn't you also argue that if Reeves wanted an fat/balding/older looking Penguin he would have just cast a fat older bald guy?

You could, but he cast who he believed would do the job for the vision he had. Hoult seems to have been cast as a mid thirties Lex for an early Thirties superman. I'm not sure why he'd want to age him up. But I fully understand why Reeves transformed Ferrell.

 

[flickchick85]

couldn't you also argue that if Reeves wanted an fat/balding/older looking Penguin he would have just cast a fat older bald guy?

Nah, the Penguin’s specific look narrows the pool of candidates down A LOT without prosthetics. That’s a character where it just makes sense to cast with whatever actor you want and force the look onto them. Any actor could shave his head for “the Lex look,” so there’s no “forcing” needed.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

Not everyone looks good/natural bald...

It also depends if their going for the shaved head look? Naturally bald look? Been bald since they were a kid (like the whole Smallville thing)... Or did he lose his hair in some lab accident?

He does look rather young for his age to pull off having gone bald , so if they go that route it wouldn't hurt to age him up a bit

 

[flickchick85]

We’ve seen Nick Hoult bald. He looks fine. And he’s 34. Plenty of men start balding in their 20’s (hell my friend started at age 19). Any explanation will work. Aging him up would be pointless. If Gunn had wanted an older-looking Lex, he would’ve cast an older actor. The only reason to cast a younger actor for a role that will be aged up is if you’re spanning multiple years or jumping around in time. We’ve seen no evidence of that being the case here.

 

[Silvermoth]

People look better bald than balding. Look at Vin Diesel. He gets girls even though he kisses like he’s eating an ice cream.

i bet Nicholas will look really charming

 

[GreenKToo]

I think it's important to show that Lex is quite charming in front of the cameras and the public, but behind the scenes, he's the type of person who would sink an entire cruise ship loaded with people to test some new secret weapon he's invented, then collect the insurance money because he owns the cruise line.

 

[Dr.]

In the old, pulp fiction-y days, the villain didn’t just do evil deeds; he needed to look evil too. Thus, there were a series of signifying tropes: the black hat, the handlebar moustache, the facial scar, the prosthetic hand, being albino (a classic!) or being bald, etc. But in modern times — even with comic book properties — there’s been some movement away from these simplistic (not to mention “body shaming”) stereotypes. However, that still leaves the issue of certain legacy villains who are (in)famous for their particular physical traits. Case in point: the “follicly challenged” Lex Luthor. And it’s probably a safe bet that giving Luthor a full head of hair would be condemned by many fans as revisionism — an affront to tradition and canon.

I fully expect that Hoult’s Luthor will go the smooth-pate route. But from my POV, it’s not necessary.

 

[WatchProtect]

I wouldn't mind Hoult starting with hair, but also the idea of "earning" bald Luthor seems rather pointless when he could just be.

 

[Silvermoth]

I don’t love it to be honest. The whole bald thing as a symbol of going bad. It’s outdated like women turning into hags as they age

 

[Alien Anal]

Yeah Lex just needs to be bald straight up. No fluffing about NO wigs and whatever's. Just a bald dude because that's who Lex is.

 

[Dr.]

Back in the Silver Age, Lex’s biography was rewritten to provide a backstory for his evil origins. And, as a kind of twofer, Lex’s pre-established baldness was an integral, cause-and-effect feature of this origin.

Nowadays, of course, suggesting that a physical difference or “flaw” equates to moral deficiency (or a path towards moral deficiency) is clear prejudice, body shaming and/or ableism.

The best way to handle Lex’s baldness is to make it an entirely incidental detail — without any in-universe commentary, jokes or judgement.

 

[GreenKToo]

I don’t love it to be honest. The whole bald thing as a symbol of going bad. It’s outdated like women turning into hags as they age

For me, lex being bald is as important, and as recognizable as Indiana jones hat or whip, or the spines on Godzilla's back, or captain Jack sparrow's walk.
It's Part of who he is.