Why Nicholas Hoult Worked as Lex Luthor when Jesse Eisenberg Didn’t
You know what the worst part was about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? It wasn’t the fact that it rushed the Dark Knight and Man of Steel’s first live-action film team-up. Nor was it the fact that their “fight” played out like bad fanfiction. It wasn’t even the fact that they introduced, and proceeded to waste, Doomsday, a character legendary for mutually killing Superman. No, the worst part of that movie was Lex Luthor. I dont know what Zach Snyder and his team were thinking, but it wasn’t straight when it came to Luthor.
With all due respect to Jesse Eisenberg, him playing Lex Luthor was probably the biggest mistake of his career. That’s not conjecture, either; Eisenberg has gone on record to say he thinks the way he played Luthor hurt his career. That should come as no surprise, either, because he wasn’t playing Luthor the way people see the character. Between his manic behavior and having actual hair, he was a guy trying to play Luthor, but instead came off as the Joker. In fact, I briefly mistook him for the Joker when I saw that first trailer. It was a mistake that helped to doom DC’s first attempts at a cinematic universe, and I’m glad that Gunn chose to hit the reset button. Thanks to that, we not only got a good Lex Luthor in Nicholas Hoult. We got what might be the best live-action version of Luthor ever. And he did it by embracing everything that makes the character Superman’s greatest enemy, not rejecting it.
Luthor is a Foil to Superman, First and Foremost
While there have been countless interpretations of Lex Luthor across media, the main thing most of them have in common is that they serve as a foil to Superman. Superman is an alien refugee with powers that put him on the level of actual gods. However, instead of ruling over Earth like many with that power would opt to do, he chooses not to. Instead, he chooses to help others for the sake of it. When he’s not doing that, he’s living a regular life and working a 9-5 job like a lot of people. He never loses touch with his humanity and makes a conscious effort to connect with everyone.
In contrast to this, we have Lex Luthor, who is everything that Superman isn’t. He’s a biologically normal human being. He’s either bald or chooses to shave his head, in contrast to Superman’s amazing hair. And while Superman is a genius in his own right, Lex Luthor’s intellect is regularly portrayed as being on par with his, if not higher. High enough that if Luthor really wanted to, he could probably end most of the problems faced by society. Whereas Superman would likely do that in a heartbeat, Luthor instead uses it to enrich himself at the expense of everyone around him. In other words, he thinks that he’s a god, and he makes that clear in everything he does. That’s something that doesn’t change between Hoult and Eisenberg’s portrayals. What does change is how they go about projecting their god complex.
Eisenberg didn’t understand the Core of Luthor…
Even though Lex Luthor is an amoral socio/psychopath in most media, Hoult and Eisenberg went about demonstrating this in different ways. The big issue with Eisenberg’s Luthor is that he was far more open about how much of a diseased maniac he was. He was giving off so many red flags that it’s hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to seriously give him the time of day. And while Hoult’s Luthor is every bit as psycho as Eisenberg’s, Hoult does it better. Why? Because Hoult’s Luthor has the sense of mind to mask his evil in public. It’s best shown in the way Hoult’s Luthor acts in public. When meeting with the US government, he tries his darndest to act like he’s genuinely concerned about what Superman is up to. It’s played for even greater effect when he leaks the recording from the hero’s parents to the public, acting like he’s genuinely afraid of what Superman could do. In reality, he knows, just like the audience, that Superman would never do that. He doesn’t care, though.
Which is another reason why Hoult works so well as Luthor: he’s a hater.
And that core is being a hater
If there was a Mount Rushmore for the biggest haters in fiction, Luthor would be on it. The vast majority of his variants have dedicated their entire lives to hating Superman, and from a storytelling perspective, that’s usually a good thing. But back in Batman vs Superman, the film tried to justify it that time around due to seeing him as a god and hang-ups about the abuse he got from his dad as a kid. Normally, fleshing out a character’s rationale would be a good thing. However, sometimes it’s just better when a character doesn’t need a reason for their motivations. One such case is Nicholas Hoult’s take on the evil genius.
During the film, Luthor tries to justify his hatred of Superman behind the usual reasons: he’s too powerful, he’s making people dependent on him, etc. However, everyone knows that none of that is true, including Luthor. In truth, Luthor hates Superman because he dares to exist in the same universe as him. Because he is a constant reminder that he’s always going to be second best , and his ego is so fragile that he can’t stand that notion. So while the man tries to hide it, it’s clear to all that Luthor hates Superman for the love of the game.
Throughout the film, we see the lengths that Luthor goes to hate on Superman range from absolutely monstrous to some of the pettiest acts I have ever seen in a film. One minute, he’s killing a guy Superman barely knows because he gave him free falafel once. The next, he’s kidnapping his cousin’s dog just to make him mad. Not to mention how he assembled an army of monkeys to farm hatred for the hero on social media when he could’ve just used an AI. And let’s not forgot how he locked up anyone he didn’t like inside his pocket dimension! Nicholas Hoult embraced the hate that comes with being Lex Luthor and everyone has loved him for it. I’d go so far as to say that this is the best live-action take on the bald evil genius that I have ever seen!
Nicholas Hoult is the GOAT
The point of all of this is that when it came to Lex Luthor, Nicholas Hoult didn’t just meet our expectations. He made up for the failure of ten years ago by going above and beyond. He was everything that Eisenberg wasn’t, and thus everything that people wanted from Superman’s greatest enemy. He was arrogant as they come, he dressed to project confidence, and he engaged in some of the pettiest acts of hating the character has ever done. If he had been the one playing the character in Batman v Superman, maybe the film wouldn’t have been so divisive. But that’s my personal opinion. If you like the DCEU, then that’s fine. I will be enjoying the bright future that the DCU promises us, and hopefully, we will see more of Hoult as Luthor. A villain that good can’t be used once and then discarded!
Yes, you are right.
All this time I have been touting Superman 2025 as the best Superman film of all time, I have been giving all the credit to James Gunn.
Yes, Gunn’s style is evident throughout the film. Many scenes in Superman resonate with what worked in all 3 Guardians of the Galaxy (I wonder if the Disney exec that fired him still has a job).
And, undoubtedly DC has benefited at Marvel’s loss (Gunn’s Suicide Squad was pure genius), the actors in Superman certainly deserve praise as well.
Hoult has been great in many roles: whether portraying Beast in the X Men franchise, the courageous husband attempting to save his wife from Nosferatu, or the wannabe food critic connoisseur in The Menu, Hoult displays a wide breadth in acting abilities.
Specifically, portraying Luthor, the audience is treated to a new depth in the flaws of a character that can only be described as a ‘criminal mastermind ‘.
Lex has got game.
Unlike other Superman movies where our hero starts off being the indestructible alien who chooses to be good, Superman 2025 presents us with a defeated and broken man ( humanizing Superman from the get go is key).
Everyone can relate to defeat. Life teaches us that we are going to get knocked down.
A good story shows us how we get back up.
And it is precisely Superman’s ability to do just that that infuriates Luthor to finally losing his shit. When a psychopath who has such a polished mask for everyday interactions is rattled to his core, the true face of fury is unveiled.
Hoult shows us this transformation in all its ugly glory. Without Hoult’s Lex Luthor portrayal, Superman 2025 could’ve just ended up another derivative interpretation rather than what is, arguably, the best Superman ever.