‘He just didn’t fit the role’: James Gunn on why Nicholas Hoult wasn’t cast as Superman

WASHINGTON: James Gunn, the head of DC Studios, shared why Nicholas Hoult wasn’t cast as Superman in the superhero film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gunn admitted that the Nosferatu star is “a great actor”, but he merely “didn’t fit the role” of Clark Kent. The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director thought he was a bit too “controlled” for the part as opposed to David Corenswet.

“You know, Nick Hoult auditioned for Superman. He’s a great actor. I mean, some might say he’s better than David in certain ways, but he just didn’t fit the role, and that’s why he didn’t get that”, Gunn said. “As much as you can transform yourself as a person, Nick was just more controlled”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“The whole time I was watching Nick on the monitor while I was directing I kept putting my finger over his hair.” — James Gunn on casting Nicholas Hoult for Lex Luthorpic.twitter.com/yx0H08N2eg

— best of nicholas hoult (@bestofhoult) July 1, 2025

Gunn further shared that Hoult participated in chemistry tests with other actresses who were considered for the role of Lois Lane. “One of the things that we were also doing was mixing and matching Lois’ and Clarks when we were auditioning them, and so I wanted to make sure that we had that chemistry right,” he said. “And the truth is, Nick, who is a more controlled actor, had really good chemistry with another Lois that was less controlled, so they were opposites”.

Ultimately, he settled on casting Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois because of their opposite on-screen chemistry. Gunn added, “David had better chemistry with Rachel [Brosnahan] because she’s a very controlled actor, and David is a little bit more, you know, loose, and that creates a different type of dynamism on-screen,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hoult was in talks to star in the next Superman. However, he ultimately joined Gunn’s new DC universe as villain Lex Luthor. Hoult and Corenswet recalled their encounter on set while auditioning for the film on the same day during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as per the outlet.

“I walked out of doing one of my audition scenes, and I was like, ‘Yeah, not bad. OK.’ And I walked around the corner, and there were lots of shadows on the studio lot and then one ray of sunshine”, Hoult said. “David had taken a seat in this ray of sunshine and was sitting there, charging up from the sun like Superman does, getting his power…. And in that moment, whilst we were shaking hands, I was like, ‘I’d be happy if this guy was Superman.’ I was like, ‘You’re perfect for it’,” as per The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)