Several actors have played Lex Luthor in the past. A most recent update indicated that Nicholas Hoult is in talks to play the iconic DC villain in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. However, Warner Brothers is yet to close the deal with the actor but it is almost certain that the X-Men star will join Gunn’s most ambitious project.
Several actors have played the iconic DC villain in several representations of the characters. Also, many were considered for the role in different projects based on DC comics. Legendary actor Tom Hanks was once the studios’ first choice for the character but it never happened.
DC Once Wanted to Cast Tom Hanks As Lex Luthor
Zack Snyder’s 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice almost featured Tom Hanks as Lex Luthor. DC initially wanted Hanks for the iconic role however, that may have been before the script for the film was written. Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer’s screenplay wrote Luthor as a young, whiny brat which was eventually landed by Jesse Eisenberg.
Eisenberg did his part and it was decent for many but imagining Hanks in the role is really a thrill pill. Hanks is a Hollywood legend and the two-time Oscar winner has appeared in movies as if his only intention is to receive accolades and he never disappoints. Hanks as Luthor would change the tonal structure of the narrative and there is no doubt that he would have one of the best nemesis of Superman.
Tom Hanks Has Eyes On Comic Book Movies
Hanks has done pretty much anything, he is one of the Hollywood veterans appearing in movies across genres. However, the actor has not played a Superhero role but he is very much willing to do so. “No, [it’s not a choice], they don’t ask me and I keep trying. Come on, I can do it,” Hanks once said (via On Demand Entertainment).
“Let me play a bad guy, let me play the bad guy against Batman. I’ll do anything, call me. They’ve never asked. What do I have to do? God, I want to throw a shield at somebody. I want that. And I don’t want to play the guy in the suit who tells the superheroes what’s going on, I don’t want to be that guy. ‘Well, you know Batman…Captain America, Iron Man, here’s what we’ve discovered’, I don’t want to be that guy. I want to get in there, I want to play The Flash or something like that. They’ll never give me a chance.”
Many years later, the actor also praised the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time when Martin Scorsese and a few other filmmakers tagged the movies as “not real cinema.” For Hanks, he hasn’t seen all the MCU movies he thoroughly enjoyed the movies he watched. Still, one can hope to see Hanks in a Superhero movie either being a hero or a villain as he is still eager to play a comic book character.
