James Gunn reveals why Nicholas Hoult could not get Superman role

James Gunn recently opened up about why Nicholas Hoult lost the Superman role to David Corenswet.

On the recent episode of Jake’s Takes, the 58-year-old director of the upcoming Superman movie revealed Hoult did not give an audition for the character of villainous Lex Luthor; instead, he first auditioned to play Superman but could not get it.

Articulating his thoughts on why the Nosferatu star lost the iconic role, Gunn said, “A lot of time casting is finding the right person for the right role.”

He added, “Most people [auditioning for Superman] weren’t doing anything wrong; they just didn’t fit how I envisioned this Superman to be. Nicholas Hoult auditioned. He’s a great actor. Some might say he’s better than David in certain ways, but he just didn’t fit the role. That’s why he didn’t get that.”

The CEO of DC Studios went on to note by quipping, “As much as you can transform yourself as a person, Nicholas is just more controlled."

He shared that they were mixing and matching “Lois Lane [played by Rachel Brosnahan] and Clark Kent [Corenswet] actors when we were auditioning them.”

“I wanted to make sure we had that chemistry right. The truth is Nicholas, who is a more controlled actor, had a really good chemistry with another Lois who was less controlled. They were opposites. David had better chemistry with Rachel [Brosnahan] because she’s a very controlled actor and Davis is a little bit more loose. That creates a different dynamism on screen,” Gunn stated.

For the unversed, it is not the first time Hoult lost a superhero role, as he also auditioned to play the role of Batman in Matt Reeves' The Batman but it went to Robert Pattinson.

Before concluding, it is pertinent to mention that the forthcoming Superman movie will be released on July 11, 2025.