It’s claimed that Jame Gunn’s villain of the Superman: Legacy movie might be some version of Apex Lex Luthor from the DC comic books.
Following the recent casting news of potential actors, it’s further reported that a villain role has been labeled as “Apex,” and since it has been reported Lex Luthor will be in the movie, and there is Apex Lex from the comics, it seems to add up.
THR has offered Nicholas Hoult is up to play the role of Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, while Deadline actually states Hoult is up for the role of Superman (huh?) and The Wrap adds Gunn is looking at Black actors for the role. Well, Gunn race-swapped the villain of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, so obviously race swapping Lex wouldn’t be out of the question.
Who is Apex Lex Luthor?
Apex Lex Luthor is a version of Lex who was granted near-omnipotent powers by Perpetua to defeat the Justice League and create a new Multiverse.
Lex is reborn as an “Apex Predator” where he is an immortal hybrid Human/Martian with all the powers of the Martian Manhunter, including the weakness to fire.
His powers included wielding dark energy, capable of traveling across infinite realities and Apex Lex can even withstand the full force of a Superman punch.
Obviously, the character would be a formidable foe for the Man of Steel, and it seems Nicholas Hoult would actually be perfect for the role, so we’ll have to see what Gunn comes up with.
Superman: Legacy gets released on July 11, 2025
The film is described as telling the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
Gunn has also said his choice of the Man of Steel is a big galoot.