Superman

APRIL FOOL’S 2023: Michael Rosenbaum To Play Lex Luthor (Again) in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy

James Gunn has tapped Michael Rosenbaum to reprise the role of Lex Luthor for the Superman: Legacy film.

Published

2 years ago

April 1, 2023

Craig Byrne

NOTE: The following story is NOT true and is part of KryptonSite’s 2023 April Fool’s post.

KryptonSite has learned that the new DC Films co-head James Gunn has recruited media’s best Lex Luthor for his upcoming Superman: Legacy film, making him the first cast member tied to this new project…. and the man who is facing off against the Man of Steel might look a bit familiar, especially to those who have been reading this website for the past 22 years.

Who is the new Lex Luthor for the 2025 movie? None other than Michael Rosenbaum. Apparently his recent Twitter profile picture change was a hint of the news that would be coming.

Smallville fans might be a little disappointed, though, that no other cast members from the show are planned to be a part of this project, so this is a different Lex Luthor than Michael has played in the past. However, we knew James Gunn had already spoken to Henry Cavill and other former DC actors about new roles, and this is the first to come out, so who knows what the future may bring? As far as Superman goes, though, Gunn is looking for an actor who is younger than Cavill, making the Clark/Lex dynamic significantly different this time from what we saw in Smallville.

Michael has long been a friend of James Gunn’s and appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Martinex. Interestingly, we hear that the two top considerations for the Luthor role were Michael Rosenbaum and Michael Rooker who also starred in that film, but that Rooker passed on the part after having an adverse reaction to chocolate covered pretzels in the production office.

Interestingly, we are hearing that part of Rosenbaum’s deal is that it would also include a secondary project which we are hearing is titled Luthor, which will ideally give Superman’s greatest enemy the kind of attention and awards love that Joaquin Phoenix had in The Joker. The Joker has a sequel coming out in the future and has no connection to Gunn’s new shared DC Films universe.

Should this report be true, we expect that Michael will have to take a step back from his excellent Inside of You podcast as well as TalkVille which he hosts with Tom Welling. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more; however, before you share this article, you might want to read this.

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5 Comments

Bob

April 1, 2023 at 8:15 am

Should this report turn out to be true, are you actually serious? The article writer is basing their whole story on a picture post, yea right ok, that’s some journalism there. When the article mentioned Michael Rooker was also in line to play the role I almost pissed my pants, Rooker is almost 70 20 years older than Rosenbaum.

Reply
- Craig Byrne
  
  April 1, 2023 at 11:11 am
  
  It’s an April Fool’s gag. Lighten up.
  
  Reply
Charlene Engvik

April 1, 2023 at 10:49 am

I absolutely love the idea of Michael being Lex again. Glad he is up to it. Can’t wait to see that sexy scar again.

Reply
Kevin Naethe

April 1, 2023 at 7:14 pm

If this is true why not make Tom Welling the new Superman. Him and Michael have worked together for years and would make sense to be like Smallville in the future. Bring back Erica Durance too

Reply
Tao

April 2, 2023 at 10:35 pm

Honestly though, this would have made sense. He has expressed an interest in playing the character again & has done voice over work (as the Flash” for animation. Checks all the boxes, honestly

Reply

Superman

Superman Soars In New 2025 Movie Preview

DC Studios and Warner Bros. have released a new sneak peek for the new Superman movie.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 3, 2025

Craig Byrne

DC and Warner Bros. have wisely chosen to release the newest Superman movie sneak peek to the public online rather than letting us all suffer through low-res video captures from the showings before Minecraft. The film, which stars David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult as Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, respectively, comes out on July 11, 2025 and is directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy).

The sneak peek gives us an extended look at Krypto bringing Superman to the Fortress where he is tended to by his robot friends (Kelex x 12?) We also get to see the Daily Planet, Lex, some Superman and Lois moments which are always nice, and more. Check it out below:

Smallville

Annette O’Toole’s Big Smallville Regret

Annette O’Toole discusses her biggest regret from her time on Smallville.

Published

2 months ago

February 9, 2025

Craig Byrne

Smallville’s Annette O’Toole recently spoke with Salon magazine about her biggest regret from her time on the show. It’s a topic she has discussed on the TalkVille podcast, and it is something she talked about in KryptonSite’s interview to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series premiere.

Basically, it was the notion that she never was able to share scenes with Christopher Reeve. While the plan originally was for a scene between them in the Season 4 premiere “Crusade,” in the two appearances that Reeve did make on Smallville failed to reunite O’Toole with Reeve, which is a shame, as Annette played Lana Lang to Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent in the film Superman III.

“I never understood it,” she said. “I should have picked up the phone and called the producers and said what are you thinking? You’ve got the prior Lana Lang and Superman. Why aren’t you putting them in a scene together? It kind of broke my heart. It was kind of like ‘if they don’t see, I’m not gonna tell ’em! They don’t understand!’ So who’s regretting it? Not them. I knew it would be the last time I’d ever get to see Chris, so, yeah, I’m very sad about that.”

You can watch the clip below.

Superman

Official Superman 2025 Movie Merch Hits The DC Shop, Hot Topic & More

The DC Shop and Hot Topic now have exclusive items to promote the new 2025 Superman movie.

Published

4 months ago

December 20, 2024

Craig Byrne

Just one day after the release of the new Superman (2025) movie trailer for the film directed by James Gunn, Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products has announced an expanded range of merchandise inspired by the film. Superman will be in theaters and IMAX nationwide on July 11, 2025, and internationally beginning 9 July 2025, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

The collection is available now at DC Shop and Hot Topic in North America and online at key retailers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Japan. All-new designs are available across numerous categories including premium posters, apparel, home decor, phone cases and accessories, and much more. You can find t-shirts, hoodies, blankets, and, of course, that poster that we want so badly on our walls already.

Available in North America, DC Shop exclusives include apparel featuring the new teaser poster art, alongside the film’s “Look Up” and “Take Me Home” tagline messaging, while Fortress of Solitude-inspired apparel brings out the DC Super Hero in everyone. Additional items include premium posters and new designs across tees, hoodies, and sweatshirts featuring the Superman S-Shield.

Visit the DC Shop and Hot Topic websites to see what is available. You can also see a gallery of some (but not all) of the merchandise below, and if you missed it… that teaser trailer is underneath the gallery!

premium-luster-photo-paper-poster-in-20x30-front-675cbd5669f9a

Image 1 of 16

“Superman,” DC Studios’ first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures. In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief ina the goodness of humankind.

DC Studios heads Peter Safran and Gunn are producing the film, which Gunn directs from his own screenplay, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The film stars David Corenswet (“Twisters,” “Hollywood”) in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult (the “X-Men” movies, “Juror #2”) as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Edi Gathegi (“For All Mankind”), Anthony Carrigan (“Barry,” “Gotham”), Nathan Fillion (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “The Suicide Squad”), Isabela Merced (“Alien Romulus”), Skyler Gisondo (“Licorice Pizza,” “Booksmart”), Sara Sampaio (“At Midnight”), María Gabriela de Faría (“The Moodys”), Wendell Pierce (“Selma,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”), Alan Tudyk (“Andor”), Pruitt Taylor Vince (“Bird Box”) and Neva Howell (“Greedy People”).

“Superman” is executive produced by Nikolas Korda, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars Winther. Behind the camera, Gunn is joined by frequent collaborators, including director of photography Henry Braham, production designer Beth Mickle, costume designer Judianna Makovsky and composer John Murphy, along with editors Craig Alpert (“Deadpool 2,” “Blue Beetle”), Jason Ballantine (the “IT” films, “The Flash”) and William Hoy (“The Batman”).