Matt Reeves’ The Batman may have had its share of cynics when it was first revealed that Robert Pattinson would be playing the titular character, but it didn’t take long for the actor to prove why he deserved the role. Pattinson went full-on dark and broody, crafting The Dark Knight to perfection. However, there was another actor who auditioned for the role – Nicholas Hoult. Yes, the Nicholas Hoult who will be seen as Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman.
The audition process for such an iconic character was never going to be easy, especially when you are up against an actor like Robert Pattinson. Regardless, Nicholas Hoult decided to give it a go and what followed was nothing less than an emotional turmoil.
Nicholas Hoult’s The Batman Experience
Before Robert Pattinson was penned down as the Caped Crusader, there were other actors that were shortlisted for the role. This includes Nicholas Hoult, Armie Hammer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
During his recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hoult talked a bit about the audition process for The Batman and how it sent him into a spiral where he would keep second-guessing himself as an actor.
For starters, Hoult knew he was going to be auditioning against Pattinson and while he now agrees that the actor was the right choice, he couldn’t help but have his hopes up back then.
Your imagination doesn’t know [but] you are aware on a practical level: ‘I know I am auditioning against Rob.’ And Rob is fantastic in that movie. That was the right decision. But also, you get excited by the prospect.
He recalls driving a week before he was to audition for the role and how the people on the radio were talking about Pattinson being the next Batman.
I remember a week before we did the Batman test, I was driving in my car and I had the radio on and they were talking on the radio about how Rob was going to be the new Batman. And I was like, ‘It’s not confirmed yet! I’m auditioning next weekend. I was like, give me a chance.’
That must not have been easy for Hoult to go through as an actor. He remembers going through a “weird period” of self-doubt where he was left wondering, “What could I have done different? Why not me?” After Matt Reeves’ The Batman was finally released, it took him a minute to make peace with it all and finally watched the movie and loved every bit of it.
Superman Treated Nicholas Hoult Much Better
After going through what Hoult did during the audition process for The Batman, it is quite commendable that he was ready to go through it all over again with James Gunn’s Superman.
Yes, he was “hesitant about going through” the same process again but luckily, Gunn made it much easier for the actor. Since they knew what he had experienced with The Batman, they did the best they could to not have it be repeated for Hoult.
Initially, Hoult had auditioned for the role of Superman but of course, David Corenswet had his name written over that character. Still, Gunn had made up his mind about having Hoult in his film and that’s how a hero turned into a villain.
James Gunn is such a fantastic director and I was so excited by what he was building at DC. When we spoke — because they knew I had been through [the Batman] process — they didn’t want me to necessarily have to go through that again. That was very kind of them. There was an element of them being like, ‘We like you as an actor. We want you to be in this world.’
We are waiting very patiently to see what Gunn has been cooking up for us over at the DCU labs as well as Hoult’s portrayal of the iconic villain, Lex Luthor. It’s going to be interesting, to say the least.
The Batman is available to watch on Max.
Superman will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.
