Nicholas Hoult Found Out He Lost Batman in a Heartbreaking Way

Nicholas Hoult may be joining the DC Universe as Lex Luthor soon, but the actor could have entered much sooner as Batman. Sadly, he found out he wasn’t getting the part in a truly soul-crushing way.

Back when James Gunn and Peter Safran weren’t running things at DC, Hoult was auditioning for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The actor, in fact, had an audition scheduled for the part and was in consideration. However, one day a week before his audition, he was driving around LA and heard on the radio that Robert Pattinson had landed the role, and it hit him pretty hard.

“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 how Rob was going to be the new Batman,” Hoult said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via Variety). “And I was like, “It’s not confirmed yet! I’m auditioning next weekend. Give me a chance.'”

Hoult did end up auditioning, but it was pretty clear it was a foregone conclusion that Pattinson would get the role. With time having passed, though, Hoult can recognize that was the right decision. It took him a while to get over it, especially since he says that auditioning for big superhero movies is a major bit of an emotional rollercoaster because of casting rumors leaking early and the spotlight on you.

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“Yeah of course it’s an emotional blow,” Hoult said of losing the role. “Your imagination does not know… 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 you get excited by the prospect. Matt [Reeves] is a fantastic director and the script. It’s a cool movie and I want to be a part of it. It’s a brilliant character. There’s a weird period before you can get to the acceptance and see the movie and be like that was the right choice, you go through the period of ‘what could I have done different? Why not me?’ You run through all those things.”

Of course, eventually, Hoult found his next superhero role, though as the villain. He’s working with James Gunn on Superman: Legacy and will play Lex Luthor, a role that could mean he’ll be showing up in comic book films for the foreseeable future.

Superman: Legacy hits theaters on July 11, 2025.