Nicholas Hoult looked to his Lex Luthor predecessors Gene Hackman and Michael Rosenbaum for inspiration before playing the villain in Superman.

After he was cast as Superman's classic nemesis in James Gunn's upcoming superhero movie, the British actor rewatched past portrayals by Hackman in the Christopher Reeve-starring film trilogy and Rosenbaum in the TV show Smallville.

"Gene's one of my all-time faves, just as an actor in general. I went back and watched Gene," Hoult told Empire magazine. "And Michael Rosenbaum, who was the first Lex I saw, growing up watching Smallville. It's interesting when you play a character that's been played before - you're working from a different script, but it's fun to draw inspiration from all of those places."

Hackman played Luthor opposite Reeve's Man of Steel in Superman, Superman II and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in the 1970s and 1980s, while Rosenbaum portrayed the iconic comic book character on Smallville for seven seasons from 2001 and 2008.

The villain was also played by Kevin Spacey in 2006's Superman Returns and most recently Jesse Eisenberg in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and in Justice League.

The Mad Max: Fury Road star also teased that his take on Luthor will be dark and strange.

"I'm gonna keep getting darker and stranger until people are like, 'No!! Too far!'" the 35-year-old joked. "(But) it seems like a lot of the performances that I grew up loving, or specifically when actors would go on runs of things, (it) seemed to be in their thirties and forties. So I've always been excited about this period of my career."

Starring David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, Superman will be released in cinemas on 11 July.