Strictly file this one under ‘rumour’ for now, but several news sources are reporting that Superman’s arch nemesis Lex Luthor could be making an appearance in Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot.

Previously thought to see Supes pitted against General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Faora (Antje Traue) only, the folks over at CosmicBookNews.com have a thus far unverified report that Luthor may play a part in the film, and could be portrayed by none other than man-of-the-moment, HANGOVER star Bradley Cooper. Yes, we were surprised too.

Given that he dropped out of THE CROW, and Alex Proyas’ PARADISE LOST is now on indefinite hold, we suspect Cooper is probably available, especially as the appearance of Luthor could only really be in a cameo capacity this late in the game. 

With Warner Bros. already starting work on further MAN OF STEEL entries, it would be very smart of them to lock Cooper down now and introduce the character to new audiences in some way, if only to lay the groundwork for parts 2 & 3. An extension of Nolan’s approach to The Joker in BATMAN BEGINS, or Moriarty in the first SHERLOCK HOLMES for example.

But would Cooper be willing to shave off that perfectly quaffed mane of his?

We’ll keep our ears to the ground on this one… 

MAN OF STEEL also stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois, Ayelet Zurer & Russell Crowe as Superman’s biological mother & father, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent.

Expect it to fly into our cinemas June 14th 2013. Luthor or no Luthor.

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