Superman & Lois Casting a New Lex Luthor, Jon Cryer Confirms It's Not Him

The CW seems to be casting a new Lex Luthor for Superman & Lois, and Arrowverse star Jon Cryer confirmed that he will not be reprising the role. According to a new report, Lex Luthor will appear in the third season of the fan-favorite series, although it is not clear whether he will be a major threat or a one-off villain. Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch first appeared in the "Arrowverse," The CW's interconnected DC Universe of shows including Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. The show was assumed to be a part of "Earth-Prime," the world on which the Arrowverse takes place following the events of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, but in season 2, fans learned that Superman & Lois actually exists in its own universe.

Still, not only have Hoechlin and Tulloch returned, but other Arrowverse actors like Jenna Dewan (who plays Lois's sister Lucy) and David Ramsey (who plays John Diggle) have as well. So it wasn't unreasonable to expect that Jon Cryer, whose version of Lex was a fan-favorite, could return.

"Since this news is about a new Lex Luthor casting call for Superman & Lois, that means I'm not going to be playing him this time around," Cryer told a fan on Twitter. "Godspeed to the guy who gets it! It's a terrific show."

That Hashtag Show broke the news, reporting that the casting call is out for a white male in his late 40s, who is "hellbent on destroying those who he feels are responsible for ruining his life. A chilling businessman, who's rogue and amoral."

Superman & Lois faced off with a TV-friendly version of The Eradicator in  its first season. Instead of being a Kryptonian weapon sprung to life, the character was reinvented as Superman's previously-unknown half-brother, who hid out on Earth until he figured out a way to try to take over the world. In the second season, a cult leader who had been the subject of a Lois Lane expose transformed herself into a version of the comics villain The Parasite, and tried to combine Earth with Bizarro World.

The series is critically-acclaimed, but its steep budget combined with changes at both The CW and DC have fans wondering if it might be in trouble after season three. If that's the case, it's hard to argue there's a better "final" big bad than Lex Luthor.