The Arrowverse finally has its very own version of Lex Luthor. Jon Cryer, the Emmy-winning actor who formerly starred alongside Charlie Sheen (and for a brief time Ashton Kutcher) onTwo and a Half Menhas officially been cast as the iconic DC villain, who is set to appear onSupergirllater this season. Executive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller had this to say about Cryer’s casting in a joint statement.
“We are enormous fans ofJon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic role of Lex Luthor. Jon is a super-talent, and the fact that he played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV brings an added layer of legacy to his casting. We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Jon to the Supergirl family.”
It had been previously announced that the show’s creative team had been looking to cast their version ofLex Luthor. According to a new report, the plan is to bring him in duringSupergirlseason 4 on the 15th episode, which will air in January. On the series, the titular character is played by Melissa Benoist, with Tyler Hoechlin guest starring from time to time as her more famous cousin Clark Kent, aka Superman.
Jon Cryer made it onto the world’s radar with his role as Duckie in the John Hughes classicPretty in Pink. The actor won two Emmys for his role as Alan Harper onTwo and a Half Men. Some of his other credits includeHot ShotsandHoly Man. As it relates to DC, this actually isn’t Cryer’s first stint in that universe. He previously appeared as Lenny Luthor, the nephew of Lex, in the much-malignedSuperman IV: The Quest For Peace. So this marks something of an interesting full-circle move for Cryer.
There have been many portrayals of the villain on both the big and small screen over the years, who first debuted in thepages of DC Comicsin 1940 and has been one of Superman’s arch enemies ever since. Lyle Talbot (Plan 9 From Outer Space) first brought the character to life in the 1950s before Gene Hackman, who played the part for Richard Donner in the 1978Supermanmovie, would go on to memorably put his stamp on the character. More recently, Kevin Spacey portrayed the baddie in 2006’sSuperman: Returns, while Jesse Eisenberg played him in bothBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceand in a post-credit scene inJustice League. On the small screen, John Shea played the part onLois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, while Michael Rosenbaum memorably took on the role inSmallvillefor an entire decade.
The actor responded to the news on Twitter by simply saying, “I am way too excited about this.” It’s unclear yet if the intention is to have Lex Luthor crossover with the otherArrowverse shows, but it’s hard to imagine that won’t happen at some point down the line. What we know is that it doesn’t look like he’ll be showing up on theElseworldscrossover event next month. Then again, a surprise could be in store.Supergirlairs Sundays on The CW. This news was previously reported byDeadline.
