Singer: 'I'd cast Nicholas Hoult as Superman'

Bryan Singer has revealed that he would cast Nicholas Hoult as Superman if he was given the opportunity to revisit the superhero series.

Singer helmed 2006's Superman Returns, a loose sequel to the 1978 Christopher Reeve original, but the franchise is now being rebooted with Henry Cavill in the lead role.

Asked how he would approach a new Superman movie, the X-Men: First Class producer told Total Film that he would go back and look at the character's early years.

"If I'm really honest, what I probably would have done is go back and retell the origin story with someone like Nicholas Hoult [playing Clark Kent/Superman]," he said.

"I would have done it differently from Richard Donner's original, which I love, but instead of doing a sequel I'd have started from the beginning - maybe I had that in the back of my mind and instead translated it to X-Men: First Class!"

Hoult, whose credits include Skins and A Single Man, will star as Beast in X-Men: First Class and also has the lead role in Singer's Jack the Giant Killer.