Last week, a rumor surfaced that Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston had been secretly cast as Lex Luthor for Batman vs. Superman, signing on for a multi-film deal, but that Warner Bros. was waiting to announce the news until the actor’s AMC series ends later this month.

In a recent interview with The Boston Globe, Cranston laughed off the rumors of his casting in Zack Snyder’s sequel to this year’s Man Of Steel, stating, “This is all news to me.”

Now, this wouldn’t be the first time an actor has denied rumors that turned out to actually be true, but for now, Cranston says he won’t be in the film. And it seems that the paper asked the actor about the supposed six-film deal, which would be easy for Cranston to deny if no such deal existed or if he hadn’t actually signed anything. But, that doesn’t mean that he’s not being considered for the role of Superman’s nemesis.

The Globe went on to act as if Cranston had not denied the rumor and asked him if he’d consider calling Gene Hackman, who played Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman: The Movie, to get some advice for the role. I’m guessing they had hoped that Cranston would slip up and be like “Yeah, I sure could use some advice from Hackman on how to play Lex Luthor in those upcoming six DC universe films everyone thinks I’m signed on to do.” But, he didn’t. Instead, he laughed that off, too, and imagined how awkward a call like that would go.

Interestingly enough, even though Cranston’s casting is pure Internet rumor at this point and the reputable Globe spoke directly to the actor, they still titled their article “Bryan Cranston to play bald bad guy Lex Luthor?” as if the man did not tell them repeatedly “NO” to the rumors.

Cranston is currently in Cambridge, MA, prepping for his role as President Lyndon B. Johnson in the American Repertory Theater production of All the Way, the actor’s first post-Breaking Bad gig, which begins previews on September 13. After that, he’ll be directing another episode of ABC’s Modern Family, and then he said he’ll be relaxing for the rest of the year, though he does have some stuff in the works.

Henry Cavill will return as Clark Kent/Superman in the tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman, with Ben Affleck coming on as Batman.

[Source: The Boston Globe via CBR | Bryan Cranston photo by Paul Smith, courtesy of Shutterstock. Used with permission.]

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