Lex get together

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey looks set to face his stiffest challenge yet with the confirmation that he is seriously considering playing supervil

14:06 03 December 2004

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey looks set to face his stiffest challenge yet with the confirmation that he is seriously considering playing supervillain Lex Luther.

Spacey has played a host of high-powered, eccentric villains, from 'the Devil himself' Keyzer Soze in the Oscar-winning Usual Suspects, to deadly sinner John Doe in gritty suspense thriller Seven.

If he does indeed take up the challenge then he will become the first big name star to associate themselves with Brian Singer's much anticipated Superman project since the former X-Men helmsman signed up early last month.

Spacey, who recently released his labour of love screen biopic Beyond the Sea charting the life of 50s singer Bobby Darin, told Sci-Fi Wire: "They want me to do it. It's all a matter of scheduling.

"Let's face it, I'm not someone who's done those kind of movies, but I have done big studio films and, the big studio films I've done, I've tried to do the interesting ones and the ones I could live with myself in the morning about."

The star, who earned a best actor gong for his role in Sam Mendes' American Beauty, will also be aware of how he will match up to Gene Hackman's version of the crazed cranium.

With the likes of Spacey and Singer on board, things are boding well for the future of the Kryptonite-phobic Man of Steel's return to the big screen.