Joaquin Phoenix is considering an offer to play the main villain in the forthcoming Man of Steel sequel, dubbed "Batman vs Superman", reports Variety.

The three-times Oscar-nominated star of current awards season hopeful Her may even be in line to play Superman's traditional nemesis Lex Luthor, though talks are said to be at a very early stage. Any appointment would mark something of a coup for director Zack Snyder and studio Warner Brothers, with Phoenix having largely eschewed mainstream roles in favour of arthouse and indie fare since his standout turn as usurper emperor Commodus in 2000's Gladiator.

Phoenix is also said to be considering a role in Gus van Sant's next film, Sea of Trees, which would tally more closely with his recent career trajectory. "Batman vs Superman" stars Henry Cavill as the last son of Krypton with Ben Affleck set to play the caped crusader for the first time. Israeli actor Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman last month for a film that will preface Warner's planned Justice League movie, the studio's proposed answer to rival Marvel's $1.5bn comic book ensemble The Avengers.

Meanwhile, there were increasing signs of Affleck's influence on Snyder's film after the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Argo, Chris Terrio, was hired to polish the script. Terrio will be working on a screenplay by Man of Steel's David S Goyer ahead of a planned shoot early next year. The sequel will not hit cinemas until July 2015.

Terrio and Affleck worked closely on the latter's Iran hostage crisis-themed drama. As an Oscar-winning film-maker of some renown, Affleck was tipped to take charge of future Batman movies when Warner announced his surprise appointment to the role in August.

Finally, The Hobbit's Evangeline Lilly has revealed she was in line to play Wonder Woman in an earlier big screen outing that never made it to the production stage. The Canadian actor, who stars as elf Tauriel in Tolkien sequel The Desolation of Smaug, told MTV News she read for a part in a film Warner was developing in the mid-2000s.

"I actually went in and met on Wonder Woman at one point," she said. "Before the thing fell apart. That was early, that was first season of Lost before I went, wait a minute, I don't know if I want to do this!"

"Wonder Woman was my favourite superhero as a little girl," she added. " I still have a huge girl crush on Wonder Woman, I think she's amazing."