Superman: Legacy has finally found its new Superman and Lois Lane. As per the Hollywood Reporter, David Corenswet (Pearl) has been set to play Clark Kent, while Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is on board to play Daily Planet’s investigative journalist Lois Lane in the upcoming James Gunn film. The filmmaker corroborated the claim on Twitter, adding, “They are not only both incredible actors, but also wonderful people.” News of the pair’s casting comes after some screen tests Gunn filmed over the June 19 weekend at the Warner Bros. lot. They were among six actors vying for the lead roles, hoping to overturn DC’s fate in the new era — more importantly, after the box office bomb that was The Flash.
Audiences might recognise Corenswet from his most recent role in Ti West’s Pearl, where he played a creepy movie projectionist. That might not be a good point of comparison to see how he’d fare as Superman, but the character felt like a true American farm boy, which matches the vibe Gunn is going for in Superman: Legacy. Meanwhile, Rachel Brosnahan won an Emmy Award for her performance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where she played an aspiring stand-up comedian battling unfair odds such as sexism in 1950s New York City.
Both actors have also appeared in Netflix’s House of Cards. The other actors in the running to play Lois and Clark were as follows: Nicholas Hoult (The Menu), Tom Brittney (Invasion), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), and Emma Mackey (Sex Education).
With this new casting, Hoult has officially lost out on the roles of both Superman and Batman. He was previously in contention with Robert Pattinson to play the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ grounded reimagining, which earned $771 million (about Rs. 6,321 crore) at the global box office. Interestingly, before trying for Superman’s part, Hoult was initially exploring the genius supervillain Lex Luthor’s role. For now, it’s unclear if he would be in the running for it again, as reports point towards a battle between the Skarsgård brothers — Alexander and Bill — for the antagonist’s role.
However, Luthor isn’t the only antagonist toplining the film, as The Authority, a group of superheroes with weird moral alignments, are expected to debut in Superman: Legacy. The group hails from DC Comics’s Wildstorm imprint and will get a standalone project in the future as well.
Corenswet and Brosnahan’s casting marks the first new live-action casting under DC Studios co-heads Gunn and Peter Safran’s reimagined DC Universe, which kicks off with its first chapter ‘Gods and Monsters.’ So far, only three actors have played Superman on the big screen — Christopher Reeve’s defining work in the Superman series in the 1970s and 1980s, Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, and Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder’s DCEU. Cavill was also briefly brought back to don the cape in October 2022, but plans got changed when Gunn and Safran were hired to chart a new course for DC. The former will be directing Superman: Legacy, focusing on the younger days of the Kryptonian superhero, with plans to begin filming early next year.
Superman: Legacy is slated to release July 11, 2025.
