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LOOK—THERE'S no beating around the bush. It's been a messy run for DC Comics film adaptions, particularly of late. Black Adam was poorly received and disappointed at the box office. Shazam: Fury of the Gods had pretty similar results. And after a bit of early hype, The Flash received OK-but-not-great reviews and has been a massive box office disappointment. Perhaps even more now than when the announcement of their hire was first made, Warner Bros. is depending on newly-installed co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran to turn the luck of the legendary comic brand's on-screen projects around. And with the official casting of David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in the upcoming Superman: Legacy (which Gunn will write and direct himself), strong first steps have been taken toward doing just that.
The casing for Legacy, which will be Superman's first solo big-screen film since 2013's Man of Steel, was officially reported by Variety after weeks of speculation surrounding who would land the movie's leading roles. Corenswet beat out the likes of Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney to lay Clark Kent, while Brosnahan came out on top after competing with Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor.
Gunn's ability to balance genuine emotion with light-hearted but cutting humor—constantly on display in his three Guardians of the Galaxy films—make him a strong fit to helm a Superman movie. We've known for a little bit now that Legacy will be inspired by Grant Morrison's famous All-Star Superman run, and Gunn's casting choices prove that he's got a good idea of what these characters need.
This will be Corenswet's most significant role yet in his career, but he's far from green; he worked with Ryan Murphy in both The Politician and Hollywood, before graduating to HBO fare with David Simon's excellent limited series We Own This City. Last year, he played the key role of the Projectionist in Ti West's twisted horror film Pearl. He's already been cast in Twisters, the upcoming sequel to the iconic '90s movie Twister, and will appear alongside Natalie Portman in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake.
The 30-year-old's charming energy makes him a natural fit to play Clark Kent no matter what direction Legacy takes the character. And, in fact, it's a role he's always had as a goal in the back of his mind. When I interviewed Corenswet three years ago for Hollywood, the topic of Superman came up (it was already something of a rumor), and he referred to it as a 'pie in the sky' dream role. "I just always felt like Superman was both underappreciated and over-simplified, and there was a lot of interesting stuff that could happen with it," he said back in 2020. "But that's all just in my mind."
Brosnahan, meanwhile, is more of an industry known quantity. She's won an Emmy for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which just wrapped up after five seasons on Prime Video. She's also currently appearing alongside Oscar Isaac in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window on Broadway. You can expect Brosnahan's Lois Lane to be something of a modern-day hybrid between her Maisel characer and how Lois is presented in most of her comic depictions: a tough reporter who can banter and talk her way into and out of just about anything.
The next key role to be cast? The villainous Lex Luthor, who has of course in past iterations been played by heavyweights like Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, and Jesse Eisenberg. It's been rumored that both Alexander and Bill Skarsgård could be up for the iconic role, though Hoult—who was initially connected to the Luthor character before being identified as a finalist for Superman—could also be involved.
Superman: Legacy hits theaters on July 11, 2025.
Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.
