David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan are officially your new Superman and Lois Lane
The duo will make their debut in James Gunn's Superman: Legacy
Aux News Lois Lane
Perhaps in an effort to introduce a new talking point that has nothing to do with The Flash and how it may have fared at the box office, James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has made its first big casting announcements—and it’s for two of the biggest characters they’ve got: According to Deadline, David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan have been cast as Superman and Lois Lane in Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy.
This comes just a day after reports came out that Corenswet and Brosnahan had filmed screen tests for DC Studios, though Corenswet had been paired with Emma Mackey for his and Brosnahan had been paired with Nicholas Hoult for hers. The men had to go through two days of it, filming scenes both as Clark Kent and as Superman, with the Superman scenes reportedly going to be a huge factor in DC and Warner Bros. Discovery’s final decision—apparently “how they look in a superhero suit” is a big part of this process.
Deadline also notes that the reason this happened relatively quickly is that SAG-AFTRA’s contract is up on June 30, and everyone involved wanted this on the books before a potential actors strike happens. Similarly, if a strike does happen, Corenswet and Brosnahan definitely won’t be showing up at Comic-Con this year, since guild rules would prevent them from promoting stuff like this. That means this might be the last we hear about this project for some time, but at least we can start getting acquainted with our new Man Of Steel and Reporter Of Steel.
This will be Corenswet’s first big leading role in a major studio film, having previously popped up in Pearl and We Own This City. Deadline suggests that he’s been a frontrunner since early on. Brosnahan, meanwhile, just finished her run as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which earned her an Emmy. Deadline says that casting will move on to Lex Luthor and Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen now that the two biggest characters have been nailed down. After that, maybe they’ll do Jor-El and Perry White, or maybe Ma and Pa Kent, and then that’s basically all of the Superman characters that need to show up in a movie (unless Gunn is doing a Brainiac thing… hey, just as long as the third act isn’t “lazy”).
139 Comments
Perfect casting.
It’s pretty spot on. I can’t wait to see what Gunn does with Supes.
Indeed, Dave Cornsweat playing a Kansas famer.
Meh, let me know when they cast Mister Mxyzptlk.
Danny DeVito
Let’s hope Zaslav, doesn’t issue a decree that it has to be a CGI-resurrected Vern Troyer.
Too expensive. He’ll just dub footage of fish from Wicked Tuna.
The Marvelous Mr. Mxyzptlk? Put Tony Shaloub in the role and call it a day!
I think we both know it’s gonna be Sean Gunn.
I don’t know them, but that’s ok.
She’s the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!
Was also a…well, not exactly how to describe her, but a bad influence on House of Cards (where she looks exactly NOTHING like Maisel – I couldn’t believe it was the same person).
That was the first thing I saw her in too.I’ll, uh, be in my bunk.
from what I heard her character was a few scenes with barely a name (or maybe not a name) and they immediately figured out what they had an wrote her into the show
Yeah she was definitely…compelling.
If you think that sends you to your bunk, uh, definitely start watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Oh, I did, from day 1. Love that show.
Captain Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Marvel’s Mrs. Maisel.
She played Maybelle on Ms. Marvel!?
To Superman she’ll always be the Lionizing Lois Lane!
Is that a Charlton Comics hero?
Is that a Dark Horse title?
…you sleep all night and you work all day?
that dude had great presence in pearl, so i think they nailed it. she also just straight up looks like lois lane. worried about the skaarsgard casting for lex. i think lex HAS to be an american, and i’d like them to keep the trend of a fairly big movie star, too.
Now that Hoult isn’t Supes, I think Lex would be great for him.
He’s incredible as a charming, manipulative, brilliant sociopath in Skins.
Also as a charming, manipulative, not-so-brilliant sociopath in The Great.
ehhh…again i want an american and someone more established/older. hoult rules and i like him a lot, but i think luthor needs a booming, intimidating presence.i also want skyler gisondo as jimmy olsen!
I honestly thought I’d never see another comic book movie but they just cast the best possible actress for Lois Lane since…ever. I can’t believe I’m actually kind of excited about this. It’s hard to believe that a high profile Hollywood comic book movie actually went with the best actress for part and not the highest Q score or newest hottie. Bravo.
Yeah, no kidding. I hope this is the next step in Brosnahan becoming a full-on movie star. She’s a simply incredible actress, and as far as Lois Lane is concerned she’s the right combination of bright, tough, and pretty (in a professional woman way). Just straight-up-the-middle-casting that I agree might make me see a movie I would normally have lukewarm interest in.
“I honestly thought I’d never see another comic book movie”
Cool, nobody believes you.
Cool, look forward to them getting as far as costume tests before Zaslav sells Superman rights to Citibank or something.
More likely he would just stop borrowing them from the Siegel estate.
“What? We’re paying 0.01% of our net Superman profits to nobodies who don’t even have a reality show? Shut it down!”
it’ll just be the naming rights Citibank’s Superman: Legacy
“That’s right! Wherever there is injustice! Wherever man’s cruelties overtake his better nature! Wherever greed and hatred- I’ll be there to fight for whoever has been wronged!”“Superman! The bank denied me a home loan because I’m a single mother!”“Can’t help you, bitch.”
Civilian: Superman! HELP!Superman: Don’t worry, citizen, I’m here to help…you get a great rate on your mortgage!
Civilian: Lex Luthor shot me nine times.
Superman: Nine times, eh? Never mind about that mortgage, your credit score just tanked. Did you know life expectancy was one of the criteria? Crazy, right? Uh, guy? Guy?
“On my homeworld, this logo stands for hope”*Lois turns to camera*“Well here it means great service with a fantastic rewards program!”
Making an origin film for this character yet again would be lazy. I also would like to suggest doing something different for the Lois/Superman dynamic: not making Lois infatuated with Superman. Have an end credits scene where Clark is nervously about to reveal himself to her, and Lois just goes “yeah, I know”- she already figured out he’s Superman, she’s brilliant and quick, she’s unimpressed and, as a dedicated reporter, is a little wary of a guy with superpowers potentially using them to get his stories. So she’s not head over heels with this guy, she’s ready to continue their relationship as a platonic one. These are still great characters but it’s always the same stuff regurgitated when it’s been done perfectly in the Reeve/Kidder film(s).
One of the things I liked about Man of Steel was that Amy Adams’ Lois figured out who he was and tracked him down relatively easily.I’m really looking forward to this one but I hope against all hope that we don’t get more regurgitation and repetition of the Reeve movies. We already had one feature-length tribute to it and that was more than enough.
This looks promising. Superman Returns and Man of Steel were such polar opposites, a slavish homage and a vapid attempt at deconstruction, respectively. Neither worked. Hopefully Gunn can move the property into the 21st century.
It would be nice to have a fresh villain. A Luthor presence is obligatory, but the inclusion of Zod in Man of Steel was one of the first red flags.
Justice for Mister Mxyzptlk!
I’m hoping they go with a Lex that has no particular bone to pick with Superman and is just a megalomaniacal genius who does shit like making dirigible cities in attempts to start a World War for his own gain, but then gets increasingly frustrated with Superman thwarting him. The Silver Age and beyond origins kept making him have some origin interactions with Superman from the start, usually Superman saving Lex, that made Lex jealous of Superman, and pretty much all his plans revolved around trying to take Supes down after that. Build up to that enmity rather than make it part of Lex’s origin.
I liked what Byrne did with Luthor in a lot of ways but one of the great things was completely removing the Smallville part of his backstory so that he didn’t meet Superman until he was an adult and already established.Having built up such an ego and having such material power, Superman getting what he always wanted just shatters his fragile ego.
My Luther take leans closer to Superman TAS, with a hint of Red Son, in that I believe he tells himself he needs more money and more power in order to make Earth and humanity prosper. He wants to be known as Earth’s savior and the greatest human that has ever lived. And when Superman appears, Luthor justifies trying to take him down with many arguments: he’s too big of a wild variable for his plans, he’s not really human and who knows where his true loyalty lies, he hasn’t done half the things Luthor has done for mankind yet he gets all the glory and adulation. At the end, Luthor accepts that he only enjoyed power, and he hates Superman just because he’s petty.
Oh yeah, that’s a great take on Luthor. Clancy Brown was so good in the role of Luthor. One of my favourite takes on the character. Good call.
I prefer the old Superfriends cartoon Lex Luthor backstory. He was a friend of Superboy’s who was trying to develop a cure for his weakness to kryptonite until a fire broke out in his lab and Superboy callously put it out with his superbreath. Which caused hot vapors to blow onto Lex and cost him his lovely head of hair for life.
They brought that back in the comics in 2003 in Superman Birthright, DC’s attempt initially to do Ultimate Superman before deciding it was going to be his new in-canon origin story, something they swiftly abandoned again very quickly.
Makes way more sense honestly, he had beautiful red locks of hair.
I’m excited to see what they do with Luthor. I didn’t mind the tech bro take on him. It wasn’t the best but at least it wasn’t yet another go of the dodgy real estate scam shit.
I didn’t hate the tech/bro take either, it could have gone somewhere if developed. But Snyder’s wasn’t taking the franchise anywhere good. I always kind of like the idea of Luthor as an older guy rather than his contemporary. It increases the threat he perceives Superman to be to him.
It’s crazy they went with Zuckerberg-Lex when Elon Musk was RIGHT THERE
I agree that both of those movies are pretty bad. But I also don’t think we need to burn everything down and recast every three years. It gets tiresome real fast.
Gunn could still do a “fresh start” that still used the otherwise fine and not-at-all-their-fault DECU cast that was already in place (minus folks like Affleck who were done with it.)
I think the public response to The Flash is evidence they need to burn it down. Cavill looked the part, but I always thought he was a little wooden. Doesn’t help that he was written as an easily manipulated man-child, but he’s also 40 years old now. That’s hardly ancient, but if you want to hit the reset button for the next 10 years, going younger is probably necessary. It has worked for James Bond.
Doesn’t help that he was written as an easily manipulated man-childlol. I tell “Zaddy” fanboys this all the time. That Cavill Supes is the least dynamic Superman ever. Almost everything he does or doesn’t do even to JL is a reaction to someone or something else. He’s never proactive and he barely wants to be a hero. In MOS if Zod never shows up, Cavill never becomes Supes. He gets the suit fucks off wherever and doesn’t do anything, then Zod shows up and forces him out. It’s just so impossibly bad and stupid. Snyder is clearly doing some voodoo to make some people believe that shit is good or makes sense.
Clark’s adoptive Dad teaches him to hide until Zod smokes him out of his fox hole. He’s never an adult person with a personality, he becomes Lois’s emotionally stunted bodyguard. All Snyder can think to do with him is beat him up, crucify him, or turn him evil. And never mind Krypton was a fascist state that relies on eugenics. Typical Snyder, looks nice but dumb as a bag of hammers.
lol exactly. Well stated. Can’t believe some people wanted 10 more years of DC Snyder slop shit. A “Superman” that shirks away from, hides and in some instances even disdains the world and is obsessed with Lois. A person he barely had any interaction with during MOS before falling head over heels for her. There is more chemistry in a glass of saltwater than Amy Adams and Henry Cavill. Goodness gracious. I’m glad the insanity and stupidity has been cancelled.
I’m not saying the movies were any good! Just that you could quietly move on from them and still keep the same cast in place. The DCEU wasn’t ALL bad. (or maybe it was, actually. I don’t really remember liking any of the movies all that much except the 1st WW and maybe BoP and Harley Quinn.)
I just find excessively fast recasting and rebooting to be tiresome, particularly when the results are so often bad.
Ah ha! But they decided to burn it down before The Flash was released and subsequently bombed!
There were a lot of other factors that caused The Flash to bomb (Black Adam and Shazam 2 also did poorly). I doubt many people stayed away just because WB/DC is hitting the reset button, most people don’t pay as close attention to what universe the movie is in. It didn’t help that Ezra Miller isn’t exactly a box office draw and his suit looked ridiculous.
Good points.
I like how you didn’t mention Henry Cavill or Zack Snyder
Man of Steel totally worked. And Zod’s a great villain, why would he be a “red flag”?
Michael Shannon’s Zod is certainly entertaining, but going straight back to Zod after he was prominently featured in previous Superman movies was a red flag that Man of Steel would be bereft of new ideas. It turned out to be a hollow anti-Superman movie.
a snyderhead! what are your thoughts on The Flash? Channel every ounce of hate stored in your body to communicate this to me.
im not a snyderhead. I dont hate anything. I havent seen the Flash but it doesnt look good. But thanks for jumping to conclusions based on practically nothing.
I’m thinking in this era of surveillance, social media and AI brute force data crunching (because there’s no way you wouldn’t leave at least an indirect trail), keeping a secret identity with any kind of public profile for very long would be nigh on impossible.
Basically the CW route. Where everyone knows the “secret” identity. Then everyone becomes just as powerful as the main character, making the main character kind of moot.
Personally I think Lois’ character could only be improved with the addition of a solid gold arm.
From the way Gunn has describe it I doubt there’s going to much origin story stuff. It sounds like Clark has already been Superman for a while and the starts with Clark taking a job at the Daily Planet. Gunn has said a couple times now that superheroes are already an established thing in the DCU when it starts. The impression I get is that he’s trying not to emulate the MCU in that regard, where so many of the movies are origin stories. Which I’m fine with. Gunn is good at just plopping characters into stories where you find out about their backgrounds more organically through interactions with other characters or the occasional flashback if needed.
Given that Gunn has noted his appreciation for All-Star Superman, as with all people of good conscience, I’ll bet that the beginning of the movie is similar or identical to the 4-panel/8-word masterpiece that ASS began with.
Scene: Lois is typing on her laptop at the Bugle/blog/etc. In the background is Clark, as he stands up from his desk, clearly torn about something. He starts with “Lois…” and trails off as he sheepishly removes his glasses. Without turning around, Lois, still typing, says, “I know.” End scene.
No, no, in the end he’s about to reveal himself to be Superman only for her to say “yeah, I know” and pull off her skin mask to reveal she’s been Marlon Brando the entire time.But also, why would she be wary of him as a reporter, he’s a literal god and he chooses to be a reporter, it’s like, one of the best reasons to not be wary of him as being abusive of his powers.
I like these ideas. I’m not a fan, but I would love to see Lois figure that out before anyone else.
That’s pretty much how they handled it on Lois and Clark, the 90s ABC show.
What are my two goals at the gym today? Work on my core n’ sweat.
I don’t know who this Cornsweat guy is but he sounds perfect for a Midwest farmboy. Meanwhile Brosnahan is 1,000% spot-on perfect.
Brosnahan is fantastic casting on this. Sexy, super-smart and capable of machine-gun dialogue.
I liked pretty much all of the Lois Lane actresses over the years, but Brosnahan may be the best yet.
Nicholas Hoult was never going to be Superman. He has big Lex Luthor energy. Just too weird to be the hero (just watch him in The Great) but perfect as the antagonist. Gunn is great at casting, so I’m sure he won’t let Hoult go.
I recall he tested for The Batman as well. Seems like he’s just on the “young, tall, dark hair” list for these casting calls. Lex I could see. I never really thought he was right as Hank McCoy in X-Men, but I think he was an 11th hour substitution.
His Beast was never BAD but also never Kelsey Grammar.
Hoult wasn’t terrible, he was just never as poetic as Hank McCoy should (which Grammar totally nailed)
Trying to play Beast is like trying to play Frasier Crane. There’s only one guy who can do it.
but also never Kelsey Grammar.You say that like it’s a bad thing . . .
Kelsey Grammer walked out of the freakin’ page with that casting. I don’t know that there’s ever been better casting in hollywood than Kelsey Grammer as Beast. That was peak.
I think Hoult is versatile enough that he could do just about anything, but, yeah his innate oddness is probably better suited as a villain role.Cillian Murphy, after all, read for Batman, but Nolan instead made him the bad guy. And then put him in every single other movie he made since. So losing the “big job” doesn’t really matter all that much.
Good for him, he has great energy. Solid up-and-comer and based on this is sounds like he hits the pavement very hard. Happy to see Hoult headline someday.
I would argue he wasn’t an obvious choice for Beast in X-Men. He clearly goes to every audition. Good for him.
Hoult seems to have done too much offbeat work so far (The Great, Fury Road, and The Favourite come to mind) to be Superman. Maybe because of that, yeah, he does have Luthor vibes.
That’s not to shade this David Corenswet fellow— I’ve no idea what he’s been in, aside from what the article mentions, and indeed may not have heard of him at all prior. But he looks the part, so good job there.
Like Tom Welling and Reeve had a love child.
I’ve only seen Corenswet in Pearl and for the first few moments he was on screen I was wondering if Henry Cavill had a brother. He certainly does look the part and although it was pretty brief, he was great in Pearl.
Who wouldn’t rather be Luther anyway? But then I’m biased because I find Superman boring and one-note. And it this point we’re headed toward “who was the better Dr. Who” territory.
Hoult is also probably too much of an established actor to play Superman — the role has always gone to a lesser known actor. I don’t think he was ever really in serious contention, and they invited him to screen test because he’s a veteran pro who could be counted on to bring out the best in his scene partner. There are plenty of other roles he can play.
He’s also just too pretty to be Supes, haha.Perfect Luthor, though! He was iconic in Skins.
It’s weird that Hoult is now most associated with playing ‘weird’ characters. I still mostly see him as Tony Stoneham, who despite being borderline evil, was like was an all-time lead male character (Skins revolved around him in a way few dramas revolve around their main characters).
Yeah, I appreciate that his star profile has been steadily growing over the years but there was no way “young Beast” was gunna be superman
I’m sure Hoult nailed the Clark Kent half of the audition.
The best part (because of the Snydervese apologists) is that they almost certainly used Cavill’s suit during the auditions to replace him.
…. It sounds like you yourself are a Snyder apologist… this is the funny thing about racists, misogynists, etc., etc., nobody ever knows that they are one themself.
Go tell an objectively racist person they’re a racist and see what they say “fuck you I’m not racist”.
Brosnahan playing Lois Lane may be the best casting in the history of casting. When it came out who they were screentesting I couldn’t imagine anyone else better in the role. This was actually the duo I hoped for. I’ve only seen Corenswet in Pearl but I actually thought, wow, the guy looks like Superman, and, while a VERY different role, he was great in the movie.
I think they said on here or somewhere that she was not really in their minds, then she pushed them to give her a chance and she knocked them out; that was the narrative anyway
“Don’t”
I feel the same way about Brosnahan. She’s got that kind of spunky girl next door charm, and she can be funny too. You also reminded I have seen this guy before. He was good in Pearl. Dashing with just a tinge of sinister. Looking at some screen shots of him from that, I can see it now. It’s not super exciting, but I see it.
I kept hearing “Pearl” for the guy and I pictured the Pearl Harbor movie; just now it dawned on me, I think they’re thinking the Mia Goth horror movie… is that streaming anywhere?
Says here it’s on Paramount+ / Showtime.
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/pearl-2022
Showtime/Paramount+
This might make me re-watch Pearl, arguably last years best film.
agreed, I’m kind of more excited for her take on Lois than the actual movie/plot.
Corenswet was also great in Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood on Netflix. Very charming and very handsome.
oh my god no, she is the fucking worst
from what I understand this one will not include everybody knowing his secret identity or a giant crossover with the world blowing up…it might actually be like the fucking comic and the way it has been for like much of its 70 years
not heard of Dorenswet but looking forward to seeing what he brings.. Laura Dern for Ma Kent please.never seen Brosnahan in a full episode of Missing Mabel but from clips, she seems to demonstrate Lois Lane-isms,Now i’m thinking about a Superman film written by Sherman-Palladino, lol (bunheads fan here). i can imagine them being controversial and making Lois gay and Superman an abuser, haha.i want to be wow-ed by the floying scenes.
I like Dern for Ma Kent. SO in a fun, joking way how about Sam or Goldblum for Pa Kent?
I don’t know if Goldblum could pull off Kansas dirt farmer convincingly.
Sam Neill could play Pa Kent.
I’m actually surprised they went with the two American actors. I figured they go with Brits all the way. Congratulations to them.
I had to look up Corenswet because with that last name (just sounds so damn English) and, well, just looking at him, I felt about 75% sure that this guy must be British. But no, he’s a Philly guy.
Brosnahan has been fired after DC discovered that she used to star in a TV show with the word “Marvelous” in the title.
Nah, they’ll just ask Amazon to rename the show to The Shazamous Mrs. Maisel.
I am irrationally happy that a Brit was not cast as Superman.While I love so many of the British actors that have played Spider Man, Batman, and Superman – it was getting beyond parody.
The only thing I know about David Corenswet is that his grandpa came up with those Choose Your Own Adventure books, and that absolutely rules.
I don’t wish ill on Edward Packard, but it’ll be a small failure of the universe if his death isn’t the result of a benign, safe choice.
Everything was going just great until the avalanche.
Page 3: The man runs out of the bank, waving a machine gun in one hand and the detonator for the bomb around his neck in the other. “I’LL KILL ANYONE WHO COMES AFTER ME!” he screams maniacally.As a police officer, you know it’s your duty to try to stop him.If you want to chase after the heavily-armed psychopath who swore he’d shoot anyone who came after him, turn to page 5.If you think it’s best to call in for a SWAT team and the bomb squad whilst making sure you stay out of sight, turn to page 89.*turns to page 89*You think you’d better just call it in. After retreating back into the alley behind the bank, you reach for your radio, but before you can key the transmit button a piano some movers were winching into the top floor of an apartment block that this book made zero prior mention of snaps its cable and lands on top of your head, crushing you like a pinot noir grape beneath a French vintner’s foot, and the only way they’re able to identify your gooefied remains is from when they pressure-wash the intestines off your badge and read the number. The End.You mean the result of not picking the page closest to the one he’s on now.(Seriously, that’s the safe choice 999 out of a 1000 in those books.)
That guy is just an AI de-aged Henry Cavill and nothing you say can convince me otherwise.
Don’t know the guy but Lois is excellent! Just excellent! I wanna do a backflip for that one
He doesn’t look Superman-ish. He looks the son-of-Dr. House, not the son of Jor-El.
I think you’re letting the stubble sway your opinion.
No, it’s the eyebrow to eye ratio. And he looks too quizzically serious. Suprman’s face requires a touch of innocent inquiry combined with a sort of expressionless valor.
This year I decided to upgrade my stubble-beard to a real beard (2 inches roughly). In heinseight I’m embarrassed that I referred to my stubble-beard as just a “beard”. I feel like decades from now we’re going to look back and be like “why was tight, tapered beards a fashion thing?”…. even now I’m starting to think it looks bad and juvenile. Obviously I’m years away from the foolhardy of shaving ones neck up to the chinstrap line (why do guys think shaving half of their beard off looks good????) but yah…. stubble beards just look juvenile to me. And messy. Just commit to one look!
Years ago a dude at a party told my buddy that his stubble-beard made his face look like a vagina and that about sums up my feelings too.
Next episode: why george stromboloupolous and all soul-patches are dumb.
oh my god why her, she is the fucking worst.
This needs Ambush Bug
I am enormously bored by the Superman/Lois love story. I sorta wish it had been in the second film or something. Subjective, I know.
Just because they’re both in the movie, doesn’t mean there has to be a love story between them right away.
Promise me you’ll bury Lois Lane with her golden arm!
The guy looks like a younger version of that actor from West World and Punisher.