‘Superman: Legacy’ Finds Its Clark & Lois In David Corenswet & Rachel Brosnahan
We have a new Superman and Lois Lane, as it is officially confirmed that David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan will take on the iconic comicbook roles in James Gunn’s ‘Superman: Legacy’.
A few weeks ago, we got the news of six actors who were down to the final few for the “in-person” auditions for the high-profile movie roles. ‘Superman: Legacy’ is the first live-action project to fully come under the banner of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Studios, and new DC Universe, with Gunn himself writing and directing the movie.
David Corenswet is a 29yr old American actor who began his acting career with guest roles on the Netflix tv series ‘House of Cards’ and CBS series ‘Elementary’. He followed that by teaming up with Ryan Murphy, appearing in two of his Netflix series – ‘The Politician‘, where he played the lead’s opponent for student body president, and then taking the lead role in Murphy’s miniseries ‘Hollywood‘. From there he appeared in the brilliant HBO drama ‘We Own This City‘ from ‘The Wire’ creator, David Simon, opposite Jon Bernthal.
Rachel Brosnahan is a 32yr old American actress who is just coming off an outstanding performance on Prime Video’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘, which ended its run recently. She began her acting career in theatre, appearing in productions at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. She made her television debut in 2012 with a guest role on the CBS series ‘The Good Wife’, then appeared in shows such as NBC’s ‘The Blacklist‘, historical drama ‘Manhattan’, and Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’. On the movie side, she’s appeared in the independent film ‘The House of Tomorrow’, starred in the Prime Video film ‘I’m Your Woman’, and in 2021, she starred in the biographical drama film ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’, opposite Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon.
Taking on the high-profile roles of Clark/Superman and Lois is not without its challenges at the best of times, but there really is some pressure to deliver on ‘Superman: Legacy’, both for the actors and Gunn. It is the flagship movie of Gunn’s vision for the new DCU, so really has to work.
What I personally find interesting is the choice of Corenswet and Brosnahan. Both are unquestionably brilliant actors who can do a great job in their respective roles. But they also both have previously taken on period roles set in and around “classic Hollywood” (Corenswet in Ryan Murphy’s ‘Hollywood’ and Brosnahan in ‘Mrs. Maisel’.) Whether that is a coincidence, or just that they both have something of a “classic Hollywood” look, or whether that says something as to the “vibe” of Gunn’s vision for the film remains to be seen.
With the two main leads now selected, the hunt will be on to fill out the rest of the cast, although, at this point, we have no idea which characters from the vast Superman DC Comics canon will be involved. There were a number of rumours that Nicholas Hoult, who was allegedly up for the role of Superman, may also have been up for the role of Lex Luthor, although that has never been confirmed. There is also some suggestion the Wildstorm superhero group “The Authority” will debut in ‘Superman: Legacy’ before landing in their own previously confirmed film. We will have to wait and see what is announced next!
‘Superman: Legacy’ is currently scheduled to fly into cinemas in July 2025.
