James Gunn Finds His Superman and Lois in David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan

Stop the (Daily Planet’s) presses: James Gunn has found his Superman and Lois Lane. David Corenswet will play the lead of Clark Kent/Superman in Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy.” Rachel Brosnahan has been selected as Lois.

Corenswet broke out in the A24 horror hit “Pearl.” He’s also known for Netflix’s “Look Both Ways” and HBO miniseries “We Own This City.” Corenswet also wrote, directed, and starred in the web sketch-comedy series “Moe & Jerryweather.” He will next be seen opposite Natalie Portman in the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series “The Lady in the Lake.”

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Brosnahan just ended her five-season run as the title star in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Brosnahan earned an Emmy Award and two Golden Globes for “Maisel.” She was nominated for an 2015 Emmy for “House of Cards.” Brosnahan recently starred opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Lionsgate’s “The Courier,” and alongside Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe in director Walter Hill’s 2022 western “Dead for a Dollar.”

“Superman: Legacy” tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned. Gunn will direct from his screenplay based on characters from DC. The Superman character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The high-stakes film is being produced by Peter Safran (“Aquaman” and “The Conjuring”), Gunn’s co-chairman & CEO at DC Studios. “Superman: Legacy” is the first in Gunn and Safran’s new slate of interconnected movies as part of the DCU; it’s scheduled for release on July 11, 2025. A lot is riding on “Superman: Legacy.” This year’s “The Flash” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” both of which were from the prior DC regime, struggled at the box office. To catch Marvel, DC needed a serious reset.

As such, the search for a new Kal-El (Supe’s Kryptonian name) has been serious business, and the cap (but hopefully not the red briefs) has been passed around. THR reported on Monday that Gunn had conducted screen tests with other pairings, including Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney for Superman, and Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor for Lois.

For a while there it looked like there role wasn’t even up for grabs. “Superman: Legacy” follows the brief return of Henry Cavill to the role of Superman in a post-credits stinger following the “Black Adam” film with Dwayne Johnson. After Cavill had announced he would return, Gunn and Safran took the universe — and the gig — in a different direction.

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