Is David Corenswet truly the perfect Superman? James Gunn reveals how he found the best actor to headline the upcoming DC Universe reboot.
There will likely never be a more exciting time to be a DC Universe fan than the hunt for a new Superman. James Gunn had just announced a complete reboot for the franchise on the silver screen, and the hunt was on to cast the perfect actor as the Man of Steel. Dozens of names were thrown out, from Jack Quaid to Jacob Elordi, before things finally began to cement around David Corenswet.
Yet, while many consider David Corenswet to be a perfect casting, there’s still a big question surrounding how it came to be. James Gunn has kept the pre-production process of the DC Universe pretty close to the chest ever since he was brought on to helm the reboot with Peter Safran, leaving so many unanswered questions. But during a recent press conference with Gunn and Safran, the DC Studios co-chair tipped his hand on the process of finding the perfect Superman.
“Absolutely. That was my, that was my terror with doing Superman, was that I wasn’t going to find Superman. Like, frankly, I thought I could find Lois because…I could see different actors who could play her. But when I wrote Superman, I didn’t know an actor that could play that role. And I knew for the movie to work, we had to cast the right Superman.”
How David Corenswet Was Cast As Superman
It certainly makes sense that James Gunn was feeling the pressure to find the right Superman. With no exaggeration, the entire DC Universe was resting on the shoulders of this singular decision. Luckily though, it seems the jitters ahead of the search were worse than the search itself. Continuing on, Gunn revealed that one of the first tapes he watched when developing the reboot happened to be David Corenswet’s, with the actor immediately being considered one of the frontrunners for the part.
“Now we would have turned the world upside down to find that person. But the weird thing is, was that I got my first day of tapes, and on that first day of tapes, third tape I got was David Corenswet reading for Superman. And it was the hugest sigh of relief, because, like, oh my god.”
“You know, he had been on my radar because I had seen him in Ti West’s film Pearl. but I was like, is he—is he got, you know, that good guy charm? Does he have the humor that we need, the playfulness that we need? And just instantly it was there, and it was just such a blessing. And then, like, three tapes later was Rachel.”
Superman is currently scheduled to hit theaters on July 11, 2025. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
