At long last, James Gunn has found his Clark Kent. The head of DC Studios, who has been on the hunt for the superpowered Kansas farm boy for months, confirmed the announcement this afternoon, revealing that American actor David Corenswet will be our next Kal-El in the DCU’s Superman: Legacy.
Corenswet’s name has been lingering in the background as a contender to play the next Man of Steel for quite some time, but in reality, he was foreshadowed long before his screen tests in front of Gunn. As a matter of fact, the 29-year-old’s fate was predicted by the Tony Award-winning actor and musician Ben Platt back in 2019-2020 when he and Corenswet co-starred in TV series The Politician. Something Twitter quickly picked up on.
Corenswet and Platt played Payton Hobart and River Barkley in the Netflix original series, two high school politicians trying to run against each other for the title of student body president. Their rivalry verges on friendship which verges on romantic which veers into a full-on kiss scene at one point. In a later scene, Platt’s character stares right into Corenswet’s eyes and tells him he looks like Superman.
It’s impossible to deny Corenswet’s resemblance to the former Man of Steel himself Henry Cavill. In fact, it has even been a talking point in the actor’s life. Several years ago when he was 26, Corenswet shared with EW that he was aware of the resemblance, saying “It came to my attention before the internet got a hold of me.”
Indeed, to think Cavill has become synonymous with Superman goes to show just how large the shoes Corenswet must fill. Although his cinematic debut as the superheroed Kryptonian is still several years away, Corenswet gave us a glimpse of what to expect when he said his approach to playing Kal-El would be much more “bright and optimistic” than Cavill’s “dark and gritty” rendition.
“But my pie-in-the-sky ambition is definitely to play Superman. I would love to see somebody do an upbeat, throwback [take on Superman]. I love the Henry Cavill dark and gritty take, but I would love to see the next one be very bright and optimistic.”
Since Gunn himself has said Superman: Legacy will showcase a younger Superman who leans into the character’s idealistic values such as goodness and a kill-free approach to saving people, Corenswet was either as clairvoyant as Platt, or Gunn has been a fan of The Politician all along.
Superman: Legacy will fly into theaters on July 11, 2025.