The search for Superman and Lois Lane is over. Out of the six actors that vied for the roles, Corenswet and Brosnahan were selected to lead the Superman: Legacy. Superman: Legacy will serve as the first film under writer-director Gunn and his co-boss Peter Safran at DC Studios.
Few jobs are as pressure-filled or sought after as playing Superman. That is especially true given the current environment at DC Studios. Corenswet will serve as the protagonist of a brand-new superman universe as DC tries to rebuild itself in the wake of a string of failures like October’s Black Adam and March’s Shazam.
The role has only been portrayed on the big screen by three actors, with Christopher Reeve’s career-defining performance in 1978’s Superman helping to establish the contemporary superhero genre and inspiring three sequels. Brandon Routh played the title role in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006), which was a box office dud and made him a one-and-done. And ten years later, Henry Cavill played Clark Kent in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which established the DC Extended Universe and cemented Cavill’s status as a fan favorite.
Afterward, Cavill made appearances in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). After taking a break from the character for a while, Cavill made a cameo appearance in Black Adam (2022) and declared his intention to feature in additional Superman films. All of this occurred prior to the hiring of Gunn and Safran to redesign DC, which included ideas for a younger Superman.
Being No. 1 on the call sheet of a studio film for the first time, and doing so as one of pop culture’s most lasting figures, signals a significant career transition for Corenswet in Legacy. The Politician, a Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix series, served as the actor’s breakout performance. Hollywood, another Murphy-produced series, followed.
For her critically acclaimed series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Brosnahan won an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She gained notoriety with House of Cards and received an Emmy nomination for it. On the big screen, Lois Lane has been portrayed by three different actors.
Margot Kidder, who featured opposite Christopher Reeve in 1978’s Superman and its three sequels, produced a defining performance full of wit and spunk. Lois was played by Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns in 2006, and Amy Adams portrays her in Man of Steel (2016), as well as Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).
The film Superman: Legacy will be released on July 11, 2025, and Gunn plans to start filming early in 2024.
