Who is David Corenswet? Everything we know about James Gunn’s new Superman

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … David Corenswet!

Wait, who?

After a long and intensive search, Warner Bros. announced on Tuesday that the 29-year-old Corenswet will take on the role of the Man of Steel (and his alter ego Clark Kent, of course) in director James Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy,” set for release July 11, 2025. Within moments of the announcement, Corenswet was already spiking as a search term on Google as comic-book fans rushed to see whether the actor seemed like the right fit for the tights and cape.

Though he’s been working in Hollywood for years, Corenswet is hardly a household name. Then again, when it comes to casting the most famous superhero this side of Krypton, the studio is clearly banking that you don’t need a high Q score as long as you have a jawline that could cut ice, a physique to match and loads of charisma. After all, neither Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh nor Henry Cavill was particularly well known before they each took on the role.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Corenswet — like Reeve before him — trained as an actor at Juilliard before cutting his teeth in various theater productions. Following his first film role in the 2018 political thriller “Affairs of State,” he appeared in such series as “House of Cards,” “Elementary” and Ryan Murphy’s “The Politician.”

Corenswet demonstrated his lead-actor chops as Jack Castello in Murphy’s 2020 Netflix limited series “Hollywood” and later attracted notice as a movie projectionist in director Ti West’s 2022 horror film “Pearl.”

Mia Goth, left, and David Corenswet in “Pearl.”

(Christopher Moss / A24)

Other credits include HBO’s gritty crooked-cop series “We Own This City” and last year’s Netflix romantic dramedy “Look Both Ways.” Corenswet is slated to star opposite Natalie Portman in the upcoming Apple TV series “Lady in the Lake” and was cast earlier this year in Universal’s “Twisters,” the belated sequel to 1996’s hit about storm chasers.

Warner Bros. also announced that Rachel Brosnahan will play Lois Lane, the reporter and love interest of Superman. Nearly as iconic as her buff beau, Lois first appeared alongside Superman in the very first Action Comics issue to feature the Man of Steel in 1938.

Brosnahan is best known for her portrayal of housewife-turned-stand-up-comedian Miriam “Midge” Maisel in the Amazon Prime series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” for which she won an Emmy in 2018 and back-to-back Golden Globes in 2018 and ’19.

Corenswet and Brosnahan reportedly beat out four other actors who made it to the final round of screen tests for Gunn, with Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney also in the running to play Superman and Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor vying for Lois Lane.

Expectations are sky-high for Warner Bros.’ reboot of the Superman franchise, which has long been one of the linchpins of the larger DC cinematic universe.

Under Gunn and his DC Studios co-head Peter Safran, the studio is attempting to reinvigorate its superhero slate following years of criticism over its creative direction and ferocious competition from Marvel Studios. The recent box office disappointments of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “The Flash” have only raised stakes higher.

Rule No. 1 of playing Superman, though? Never let them see you (Coren)-sweat.