Superman: James Gunn Reflects on David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan's First Screen Test, "Like Magic"

The DC director teases Clark and Lois' onscreen dynamic.

By Jenna Anderson

We're a little over a year way from the theatrical debut of Superman, James Gunn's epic new take on the Man of Steel's iconic mythos. The first members of Superman's ensemble cast to be confirmed were David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane — and apparently, the chemistry between their characters will be surprising. In a recent post on Threads, Gunn celebrated the one-year anniversary of Corenswet and Brosnahan's screen test for Superman, and that they have been "two of the most extraordinary, vibrant, and meticulous actors" he has ever worked with.

"One year ago today David and Rachel screen-tested for Clark and Lois," Gunn's post reads. "When they first read together it was like magic. What a wonderful year it's been with two of the most extraordinary, vibrant, and meticulous actors I've ever had the opportunity to work with. I can't wait for you to see them on screen in just a little over a year. 💫"

Superman's Cast and Crew

Per DC Studios, Superman 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 a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

Superman will also star Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe.

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The DC Universe Slate

The first chapter of DC Studios' DC Universe slate will include 2025's Superman, 2026's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, as well as the currently-undated movies The Brave and the Bold, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. On the television side, the DC Universe will launch an animated Creature Commandos series, the sophomore season of Peacemaker, as well as future shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, and Paradise Lost. An animated Jurassic League movie and a live-action Teen Titans movie are also reported to be in the works, but neither have been officially confirmed by DC Studios.

"A lot of people think it's going to be Marvel 2.0, and definitely I learned a lot of stuff at Marvel. I think that we have a lot of differences," Gunn explained in January of 2023. "We are telling a big, huge, central story that is like Marvel, except for, I think that we're a lot more planned out than Marvel from the beginning because we've gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely. But we're also creating a universe that is like Star Wars, where there's different times, different places, different things, or Game of Thrones, where characters are a little bit more morally complex." 

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