David Corenswet: The actor who pipped Nicholas Hoult to coveted Superman role

Four years after he shared his “pie-in-the-sky ambition” to play Superman one day, David Corenswet has been announced as the next Clark Kent.

On Tuesday (27 June), DC Studios shared that the Hollywood actor would be replacing Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, with The Marvellous Mrs Maisel actor Rachel Brosnahan starring as character’s love interest, Lois Lane.

The news was confirmed by director James Gunn, as he confirmed news of Corenswet and Brosnahan’s casting. “Accurate!” he wrote, adding: “They are not only both incredible actors, but also wonderful people.”

The DC Studios co-CEO will direct the pair in Superman: Legacy, due for release in 2025.

Previous reports had suggested that Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney were in the running to play Superman, while Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor were up for the part of Lois. However, the Brits were beaten to the role by US actor Corenswet, 29.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Corenswet is the child of two lawyers, his father having previously worked as a theatre actor. His grandfather on his mother’s side is Edward Packard, who invented the Choose Your Own Adventure book genre.

As a child, he appeared in a number of professional stage productions in Philadephia. In his teenage years, he wrote and starred in his own film, and created an internet sketch series called Moe and Jerryweather.

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Of his child actor past, Corenswet told MTV News in 2020: “I didn’t have a dream of being an actor, even though my dad was a theatre actor for many years. When I auditioned for my first play in Philadelphia when I was nine, he knew the territory a little bit. He understood the culture and the logistics of it.

“But the meeting of those two things was this very practical thing. I wanted to spend as much time around the world of Star Wars, or other worlds that I loved — James Bond, Indiana Jones. I wanted to be as close to that as much of the time as I could be.”

Corenswet went on to study acting at the prestigious Juilliard School and soon began appearing in small roles in TV and film, such as Elementary, Instinct, and House of Cards.

His first major roles came when he began collaborating with Glee and Pose creator Ryan Murphy. Corenswet appeared in both The Politician and Hollywood, Murphy’s early shows for Netflix, which were met with mixed responses from critics.

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In 2019’s The Politican, Corenswet played River, the popular student running against antihero Payton (Ben Platt), his ex, to be student body president.

He then led revisionist period drama Hollywood in 2020, playing a Second World War veteran who moves to Hollywood to chase his dreams. Despite the film facing criticism, reviewers praised Corenswet’s performance.

Other roles came in 2022 David Simon’s HBO series We Own This City, as well as the Netflix romcom Look Both Ways. That same year, he appeared opposite Mia Goth in Ti West’s Pearl.

Alongside Superman: Legacy, Corenswet’s future projects include musical film The Greatest Hits, the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake, disaster film Twisters and FX’s adaptation of Catherine Lacy’s The Answers.

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Corenswet’s casting as Clark Kent has been praised by fans, who have long pointed out the actor’s similarity to both the Superman cartoon and Cavill.

Back in 2019, the actor acknowledged his resemblance to The Witcher star, and even threw his hat into the ring to play Superman one day.

“My pie-in-the-sky ambition is definitely to play Superman,” he told Entertainment Weeklyat the time.

“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.”