Frontrunners For James Gunn's Superman: Legacy Reportedly Revealed
Early Saturday some of the candidates to star in DC Studios' first live-action feature entitled Superman: Legacy were revealed via a report from The Hollywood Reporter. Now, it is worth noting that these are reports and, while The Hollywood Reporter does have a solid track record when it comes to internal casting information, James Gunn himself did come out today on Twitter and implied that the reports may not be entirely accurate since he does not comment on actors during the audition stage unless the actor comes forward on their own after the fact. All of that is to say that this should be taken with a grain of salt and until there is an official announcement from Gunn himself or DC Studios, nothing is set in stone.
The report mostly relates to the casting of the three biggest roles in the movie: Clark Kent/Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor. The role of Superman is down to three actors, however the report indicates that David Corenswet is the frontrunner for the role and that the other two are "unknown but still in the mix." Corenswet previously starred in last year's horror hit Pearl.
For Lois, there are a few names in the mix, though some are more serious contenders than others. The four names being floated for the role are Emma Mackey, Rachel Brosnahan, Phoebe Dynevor, and Samara Weaving. Emma Mackey has previously starred in Death on the Nile and Emily, Brosnahan is coming off a long stint as the lead in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Dynevor appeared in two seasons of Netflix's Bridgerton, and Samara Weaving previously appeared in Bill & Ted Face the Music and Ready or Not. Of these options, Emma Mackey is the most likely choice because she is a fantastic actress and has some name recognition, but not enough name recognition where it will drive up the price of a long-term contract.
For Lex, the conversation only revolves around one man: Nicholas Hoult. Hoult is no stranger to superhero movies as he previously appeared as Beast in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix but he has also headlined his own film within the last few months with Renfield. Unlike the other two roles, the role of Lex does not seem to have any competition and the article indicates that Warner Brothers is keen to work with Hoult again after the success of Mad Max: Fury Road.
It will be interesting to see how many of these, if any, do pan out and end up being real as we move into the more formal casting stages of pre-production on Superman: Legacy in the coming months.
Superman: Legacy is scheduled to be released on July 11th, 2025.
