James Gunn’s Superman charmed and delighted fans upon its Summer 2025 release. Led by David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, the actor shared the one note that he didn’t take from Gunn — and it makes his performance all the more sweet.
Superman features a tenderhearted scene where Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane confesses her love for Clark Kent, and Gunn originally wanted Corenswet to approach the scene in a more serious tone. “James, when I was doing that chuckle when she says, ‘I love you too,” he came up to me and said, ‘It’s not working. It needs to be solemn.’ I was like, ‘No! The whole point is, ‘I f——g know that you love me.’ Credit to James. He was right on 90% of everything, but on that one, he saw that chuckle was a very truthful thing,” Corenswer said during a conversation with Jonathan Bailey during Variety‘s meeting of the two.
“That is what makes a leading man smash it out of the park,” Bailey affirmed. Bailey’s name has also been thrown around by online rumors, with DC fans remaining optimistic that he might eventually join the DC Universe as Batman. While Corensewet is set to serve as the DC Universe’s permanent Superman, there’s been no word or confirmation on who will don the cowl and become the next Dark Knight. The pair were brought together as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, which connects big names in entertainment media to discuss their careers and current year’s success.
Superman Will Return In The DC Universe
James Gunn and David Corenswet review playback during production on Superman.Image via DC Studios
Corenswet’s refusal to take one note from Gunn about how his character would respond in such a heartfelt moment further emphasizes the belief that he was the next best choice for portraying Superman in live-action. While not the defininitive interpretation of Superman, Corenswet was greatly praised for his approach to the Last Son of Krypton, and he’s fortunately here to stay.
Superman will be proceeded by Man of Tomorrow as the DC Universe contiues to grow bigger. The story in Man of Tomorrow, it is slightly tonally different from Superman…” Gunn said when explaining his vision for the nedxt Superman-inspired movie. “Superman’s more comic-booky in some ways than Man of Tomorrow, and it has to do with the dual characters of Lex and Superman at the center of Man of Tomorrow and other things.”
The writer-director and co-president elaborated on what fans can expect from Nicholas Hoult reprising his role of Lex Luthor.” “I think I’m just more interested in getting into the heart of Lex and seeing how he fits into all of this. I think getting to know more of Lex as a human being. I think we saw a lot about the evil part of Lex. He’s pretty evi…” Gunn said, per CinemaBlend, I think he, as a character, is really interesting. There’s something, despite everything, that is incredibly heroic about Lex. Take aside morality, which is hard to do, but here is this guy who’s saying, ‘You can hold up a building. You can shoot down planes with your eyes. F— you, I’m going to kick your ass because I’m better than you.’ I can’t help but admire his tenacity and his ego. I mean, his ambition is beyond compare.”
Superman is now streaming on HBO Max. Man of Tomorrow lands in theaters on on Jul. 9., 2027.
Superman
Release Date
July 11, 2025
Runtime
130 minutes
Director
James Gunn
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Rachel Brosnahan
Lois Lane
