Superman: Legacy and David Corenswet’s tricky challenge as Man of Steel

When David Corenswet dons the Man of Steel’s red supercape in Superman: Legacy, he’ll probably contend with a challenge far trickier than saving Earth from aliens or monsters. The trickier deal will be shaking off Henry Cavill’s shadow. Over the past week, ever since Corenswet’s name was officially confirmed as the new Superman, social media has been on hyper mode observing how close a likeness the 29-year-old actor bears to Cavill, who aced the role between 2013 and 2017 in Man Of Steel, Batman v Superman and Justice League. While most feel the resemblance should work in Corenswet’s favour, several others have dismissed him with digs that range from the mild (“carbon copy”) to the unkind (“cheap copy”).

One character changed the world. Adding to his legacy has already been one of the most joyful aspects of my life. Happy #SupermanDay. pic.twitter.com/OF3aAIAieb

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 12, 2023

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The situation Corenswet faces was perhaps expected. Cavill is widely regarded as one of two actors who wore Superman’s suit the best, the other being Christopher Reeve who starred in four films from 1978 to 1987. Most new-age comicbook cinema fans not surprisingly root for Cavill over Reeve — he is their generation’s icon, plus he managed to add an extra punch to three rather flawed productions that he was burdened with toplining. For Corenswet, his resemblance to Henry Cavill was noticed long before he was to take up the Superman job, anyway, from the time he garnered recognition for small screen roles in shows such as Hollywood and The Politician.

_Superman: Legacy_, scheduled for a worldwide release in July 2025, will kickstart more than Corenswet’s superhero career. This will be the first film of DCU (DC Universe), the comicbook universe’s new avatar since its transitioning from DCEU (DC Extended Universe) after filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran took over as co-chairmen and CEOs of DC Studios last year. The burden on Corenswet’s shoulder as Superman is, understandably, immense. His film is being projected as the premium event in a crucial phase of DC’s cinematic history.

Gunn has insisted Corenswet’s casting over Cavill was a deliberate decision, necessary to indicate where the Superman franchise, as well as DCU in general, is headed in the new era. “We didn’t fire Henry (Cavill). Henry was never cast (in Superman: Legacy). For me, it’s about, who do I want to cast as Superman, and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast? And for me, for this story, it isn’t Henry… This Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons,” Gunn told reporters a while back without elaborating on reasons. The studio seems to have taken a calculated risk, given Cavill’s popularity, and what with most recent projects such as The Flash, Shazam! 2, Birds Of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, The Suicide Squad and Black Adam performing below expectations.

If Corenswet does look like a young Henry Cavill, Gunn’s explanation about not casting Cavill would seem logical. Unconfirmed reports have, after all, suggested that the 2025 film will trace Superman’s early years as he tries to make sense of being a Kryptonian raised on Earth. Cavill, at 40, would seem like a mismatch as Superman in his early years. The milieu that unfolds the life of Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent in the Corenswet-starrer is said to be more fun in spirit and less dark than what we saw in the DCEU days. Superman: Legacy will focus on the American Dream and evolve as an old-school superhero adventure in the lines of the Christopher Reeve films. Corenswet, it is being said, will have to bring alive Superman in a way the character isn’t restricted to the big screen universe, but is compatible to a fictional world that spreads across potential television shows, animation shows and video games.

To Corenswet’s advantage, Gunn has declared there is no hero’s origin story in Superman: Legacy, which means the actor can approach the role without baggage from the past. “I think we’ve his origin enough in film at this point,” was Gunn’s reply on being asked if any sort of back story would connect Superman: Legacy with any of the older films. Still, living up to a character as iconic as Superman, and reimagining it with a new spin to set it apart from past performances will not be easy for Corenswet, especially at a time when the character and the franchise have struggled to find convincing reimagination. The fact that he is a largely unknown entity as an actor could actually end up an advantage for Corenswet.

Meanwhile, Gunn, who directs the film besides collaborating on the script along with screenwriters Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, does seem to have hit the bullseye with an early announcement — the casting of Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Brosnahan, whose Primetime Emmy and multiple Golden Globe-winning title act as an aspiring stand-up comedian in the period comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fetched her global fame, is known for her versatility. She can be expected to add a quirky edge to the comicbook verve her role demands, at the same time rendering an emotional core to Lois Lane.

The film’s powerhouse casting will not end with Brosnahan, be sure of that. Superman: Legacy is in pre-production stage right now and Gunn won’t start shooting before January 2024. But expect a barrage of updates, announcements and unofficial rumour-hawking to flood social media over the next months, in a bid to whip up fan frenzy in the run-up to the film’s release. DC Studios would hope to keep no stone unturned with the production of Superman: Legacy, for the film is their big ticket if they must regain lost ground in the race against Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). For all the pieces to fall rightly in place, though, David Corenswet’s career as Superman must take flight.

Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and journalist who loves to write on popular culture.

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