Superman 2025 reflections: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, James Gunn and Peter Safran unveil their vision for the new ‘Man of Steel’

For lead actor Corenswet, the process of filming Superman involved drawing deeply from his own experiences, allowing him to embody facets of himself while exploring the complexities of a superhero. 

“Well, I started at the gym,” Corenswet revealed when asked how he prepared for his role. “That was the first place I focused. James had kindly said ‘You’re in good shape, but I want you to build up a bit.’ To me, that sounded like a fairly minor request. He didn’t say, ‘You’re skinny, you need to pack on a lot of weight.’ But I thought to myself, in Christopher Reeve’s words, ‘I’ve been a string bean my whole life, and Superman is not a string bean.’ So, I decided to put on as much muscle as I could, in a healthy and focused way.” 

For Corenswet, the rigorous commitment of training five to six days a week, for two to three hours each session, has, in a way, deepened his understanding of the human side of Superman’s life and the profound loneliness the character can at times experience. 

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“It’s a routine I’d never maintained before. My days revolved around eating, thinking about eating, digesting, working out or sleeping. I felt deeply alone,” he confessed. “In that moment, you feel very alone, even while you’re at the gym with other people. And so that's the first time I tapped into Superman,” he added. 

He described how, at that point, the physical solitude of his training unexpectedly mirrored the emotional isolation Superman often feels. “He struggled with feeling lonely, feeling isolated and alienated from the people he loves the most and the people he wants to be closest to: Lois and his colleagues at the Daily Planet and his adopted parents and his birth parents, and ultimately, humanity. He wants desperately to be a part of them, to be connected to them. But he knows and feels that he ultimately isn’t quite like them—and fears that he isn’t connected to them. And that, I thought—what a universal human experience: to be surrounded by people and to feel lonely.”

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Brosnahan said it is the privilege of a lifetime to step into the shoes of Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, a character in whom many young women have seen themselves. “Lois is one of the characters who’s evolved the most throughout the history of comics,” she said, commenting on the protagonist’s appearance and the lens through which the audiences see her. 

“One of the first things I asked James, even before the audition, was: where does she fit into the character Superman who is so familiar to so many of us?” she said. “He spoke about the importance of her journalism, but what drew me to this version of Lois is that she feels equally weighted in the story. You have a superhero with powers, and then you have this woman who’s a superhero in her own right,” she said. 

Comparing the characters of Lois Lane and Superman, Brosnahan noted a key contrast in their strengths and weaknesses: “She [Lois] can reason her way through almost anything, and she’s 10 steps ahead of everyone else. But then something comes along—something she couldn’t possibly anticipate, something she can’t logic her way out of—and it knocks her off her feet.”

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Brosnahan also reflected on the modernisation of the character: “We talked a bit about what that would look like today. Showing up professionally looks different now than it did even 10 years ago. So we explored who Lois is as someone who would chase the story to the ends of the Earth, who puts her work first—what does her flat look like? How does she dress? How does she express herself through what she wears? That meant a lot of watching, researching and digging into the details.”

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For those who can’t wait until July, filmmaker James Gunn revealed what to look forward to: a new Superman that captures the spirit of childhood while resonating with both new and longtime fans alike.

“I have always loved the character of Superman,” said director James Gunn. “I started reading the Superman comics when I was just three or four years old. I adore many superheroes from both DC and Marvel, but today I’m here not just because of my own dream; it’s really thanks to Peter Safran who has been nudging me for the past decade to make a Superman film.” 

For Gunn, the new Superman will be one that honours the character’s rich legacy. “People have approached me about it before, but it wasn’t until one day I allowed myself to imagine what this movie could truly be. The Superman I fell in love with as a child reading comics is a Superman not just rooted in his origin story, but a part of a larger universe, a world filled with superhero friends, the Daily Planet gang, a flying dog and giant monsters. I became utterly enmeshed in that world before I could even read properly,” Gunn said. 

The filmmaker said he wanted to rekindle that sense of magic and awe he felt as a child for this new iteration.

“That childhood wonder is what I wanted to capture in this film—a feeling that resonates with both children and adults alike. It’s a universe grounded in reality, with real stakes, flawed people facing problems and relationships, some stubbornly refusing to change,” he revealed.

For Gunn and the rest of the team, bringing this new version of Superman to life has been a genuine joy. “It’s not about altering the essence of the character, but rather breathing new life into him,” Gunn said.

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