Is David Corenswet A Good Fit For Superman? Here's How /Film Readers Feel

James Gunn surprised nobody when he announced he would be directing DC's next Superman movie. The new co-head of DC Studios is an unapologetic comic book fan, and as far as comic book heroes go there's none more iconic than the Man of Steel. Thus, it made sense that Gunn gave himself the job. Then, in yet another unsurprising move, it was confirmed that David Corenswet had been cast as the lead in "Superman: Legacy." Corenswet, with his all-American, traditionally handsome good looks seemed like an obvious, if slightly safe, choice for Clark Kent/Superman — though Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane was somewhat of a pleasant surprise.

Gunn has since added Nathan Fillion as a Green Lantern and Isabela Merced As Hawkgirl, as well "Barry" alum Anthony Carrigan, who'll be playing Metamorpho. All this casting news confirms that Corenswet's Supes will indeed be arriving on an Earth that's already populated by superheroes — which raises questions about how Gunn will properly convey the Man of Steel's standing as Earth's pre-eminent superhuman.

But the thing fans will be most keen to assess is whether Corenswet himself is a good fit for Superman. The "Pearl" actor certainly seems to be a solid choice, but, as is so often the case with comic book movies, fans will have the final say. Which is why we at /Film decided to ask our informed readers what they thought about this whole thing, so as to provide us all with a crude but hopefully informative gauge as to how the all-important fans are feeling at this early stage.

David Corenswet, who'd been eyeing the role of Superman since 2019, will likely be pretty excited to play Clark Kent/Superman, as this will surely prove to be his breakout role. Unfortunately, much of the response to his casting, at least on social media, has focused on whether the 30-year-old has the physical build required to embody Kal-El. Which, when you remember the exact same thing happened after Robert Pattinson's casting in "The Batman," all just seems a bit tiresome — as if no actor has ever bulked up to play a superhero. Better yet, as if actors aren't capable of making a role their own, regardless of their physicality.

Thankfully, /Film readers are much more sensible, and have provided several thoughtful insights to our Facebook query asking what they all thought of Corenswet's casting. Overall, the response was pretty positive, with even the skeptics taking a reasonable approach. Michael Hell, for instance, commented that even though he's "a big fan of [Henry] Cavill," he's willing to "see how it turns out," stating that "everyone deserves a chance." Indeed they do, Michael, and Corenswet certainly has a huge chance to give fans the Superman they've been waiting for with "Legacy."

And the positivity continued, with readers proclaiming their trust in James Gunn's casting abilities. Meanwhile, Jeremy Christensen commented on Corenswet's acting, saying, "I love it. The guy has chops. Gunn has a really solid understanding of the character and of character development. I'm excited to see what they do." Elsewhere Bryan Perez opined that "Snyder's 'Man of Steel' was half a decade too early," and touched on what I think most of us are feeling by announcing that he "can't believe [he's] actually in the mood for a more up beat, down to earth discovery and heroic journey."

While the overall response was positive, feedback to our social media query wasn't without some negativity — though, most of the negative takes were directed at the state of superhero movies in general. Geej Réal, for example, "would be perfectly happy going 20 years without a Superman movie. Or Batman for that matter." And honestly, we here at /Film aren't entirely unsympathetic to the idea of superhero movies taking a nice long break. Y'know what, tell David Zaslav to let Geej run DC Studios –— we'd probably all be better off.

Still, the few obligatory comments about David Corenswet's lack of bulk aside, the general response to his and Rachel Brosnahan's casting seems to be about as good as James Gunn and Warner Bros. could hope for. That said, Corenswet faces a hell of a challenge. Not only is he under pressure to do justice to an iconic role , he's also tasked with basically kicking off Gunn's new slate of DC movies. On top of all that, he's arriving after a decade of tumult and trouble for DC's on-screen projects. The erstwhile DCEU had its moments, but mostly failed to replicate the success of Marvel's shared universe, and part of the issue was that Henry Cavill's Superman was never really given the movie he deserved.

As such, Corenswet will be donning the cape for an audience that has long been frustrated with how Superman has been handled in terms of his big screen adaptations, and who might not be all that hopeful that "Legacy" will turn things around. Still, if /Film readers have proven anything, aside from the fact that the internet isn't entirely populated by people obsessed with Corenswet's physicality, it's that audiences are still willing to give things a chance.