Nicholas Hoult, Tom Brittney, and David Corenswet brought in for Superman: Legacy screen tests
The actors filmed scenes as both Clark Kent and Superman
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios may have narrowed down their search for a new Superman, and—hold onto your cape—it just might be a white man with dark hair! Finally, new opportunities for one of the most underserved demographics in Hollywood! Seriously, though, we actually know some of the actors who are apparently being considered for the high-profile superhero role now, and that’s exciting… even if they do all fit a certain type (that type being: “Looks like Superman does in the comics, more or less”).
This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says DC Studios recently held a series of screen tests with (presumably) potential Superman and Lois Lane actors in specific pairs: Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Brosnahan, Tom Brittney and Phoebe Dynevor, and David Corenswet and Emma Mackey. THR says they were given “several scenes” to film in costume as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and then the men were all brought back to the next day to film scenes as Superman, but only Emma Mackey was brought back to shoot opposite them as Lois Lane (which may or may not mean she’s the frontrunner for that role, or maybe she was the only one available, that’s why it’s a bad idea to read into this stuff too much).
Hoult is the most famous of the dudes, having starred in The Menu and The Great and Renfield. Tom Brittney was in Greyhound (remember that one?) and is better known for his work on mystery show Grantchester. David Corenswet is the least known, having appeared in Pearl and We Own This City. As for the Loises, Brosnahan is, of course, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, while Phoebe Dynevor is on Bridgerton and Emma Mackey is from Sex Education.
We can’t resist questioning the logic of making the men spend two days doing these screen tests just so they can do some of it as Clark Kent and some as Superman, since turning Clark Kent into Superman should be as simple as taking off a pair of glasses, but THR suggests that there’s a lot riding on the simple question of how each actor looks in a full superman suit. Supposedly, Ryan Reynolds got the gig as Green Lantern in the crummy Green Lantern movie partially because he looked better in the costume than everyone else.
It would be nice if modern Warner Bros. were smart enough to not be taking any inspiration from the crummy Green Lantern movie whatsoever, but… well, there is a lot of evidence out there about just how smart modern Warner Bros. is.