Finding the perfect Superman was no easy task for James Gunn, and according to the DCU boss, there’s only one person besides David Corenswet who’d be fit for the role: Chris Pratt.
Superman is just around the corner, and it’s a huge milestone in comic book cinema. Not only does it mark the first movie of Gunn’s revamped DC Universe, but it’s also the first new Man of Steel we’ve had since Henry Cavill’s turn.
Zack Snyder’s iteration of Supe was much darker and grittier, a tone that continues to divide DC fans to this day. Gunn’s update is set to be a return to his traditional roots, with Corenswet landing the role.
From the start, the filmmaker said he wouldn’t make Superman until he found the perfect actor to portray the complex, layered cape-wearer he needed. Still, his very own Star-Lord could have been on the subs bench.
Gunn says only Chris Pratt could rival David Corenswet as Superman
In a new interview with GQ, Gunn said of Corenswet, “The easy part is, he looks like Superman. But the fact that David is a theater kid that’s so athletic is even weirder.
“I don’t know if anybody I’ve worked with before would’ve been able to do this stuff, besides maybe Chris Pratt.”
“I said from the beginning, ‘If I don’t find Superman, I’m not going to do this movie.’ Because I knew that this was dependent on the guy that’s playing Superman,” Gunn explained, adding that he’s a “complex” mix of “drama, comedy, and action.”
“I couldn’t go for someone that didn’t work. I couldn’t go for someone that had the look, but didn’t have the chops. I couldn’t go for someone that had the chops but didn’t have the look,” he continued.
“I couldn’t go for someone that had the looks and the chops, but couldn’t do the comedic parts, or couldn’t do the more vulnerable aspects.”
Finding someone who ticks all of these boxes is an essential part of superhero movie success.
Gunn famously cast Pratt as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, in Guardians of the Galaxy – a bold move at the time that helped turn a little-known team of comic book misfits into MCU fan favorites.
After wrapping his Marvel trilogy, Gunn made the leap to co-lead the DC Universe alongside producer Peter Safran in 2022. While Superman is an entirely different beast to Guardians, that’s part of the appeal for Gunn.
Superman isn’t some wisecracking outsider or scrappy underdog – he’s one of the most iconic, well-established heroes of all time, and that’s something that the team have chosen to embrace.
“I think that oftentimes people can see Superman as Pollyanna. They [say] ‘How can we make Superman cool?’ So if it’s the ’90s, they give him a mullet,” Gunn continued.
“But the thing is that he’s not cool. He’s kind. He loves little kids. He wants little kids to like him. I think it’s about owning that and being okay with that. It’s not trying to hippify him, you know?”
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