James Gunn’s “Superman” Soars for Warner Bros. at CinemaCon
Warner Bros.’s presentation at CinemaCon on Tuesday featured the most iconic superhero not named Batman. James Gunn’s upcoming Superman was the main attraction, with Gunn and the cast unveiling a new extended look at the film. The film will be the first to fly out of Gunn and Peter Safran’s new-look DC Studios. Superman is a fitting film to launch their brand new slate, which promises a bold, unified world of superheroes, villains, metahumans, and more across theatrical, TV, and games.
Gunn appeared in Las Vegas with Safran and the Superman cast—David Corenswet, who plays Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan, the new Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult, the new Lex Luthor. The new footage featured everyone’s favorite super dog, Krypto, who was seen once again helping an injured Superman back into his Fortress of Solitude.
“I cannot wait to share the film with all you guys and the rest of the world,” Gunn said from the stage. “We’re still in the throes of post-production.” When recalling what led him to the Man of Steel, Gunn said he’d originally been offered to direct a Superman film back in 2018, but he’d instead chosen The Suicide Squad, feeling more comfortable with that band of misfits then trying to take on a wholesome figure “perceived as old-fashioned by many.” But Gunn eventually found a way into the material, thanks to the relationships Superman has and some of the stranger parts of the Superman mythos, including his beloved dog, Krypto.
As for Corenswet, a relatively little-known performer who won the role (after beating out Hoult), he joked about a specific scene with Brosnahan that took two days to film and required him to inhale pancake after pancake. “So glad that was the most memorable part for you,” Brosnahan joked.
Hoult had originally tried out for the role of Superman (and Batman, he reminded those in the audience, which went to Robert Pattinson), but but he ended up getting the role of his arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor. Hoult recalled being stunned to watch Corenswet turn into the Man of Steel in person: “I felt like I was witnessing the magic of cinema in first-person in real-time.”
Corenswet, Brosnahan, and Hoult are all playing iconic roles that have been inhabited before by legendary performers, including Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman in Richard Donner’s original. Brosnahan said it was because these roles were so deeply baked into the collective consciousness that she found the challenge so rewarding: “I feel like these stories endure because there’s something in it for everyone. We get to stand on the shoulders of giants … and then find our ways into their heads.”
The Superman cast also includes Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific), Terence Rosemore (Otis), Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner) and María Gabriela de Faría (The Engineer).
Superman soars into theaters on July 11.
For more on all things Superman, check out these stories:
New “Superman” Teaser Sets Up an Epic Showdown With a Confident Lex Luthor
Fixing Our Laser Eyes on the “Superman” Trailer Easter Eggs, Character Glimpses, and Krypto
“Superman” Reborn: The First Trailer for James Gunn’s Reboot Soar
The First “Superman” Teaser Reveals James Gunn’s Epic Man of Steel Reboot
Featured image: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 01: (L-R) James Gunn, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult and David Corenswet attend the Warner Bros. Pictures “The Big Picture” Presentation at 2025 CinemaCon at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 01, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Stewart Cook/Warner Bros. via Getty Images)
