James Gunn almost didn’t do ‘Superman’ movie because of David Corenswet

James Gunn has previously confirmed that his Superman isn’t a risk for him, yet he would not have done the movie unless he hadn’t seen the Superman in David Corenswet.

Director Gunn, also the co-head of DC Studios with Peter Safran, recently recalled in an interview with GQ magazine that he said it in the beginning, “If I don’t find Superman, I’m not going to do this movie.”

Gunn always knew that the movie's success depended on the actor who would play Superman.

Like every film by James Gunn before, he describes Superman as “tonally complex.”

He considers the film to be an uneven, twisted alchemy of “drama, comedy, and action—although I do think that some of the drama and action probably supersedes the comedy [in this movie] in a lot of ways.”

This complex mix of polar opposite emotions made it hard for the director to find the perfect Clark Kent.

Gunn wanted someone who had the looks, the chops, and could handle comedic parts while also navigating the more vulnerable aspects.

Hence, in Corenswet, Gunn found the “alien” he was looking for.

“The easy part is, he looks like Superman,” Gunn said about Corenswet. “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.”

Superman arrives in theatres on July 11 from Warner Bros. and DC Studios.

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