‘Superman’ stars soar into EW’s cover shoot — see all the photos (exclusive)

Answering the call

David Corenswet began shooting Twisters in Oklahoma by the time the Superman audition rounds really took off.

“The initial audition was months earlier,” he recalls. “I had sent in a self tape and thought nothing of it after that, as you do with any self tape, especially one that has more significance. You just do your work, you send it off, and then you go on with your life expecting to hear nothing, as you do 999 times out of 1,000.”

Mr. Right

Corenswet addresses the physical comparisons made online between him and past Superman Henry Cavill.

“I’ve also got a lot of physical comparisons to Tom Welling, who played Superman and Clark Kent on Smallville,” he says. “When I was growing up, he was the Superman who was on TV every week. I think, to one extent or another, all of the Superman actors…There’s some Venn diagram of our physical characteristics, which makes sense for a superhero who is classically the one who doesn’t wear a mask.”

Man of Tomorrow

The comparisons between him and Christopher Reeve are “more odd and interesting” to Corenswet. Both he and the former Superman attended Juilliard before adding Man of Steel to their résumés.

“I’ve listened to Christopher Reeve talk about how he felt going from theater and a classical training to wearing tights on screen,” he says. “It’s harder in some ways to play Superman and then to do a great play or a dramatic film, because as an actor, you feel like the seriousness of the work somehow supports you. It allows the whole thing to feel more grounded. There is a unique challenge to playing a guy who wears his underwear on the outside and can fly. I think I had the great fortune of getting a little bit of both. I was definitely on team trunks-on-the-outside for this iteration of Superman, but I certainly felt James took the work very seriously.”

Shades of Superman

On giving Superman a personality: “I had the same ideas about Superman, that he’s quite reserved and has ultimate control over his emotions and his reactions to things. I was very excited when James said all of that is true about Superman, but we get to meet him in this moment where those things are least true. That’s where he’s a little bit of Superman, he’s a little bit of Clark — because the only other person in the room knows who he is and holds all the cards.”

Standing up for his ideals

On shooting a scene from his audition, in which Lois (Brosnahan) interviews Clark as Superman: “This isn’t like the interview in the Donner movie where Lois doesn’t know that he’s Clark. Lois knows everything about him, so he’s in a very vulnerable position. He’s madly in love with this woman and desperately wants her to understand him and appreciate him and love him back.”

Doing ‘Justice’ to Superman

On the possibility of leading the Justice League one day: “I mean, that sounds awesome. I don’t take it upon myself to think ahead in that kind of way, just because one would hate to get one’s hopes up about anything in particular and then have it go in another direction. What I like to do is stay blissfully ignorant, and then when James tells me what’s going to happen, I get to have a wonderful surprise. So if Justice League is in the back of his mind, that sounds great to me. I’ll put it at the back of my mind and we’ll see what happens.”

Reporting for duty

Brosnahan spoke with multiple journalists across different fields to get tips for playing ace Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. “I wanted her apartment to be filled with grab-and-go snacks,” Brosnahan says. “I think she’s somebody who’s always so preoccupied with work that I’m not sure she ever sits down and eats a full meal…. “It wasn’t a conscious choice, but this Lois became a pen chewer. There’s probably an unfortunate amount of pen-chewing in this movie.” 

Anything for a good story

On filming the scene where Lois interviews Clark as Superman: “She’s ambitious and hungry. And I think, in that moment, she sees an opportunity for a front-page story…. I really appreciated that James makes space for you to see her in action at the height of her journalistic prowess.”

The Lois audition

On the Hollywood press reporting on the Lois Lane auditions: “I remember being really surprised by how much was out there. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I was just like, ‘Where’s all this information [coming] from?’ And it was not always, but pretty, accurate, most of the time to what my understanding was of what the process looked like. There were definitely some things that came across my desk that were just incorrect.”

The original Lois Lane

On watching Margot Kidder in the Richard Donner Superman films: “My dad was a huge Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Superman fan, and I feel like he showed me that movie when I was about 12. So that was the definitive Superman for me, even though it was long before my time.”

Look up!

On Lois Lane’s future post-Superman: “I have no idea what to expect. I’m in a place in my life, I suppose, where I’ve got both feet on the ground and I’m ready for anything at this point. I’m sure that they have considered a plan for all of us in this universe, and I have no idea what’s in store for Lois, but I’m excited to see what they come up with. She’s an iconic character, and it would be a real gift to get to spend more time with her.”

“Clois”

“We mixed and matched these different actors and actresses to find out not only who was the best Clark and who was the best Lois, but who was the best ‘Clois,’ who was the best together,” James Gunn says. “I do think that David was the best Clark, Rachel was the best Lois, but they also had the most chemistry together.”

Three months in

“We’re meeting them at a point where they’ve been together for about three months,” Brosnahan says of Clark and Lois, “which is the point in a relationship where you’re like, Was this a really great fling or is this more serious, possibly forever?”

Completing each other

“It’s one of the things that I love about their love story,” Brosnahan says. “While they have totally opposite worldviews, they complete each other, and they kind of need each other.” 

The story of ‘Superman’

“I wanted to tell the story about someone who was truly good in a world that doesn’t value goodness, in a world that makes fun of basic kindness and basic human values,” James Gunn says. “The fact that he can fly and lift buildings and shoot laser beams out of his eyes was really secondary to who he was as a person and what he stood for.”

Building a world

“I grew up reading DC and Marvel comics and having worlds and universes of superheroes who were interacting. I grew up watching Super Friends on Saturday mornings,” Gunn says. “It’s a long time coming, to be able to be a part of a world in which superheroes are real. We don’t have to explain everyone away. There’s a little bit of magic in this world. There’s science beyond our understanding in this world. This is the kind of place where there’s an island full of dinosaurs that probably exists.”

Phase 1

On the larger story being told across “Gods and Monsters,” the first phase of the DCU’s slate of films and TV shows: “The most important thing is the specific stories, but there is also a much bigger story that we’re telling that will take a little bit longer to tell,” Gunn remarks. “That’s sort of where my next couple of things are going to be.”

Larger than life

“He’s a very sweet and gentle man, but he’s a very strong and imposing presence as an actor,” Corenswet comments on costar Nicholas Hoult. “He has a poise and a confidence that shows up immediately when work begins. That was really helpful, as Superman, having a very believable and imposing villain who you really feel like from day one has your number and knows what you’re up to and already has a strategy to thwart you.”

Tech bro

Hoult describes Lex Luthor: “He’s worked hard and diligently for so many years for all these things, to be admired and to be adored. Then suddenly, Superman’s turned up and he’s all the things that he aims to be himself in some ways, but he doesn’t have to work hard for it. So I’m like, What if this Lex is someone who is physically strong and is an alpha, or seemingly in that sense? Instantly, even in the prep phase, it was like, I’m going to get in the gym and I’m going to be as strong as I possibly ever can be by the time we start shooting.”

A man with a plan

“Lex is connected to everything,” Gunn says of the role. “There’s nothing bad happening in Metropolis during this movie that doesn’t have some connection to Lex Luthor.”

On what he took from set

“I have a crystal from the Fortress of Solitude at my house,” Hoult says.

A ‘Superman’ sequel?

“What I’m working on is in some way…I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes. But is it a straight-up Superman sequel? I would not say necessarily,” Gunn comments.