‘My pie-in-the-sky ambition’: ‘Superman: Legacy’s top Clark Kent contender has been waiting for four years to end Henry Cavill’s reign

For a film that isn’t promising its release until July 2025, Superman: Legacy is getting quite the buzz already. Most of it is about who is going to be cast in the movie, and more particularly who will play the role of Superman. And based on a recent, yet-to-be-officially confirmed, report, Henry Cavill‘s dead-on look-alike David Corenswet is getting all the headlines as the potential heir to the role. But what many don’t know is that The Politician star has long harbored the desire to usurp Cavil.

James Gunn has made it abundantly clear that he has not leaked any possible candidates for any of the roles when he tweeted yesterday, “For all of you asking, I would never comment on who is or isn’t AUDITIONING for a role…For now, only one person has been CAST in Superman: Legacy and it isn’t any of the regular players in the Superman world.” However, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from going into overdrive and fans from speculating about Cornswet’s turn as the Kryptonian hero, only to remember that he always had his eye on the role.

Corenswet has been compared to Henry Cavill in side-by-side photos all over the internet since his break-out role as River Barkley in The Politician from 2019 to 2020. In an interview from 2019, Entertainment Weekly reported that the Pearl actor was very aware that he looked way too much like Henry Cavill, “It came to my attention before the internet got a hold of me.”

As far as what he thought about playing the role of Superman when he was interviewed four years ago, he admitted that being the next Superman is his ultimate dream, and judging by the changes he wanted in the character’s representation, he was unconsciously already batting for Gunn’s future DCU run.

“But my pie-in-the-sky ambition is definitely to play Superman. I would love to see somebody do an upbeat, throwback [take on Superman]. I love the Henry Cavill dark and gritty take, but I would love to see the next one be very bright and optimistic.”

With all the buzz about Corenswet being the top contender for the role, Henry Cavill has started trending again as a hot topic and the DC fans are letting Gunn know that there is no one who could fill his shoes. Seeing that Gunn has admitted that the role of Superman has not been filled yet, many DC fans are suggesting the former MCU director to bring Cavill right back where he truly belongs.

However, the reason Gunn changed his mind about Cavill in the first place was because of his age. While the veteran Superman is currently 40, the top Superman contender is 29 years old, fitting Gunn’s plans of telling the story of a much younger Clark Kent. If he were to get his way, the 20-something actor would be perfect to play the role of a bright and optimistic Superman. All he needs now is for Gunn to feel the same way.