How Old Is David Corenswet's Superman In James Gunn's DC Universe?
It is about time for James Gunn to shed the baggage of the DC Extended Universe that struggled to keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe since its beginning. With his own DC franchise set to take off and reboot the entirety of Marvel's competing world, he is set to begin with his reboot of the classic DC character Superman. While we have had many actors take on the Blue Boy Scout, Gunn decided he wanted his own actor to start fresh, and David Corenswet landed the gig. With the change in actors, fans have wondered what age Corenswet's version of the character will be at the start of the franchise, and Gunn has now confirmed he will be 32.
In a post on X, @Reza_shuaib shared a screenshot of a question a fan posed to the director asking how old Superman will be in "Superman: Legacy." Gunn responded with a simple "David-Corenswet age." The poster then points out that when the film comes out (scheduled for the summer of 2025), Corenswet will have reached the age of 32.
While the fans shared their collective mourning over their beloved Henry Cavill's departure as Superman, he will have reached the wrong side of 40 years old by the time the Gunniverse takes off. If Gunn looks to take the DCU to the level of a decade-plus-long franchise, a young Supes makes sense.
At this age he has been Superman for about a decade
A Superman that is 32 years old can give us a little bit of an idea of the kind of hero we will see on screen when the Gunniverse kicks off. In most iterations of the character, he left college and moved to Metropolis, becoming Superman at the age of 25. That means that the Last Kryptonian we run into will have revealed himself to the world as a hero for the better part of a decade. What does that mean for our story, and what could we possibly be missing in his history?
Clearly, if Corenswet isn't playing a young and up-and-coming Superman, we won't be seeing his origin story. It is possible that we see virtually nothing from his short time on Krypton or his childhood in Smallville. That also means that we could likely not have the opportunity to see the origins of some of the biggest villains from his younger years. While that may limit the origins of characters like that, that doesn't mean that we won't still see them in some capacity. Maybe even the same way we meet Joker in Matt Reeves' "The Batman."
That also means we can assume other things about the ages of the other characters that show up in the Superman universe. If Gunn sticks to the original Superman storyline, we can assume Jonathan and Martha Kent may have passed on, and Jimmy Olsen will be more seasoned as a photographer. But there is someone else whose age is vitally important.
We can guess at Lois Lane's age too
If you are making a Superman movie, one of the most important characters to get right is Lois Lane — his sometimes rival, sometimes love interest. While the two started as journalistic rivals at The Daily Planet, their relationship eventually became a romance. If Superman is "David-Corenswet age," then we can assume that Lois Lane is Rachel-Brosnahan age. If Lois is the same age as the actor playing her, she will turn 35 the day after the movie is slated to hit the screen on July 11, 2025.
Having Lois be a few years Clark's senior makes complete sense as it follows the comics rather closely. In most of his origin stories in the comics, by the time he gets to The Daily Planet, Lois is already an established journalist. As a matter of fact, one of the better side stories of the characters features Clark's arrival as a professional threaten Lois' dominance as the best reporter at the Planet. Of course, since this is not an origin story, that likely won't be the dynamic we see between Lois and Clark.
If he is almost a decade into being Superman, we can expect that there is already a healthy dynamic between the two. We may even see them deep into their romance and preparing for a marriage. Or, since Gunn is going with an older Batman and Damian Wayne is making an appearance, we could be seeing them with a young son of their own already. For something as seemingly trivial as a character's age, Superman's age could mean some big things for the franchise.