Birds. ...... It's an airplane: ...... David Corenswett is the new Superman.

Warner Bros. and DC Studios have announced the lead actor for Superman: Legacy after months of auditions. Colenswett will play the Man of Steel in James Gunn's reboot of the franchise for the DCU, and Emmy Award winner Rachel Brosnahan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will play Lois Lane.

According to Deadline, DC co-chairs Peter Safran and Gunn (who also directs) made the final decision after a screen test the weekend of June 17. According to The Hollywood Reporter, other nominees include Nicholas Hoult, Tom Britney, Emma McKee, and Phoebe Daimber.

The search for a new Superman has been a top priority for the studio since Gunn and Safran took the reins at DC. They announced that they would recast the role previously played by Henry Cavill in three films (and a cameo in last fall's "Black Adam").

"Superman: Legacy," scheduled for release on July 11, 2025, is a cornerstone of future DC films. The IP has always been important to Warner Bros. and its parent company (now Warner Bros. Discovery), but even more so after the disappointing box office results of "Black Adam" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and even more so after the disappointing box office performance of "The Flash" and, more recently, "The Flash.

Now the pressure is on Gunn and his new leading man. So who is the new Superman?

Collenswett, a 2016 graduate of the Juilliard School, guest starred in "House of Cards" and "Elementary" before landing a key role on Ryan Murphy's Netflix show "The Politician." She also appeared in Murphy's Hollywood limited series.

Most recently, she appeared in the HBO miniseries We Own This City, the Netflix rom-com Look Both Ways, and the indie film Pearl. She also co-starred with Natalie Portman in the Apple TV Plus drama Lady in the Lake and has been cast in the disaster film Twisters.

Over the past six years, Collenswett has steadily made a name for himself; Men's Health magazine described him as a "breakout leading man" and IndieWire magazine praised his "path to star" in Hollywood.