David Corenswet on How the Gym Mentally Prepared Him for His Role as Superman

With the launch of a new era in the DC Cinematic Universe comes a fresh take on Superman. This time, the iconic role of Clark Kent has been entrusted to David Corenswet. While some fans were initially hesitant—largely due to Henry Cavill’s beloved portrayal—any doubts quickly faded when the first official look at Corenswet in the role was revealed. From that moment, it was clear that he was a worthy successor.

So far, both the cast and crew of the upcoming film have had nothing but praise for Corenswet’s performance.

Gunn and Corenswet recently appeared on WB’s CinemaCon presentation and Corenswet revealed aspects of preparing for the role. The actor revealed that he had to prepare both mentally and physically and surprisingly, the gym helped him to do both:

“James, the first thing he said to me was I want you to work on your shoulders and your vulnerability,” Corenswet said. “So about a month into my intense gym routine, I realized that I was preparing for the role mentally by spending every day, several hours, by myself lifting very heavy things there’s a certain solitude that comes in the gym and you’re just there with yourself and you’re the one holding yourself accountable.“

Corenswet also gave a shoutout to his personal trainer, Paolo: “Well obviously Paolo my trainer was but I think Superman has a certain solemn loneliness to him where he wants so desperately to be connected to humanity and he’ll never quite be one of them so I found a little piece of that early on.”

Corenswet also previously explained that his primary goal was to give his best performance for the director, crew, and fellow actors, all of whom had dedicated months or even years to the project. He believes that if he succeeds in delivering for them, then he has done everything within his power to do justice to the role.

‘Superman’ is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2025.

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