The world was abuzz with speculation just a few years ago when it came time for James Gunn to cast his new Superman. Even before the part ultimately went to David Corenswet, he was being floated around as a likely candidate, and now you can watch how he got the part.
YouTube account 21Casting posted the actor’s audition tape, which he performed with his wife Julia Warner. The three-minute video features him as Clark Kent being interviewed as Superman by Lois Lane over his intervention in Biayla—not Jarnanphur, as it is in the finished film—and early parts of their argument that helps inform the film’s core philosophy about the hero’s place in the world.
David Corenswet’s audition tape for Superman has been released. pic.twitter.com/9vah9riuRi
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 23, 2025
In a GQ cover story prior to Superman’s release, Gunn revealed he’d basically already picked Corenswet the moment he saw the audition, calling him “the guy to beat from the very beginning.” (It didn’t hurt that he sent Gunn a handwritten letter after the audition, too.) Turns out, quite a few people have spent years thinking he’d be good for Superman, and the only one who needed convincing was Corenswet himself: he previously told People that Warner thought he was a shoo-in once they made the tape. “I thought she was crazy, but she felt it from the beginning,” he told the magazine. “So if anything, I knew that she would be even more excited than I was.”
Corenswet’s not the only one with an audition tape hitting the internet this year: last week, we got to see how Britt Lower auditioned to play Helly R. in Severance, and we saw former Superman Henry Cavill’s old tryout for Bond back when the hunt was on pre-Casino Royale.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.