There is no easy role, and even less so if it is to give life to a superhero. Leaving aside physical transformation professionals like Christian Bale -who still had a tough process-, there is not a single actor who has not had to undergo harsh tests and training to put on the cape or tights. In recent years we have had Ben Affleck, Zachary Levi, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Chris EvansRyan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman or even Tom Holland, who may be the one who needs the least volume to give life to his character, Spider-Man. But none of them have had a challenge as great as that of embodying the quintessential superhero, the strongest man on the planet to which he does not even belong. That’s right, we’re talking about Superman.
The iconic DC superhero is about to have a new chapter on the big screen, and it will do so with James Gunn y David Corenswet. The first, author of films like The suicide squad to the saga Guardians of the Galaxyas director behind the cameras. The second, as in charge of putting on the blue suit and the red cape to play Superman and thus take over from Henry Cavill, the last to have given life to the character in the previous installments of the character. James Gunn’s preparation was to try to give his most personal vision of the superhero, but the actor’s had to be much more exhaustive, to the point of gaining a huge amount of kilos.
“I didn’t weigh 108 kilos when we started filming. I reached 108 at my peak. That was the peak of my volume. And then I slowly lost weight before I started filming. I started filming at around 103, 104 kilos… I know I wanted this to be my excuse to see what it felt like to gain essentially all the weight I could,” explains Corenswet, who also reveals that the process was not entirely pleasant, and that he did not feel very comfortable due to some aspects. “None of my pants fit, I didn’t feel good.“, confessed the interpreter in a recent interview for the podcast Manly Things (Sort Of).
Just a few months ago, personal trainer Paolo Mascitti, in charge of the physical preparation of the film’s cast, uploaded an Instagram post in which he spoke about the actor. “David Corenswet has given his all; I can’t wait to share more information about the training we’ve done to prepare to play this iconic character; stay tuned”, attaching two images with the official Superman suit and with the actor flexing his muscles in the gym.
We must remember that the film finished filming a few weeks ago, and now begins the stage in which the film, editing and post-production, really take shape. The first task will be carried out by someone who knows about superhero movies like William Hoy (The Batman, Watchmen, The Fantastic Four) y Jason Ballantine (It, El gran Gatsby, Flash), while the other work will fall to visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti, in charge of films such as Avengers: Endgame and a regular in Gunn’s films through Guardians of the Galaxy. They will be in charge of making Gunn’s direction shine and a cast led by David Corenswet as the superhero and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthoras well as other actors: Rachel Brosnahan, Isabela Merced o Skyler Gisondoamong others, for a film that will hit theaters in July 2025.
