Shortly after the news broke that Henry Cavill's time as Superman had ended, we found ourselves inundated with potential candidates to take the British actor's place as the Man of Tomorrow in DC Studios' new DCU.
Jacob Elordi's name was among them and it took no time at all for him to emerge as an apparent "frontrunner." Fan art depicting him as the Man of Steel also began popping up across social media and, given how prevalent it was, you'd be forgiven for thinking he'd been cast!
Even Superman: Legacy and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn had to take to Twitter/X to say, "My thoughts are no one has been cast as Superman yet. Casting, as is almost always the case with me, will happen after the script is finished or close to finished, and it isn't. We'll announce a few things in not too long, but the casting of Superman won't be one of them."
Ultimately, the role went to David Corenswet and, if recent photos are any indication, the Cavill lookalike is training hard for his transformation into the iconic DC Comics character.
GQ recently spoke with the Euphoria star and learned he grew up admiring The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale and Heath Ledger.
However, when he was asked whether he could see himself in a superhero movie, Elordi responded, "Not particularly, no. I’ve always been told to say a rounded answer or my agent will get mad at me. 'Anything can happen!'"
"And obviously anything can happen, but at this stage in my life, I don’t see myself having any interest in that. I like to make what I would watch, and I get very restless watching those movies. And then I’m supposed to finish it with: 'Never say never!'"
Could he just be mad that he missed out on playing Superman? Well, despite all the speculation, the Australian actor confirms he turned down the opportunity to audition for Gunn's upcoming reboot.
"Well, they asked me to read for Superman," he confirms. "That was immediately, 'No, thank you.' That’s too much. That’s too dark for me."
Too dark?! Unless he's joking (and it's hard to say when this is a print interview), this raises some questions about how Gunn is approaching the DCU's Superman. Still, Elordi is unlikely to have even read a single page of Superman: Legacy's script, so he's likely just referring to the baggage which comes with such an iconic role.
Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
David Corenswet is playing the Man of Steel, while Rachel Brosnahan has been tapped to star as Lois Lane. other recent casting additions include Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
Skyler Gisondo is rumoured to be playing Jimmy Olsen and we recently learned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star Kurt Russell may be in the running for Jor-El.
Superman: Legacy is currently set to be released in theaters on July 11. 2025.