Rachel Brosnahan, who will play Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman: Legacy film, shared some more details about the James Gunn film.
Actress Rachel Brosnahan at the TCA/CTAM press tour event and the special panel event at the Paley Center on July 9, 2014 Photo Credit: Mingle Media TV, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly at the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards Red Carpet Brosnahan said, “I’ve really enjoyed the collaboration with James Gunn so far. Every single person involved in this production is such a perfect nerd for Superman. We all grew up watching the movies, some of us grew up reading the comics. So I feel like it’s being made with so much love.”
And I think this Superman will have a sense of humor…but we’re excited to both put our own spin on things but also honor this material that we love so much.”
When asked to describe Lois Lane with three adjectives, the actress responded, “Feisty. Dare I say, marvelous? And fiercely intelligent.”
Superman & Lois Lane: The 25th Wedding Anniversary Deluxe Edition HC Cover Art by John Byrne (2021), DC Comics
Brosnahan made similar comments while speaking with the Associated Press at the Critics Choice Awards.
She said, “We have big shoes to fill. But we’re excited to try to fill them. I think the best part about working on this has been that, from top to bottom, from James [Gunn] to Peter Safran, everyone at DC, and David [Corenswet], we’re all just nerds for this stuff.”
“And There’s so much love and care that’s being taken to make this film, both a film that honors the source material and also justifies making another one,” she concluded.
Rachel Brosnahan in House of Cards (2015), Netflix
At the Golden Globes, Brosnahan told Extra TV, “We’ve been having a lot of great conversations, David [Corenswet] and I, with James Gunn, the director. And we’ve been talking a lot about where this project fits into the canon of the ‘Supermans’ that we know. So hopefully this will, we will be putting our own stamp on things.”
When asked if Lois will wear glasses, she replied, “I don’t know actually. Maybe. We haven’t gotten that far in the fittings yet.”
Rachel Brosnahan on how she’ll put her spin on Lois Lane! Full interview: https://t.co/t8tqGylAdl#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/Zi1P4rvh0o
— ExtraTV (@extratv) January 8, 2024
Obviously, Brosnahan isn’t revealing too much about the film, but the fact that she’s said repeatedly that they are trying to honor the source material is a good sign.
As comic book legend Chuck Dixon told Bounding Into Comics in June, one of the main problems that Marvel Studios and DC Studios face is the fact that they’ve abandoned the source material that was the backbone of their film franchises.
While speaking to the decline of superhero films at the box office, Dixon said, “Both Disney and Warners are to blame as well. Marvel fans had to put up with a steady assault of woke content, an overbearing amount of comedy included in material, a general decline in the quality of effects and, most damaging, a deliberate departure from the source material at every opportunity.”
Dixon added, “DC screwed the pooch by constantly re-booting their franchises with new auteurs and casts. In addition, they diluted their brand with multiple different and conflicting continuities spread across TV and features. Which Batman is ‘real?’ Who is the authorized Superman?”
Superman #53 Cover Art by Jerry Ordway (1991), DC Comics
There are still concerns about Gunn’s Superman: Legacy and how Lois Lane will be depicted especially after actress Phoebe Dynevor, who lost out on the role to Brosnahan, told Variety, “She saves Superman. She’s the brains; she’s actually the fearless one.”
The film is also crowded with DC characters outside of Superman and Lois Lane. It features a number of members of the Justice League including Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabella Merced as Hawkgirl, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
Nicholas Hoult will play Lex Luthor and there are rumors that a number of characters from The Authority will also show up in the film.
Superman #8 Cover B by Lee Bermejo (2023), DC
As for what the film is about, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safra said, “It’s not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.”
Echoing that point, Gunn shared on X in March 2023 that the film will center “around Superman’s heritage – how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes.”
Then a bit less than a year ago I saw a way in, in many ways centering around Superman’s heritage – how both his aristocratic Kryptonian parents and his Kansas farmer parents inform who he is and the choices he makes.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 15, 2023
What do you make of Brosnahan’s comments?
