'Superman: Legacy' Casting, Top Contenders Include Corenswet & Mackey

DC may have found its next Man of Steel -- or at the least, a few options to consider ... and it sounds like the studio is looking toward a much younger Clark Kent than ever before.

THR reported Saturday that the casting search is on for "Superman: Legacy," and so far ... a few names have surfaced as top contenders to play both Superman and Lois Lane ... and maybe even supervillain Lex Luthor, depending on which trade you wanna believe.

For starters, we have 29-year-old David Corenswet -- who isn't really a very known name in the industry thus far ... but who apparently impressed James Gunn and co. enough to move on to the screen-testing stage ... which THR says will likely happen post-Memorial Day.

His biggest role to date was in 2022's "Pearl" -- where he plays a projectionist who falls in love with Mia Goth's serial killer protagonist. As you can see ... he's got the Supe-y vibe.

Other guys that are under consideration for Superman ... Tom Brittney and Andrew Richardson, a couple of British actors. Jacob Elordi was also apparently considered, but word is ... he never submitted an audition tape, so it seems he isn't interested in the role.

Now, as for Lois ... there's a handful of buzzy actresses who are reportedly in the mix -- including 27-year-old Emma Mackey ("Sex Education") ... who's said to be a front-runner. Other gals who are said to be in the running ... Emmy-winning Rachel Brosnahan, who's the star of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Bridgerton" star Phoebe Dynevor and Samara Weaving.

While Mackey's name is swirling as choice #1 it seems, THR says Brosnahan churned out an epic audition -- although, apparently WB thinks she might be too old for the part. RB is 32 ... and Gunn is shooting for his characters to look like straight-up 20-somethings.

There's one other name that is being floated ... one Nicholas Hoult, who was just recently in the "Renfield" Dracula movie opposite Nicolas Cage. He was also in the 2015 'Mad Max' reboot, and it's his work there that left Warner impressed. THR says he's under consideration to play Luthor ... but Deadline's reporting he's actually a Superman contender too.

Either way ... it's clear WB's running with a youthful spirit here, very much in the vein of "Smallville," we suppose -- which chronicled young Clark Kent in his fictional hometown.

Another obvious telltale sign from all this news -- Gunn is definitely pivoting off of Henry Cavill and anything Zack Snyder-related. Time for some new blood ... that's the feeling here.