David Corenswet's Superman Replacement Officially Revealed

David Corenswet's Superman Replacement As The DCU's Biggest Hero Officially Revealed Published Aug 30, 2026, 10:05 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for HBO's Lanterns episode 3.The DC Universe has a new biggest hero, as the franchise's latest release just showed the world who could be taking over for Superman. While the DCU Chapter One started with the animated Creature Commandos series, its first major project, and movie, was James Gunn's Superman. The film introduced David Corenswet's Superman, positioning him to serve as the franchise's main hero. In Superman, Corenswet's Clark Kent showed off his might through quite a few displays of power. One of those included resisting an anti-proton river and then saving himself, Krypto, Metamorpho, and Baby Joey from the strong pull of a black hole. As such, not only is Superman one of DC's biggest characters, but his DCU version debuted with a bang. That said, there will be many canon characters in the DCU, including several powerful and complex players from the pages of DC Comics. To outshine Superman as the franchise's greatest hero does not mean that said character has to be more powerful than the Man of Steel. It can all come down to a matter of what it means for them to be a hero and how they take on that responsibility. Metropolis · Daily Planet Edition SupermanTrivia Challenge 🌏OriginsLast son ☠VillainsKneel! ⚡PowersInvincible 🎥FilmsBelieve 💫LegacyHope UP, UP AND AWAY! → 01 Before he was Clark Kent, Superman was born Kal-El on a distant planet doomed to destruction. His parents Jor-El and Lara placed him in a rocket ship as an infant, sending him across the cosmos to Earth. What is the name of Superman’s home planet? AThanagar BKrypton CApokolips DOa ✓ Correct! Krypton was a scientifically advanced planet that exploded due to its unstable core. Jor-El, Superman’s father, was the only scientist who foresaw the catastrophe and managed to save his son by launching him toward Earth in a small spacecraft. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Krypton. Thanagar is Hawkman’s homeworld, Apokolips is Darkseid’s domain, and Oa is the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. Krypton’s destruction is the defining event of Superman’s origin story. NEXT → 02 Superman’s greatest love is a fearless, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who works alongside Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. She’s known for her relentless pursuit of the truth and for being one of the few people who sees both the hero and the man. Who is she? ADiana Prince BLana Lang CLois Lane DCat Grant ✓ Correct! Lois Lane has been Superman’s primary love interest since her debut in Action Comics #1 in 1938. A brilliant investigative reporter, she’s as iconic as Superman himself — tough, smart, and unafraid to chase the biggest stories in Metropolis. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Lois Lane. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman, Lana Lang is Clark’s high school sweetheart from Smallville, and Cat Grant is a gossip columnist at the Daily Planet. Lois Lane is Superman’s iconic partner. NEXT → 03 Despite being nearly invulnerable under Earth’s yellow sun, Superman has one famous weakness — a radioactive mineral from the remnants of his destroyed homeworld. Exposure to it drains his powers and can even kill him. What is this substance called? AKryptonite BVibranium CNth Metal DRed Sun Ore ✓ Correct! Kryptonite is the irradiated remnants of planet Krypton. Green Kryptonite is the most common and deadly variety, but there are many other types — Red Kryptonite causes unpredictable behavior, Gold Kryptonite can permanently strip his powers, and Blue Kryptonite affects Bizarro. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Kryptonite. Vibranium is from Marvel’s Black Panther universe, Nth Metal is tied to Hawkman, and Red Sun Ore isn’t a real DC substance. Kryptonite is the iconic green-glowing mineral that is Superman’s ultimate weakness. NEXT → 04 In 1978, a then-unknown actor donned the cape and made the world believe a man could fly. His portrayal of Superman became the gold standard for superhero films and he starred in four Superman movies. Who is this legendary actor? AHenry Cavill BBrandon Routh CTom Welling DChristopher Reeve ✓ Correct! Christopher Reeve’s portrayal in Superman: The Movie (1978) is widely regarded as the definitive live-action Superman. His performance perfectly balanced the heroic confidence of Superman with the endearing clumsiness of Clark Kent, setting the template every Superman actor has followed since. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Christopher Reeve. Henry Cavill played Superman in the DCEU starting with Man of Steel (2013), Brandon Routh starred in Superman Returns (2006), and Tom Welling played young Clark in TV’s Smallville. Reeve was the original big-screen Superman. NEXT → 05 Superman’s greatest enemy isn’t a superpowered alien — he’s a brilliant, ruthless human billionaire who believes Superman is a threat to humanity’s potential. This bald-headed genius has been Superman’s archenemy for over 80 years. Who is he? ABrainiac BLex Luthor CDarkseid DDoomsday ✓ Correct! Lex Luthor is the ultimate foil to Superman — where Superman represents hope and selflessness, Luthor represents ambition and ego. Despite having no superpowers, his genius-level intellect and vast resources make him Superman’s most persistent and dangerous adversary. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Lex Luthor. Brainiac is an alien android who collects cities, Darkseid is the god-like ruler of Apokolips, and Doomsday is the monster who famously killed Superman. But Lex Luthor is the definitive archenemy — Superman’s dark mirror. NEXT → 06 After crash-landing on Earth as a baby, Kal-El was found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, a kind farming couple. They raised him with strong moral values in a small rural town. Where did Clark Kent grow up? AGotham City BMetropolis CSmallville, Kansas DCoast City ✓ Correct! Smallville, Kansas is the quintessential American small town where Jonathan and Martha Kent raised Clark with heartland values of honesty, compassion, and humility. It’s the foundation of who Superman is — not the powers from Krypton, but the character instilled by his Kansas parents. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Smallville, Kansas. Gotham is Batman’s city, Metropolis is where Clark moves as an adult to work at the Daily Planet, and Coast City is Green Lantern’s home. Smallville is where the Kents raised Clark on their farm. NEXT → 07 As Clark Kent, Superman disguises himself as a mild-mannered reporter working at Metropolis’s most famous newspaper, alongside Lois Lane and photographer Jimmy Olsen. Their editor-in-chief Perry White runs the newsroom. What is the name of this newspaper? ADaily Planet BDaily Bugle CMetropolis Star DGotham Gazette ✓ Correct! The Daily Planet, with its iconic globe on the rooftop, is one of the most recognizable fictional newspapers in pop culture. Working there gives Clark Kent both a cover identity and a way to stay informed about threats to the city and the world. ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is the Daily Planet. The Daily Bugle is Spider-Man’s Marvel universe newspaper, the Metropolis Star and Gotham Gazette are lesser DC publications. The Daily Planet — with its spinning globe — is Superman’s journalistic home. NEXT → 08 This Kryptonian military commander was banished to the Phantom Zone for treason before Krypton’s destruction. He escaped and came to Earth seeking vengeance, famously demanding that others “Kneel before” him. His iconic portrayal by Terence Stamp cemented him in pop culture. Who is this villain? ABizarro BParasite CMetallo DGeneral Zod ✓ Correct! General Zod is one of Superman’s most terrifying foes because he has all of Superman’s powers but none of his morality. Terence Stamp’s portrayal in Superman II (1980) made “Kneel before Zod” one of the most quoted villain lines in film history. Michael Shannon later reimagined the role in Man of Steel (2013). ✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is General Zod. Bizarro is a flawed clone of Superman, Parasite drains powers through touch, and Metallo is a cyborg with a Kryptonite heart. General Zod is the Kryptonian military leader whose cry of “Kneel before Zod!” echoes through decades of Superman stories. REVEAL MY SCORE → Mission Complete Your Kryptonian Record / 8 Are you the Man of Steel — or still stuck in a phone booth? ↻ FLY AGAIN To that end, HBO's live-action Green Lantern series, Lanterns, just released episode 3. After two hours that were mostly focused on the present-day Lanterns storyline, the show took a turn in another direction. Lanterns has just explored exactly what makes one of its main characters tick, and he has come out the other end bigger than ever. Lanterns Confirms John Stewart's DCU Origin Story Lanterns episode 3 is all about why John Stewart became a Green Lantern. Aaron Pierre's version of the character goes to an interview to know whether he will be picked as the new Green Lantern by the Guardians of the Universe, one of whom is played by Ozark's Laura Linney. In the past, HBO's Lanterns goes in depth into what it took for John Stewart to be in that position. Earlier episodes of Lanterns had teased that Stewart was trained by his father to become a Green Lantern since he was a kid, with extreme methods that included shooting apples off his head. In Lanterns episode 3, it is revealed that Stewart's father was considered to be a Green Lantern before Hal Jordan was chosen on the same night. When asked whether he was afraid, he faltered, which Hal never did, and that moment altered the course of his life. Upon meeting Linney's alien character, John's mother believes her husband, with both deciding to raise John to be fearless and make him the perfect Green Lantern. We also see John as a sniper for the Marines and going to school. Based on that, Lanterns gives a pretty complete look at John's origins. Why Aaron Pierre's Green Lantern Has Replaced David Corenswet's Superman As The DCU's Biggest Hero Corenswet's Superman is more powerful than Pierre's Green Lantern, especially since he has yet to master all that the ring can do, or even get his own. However, Lanterns is setting up the character to be the new biggest hero in the DCU in one simple way. Superman was not raised by the Kents to be a soldier or a superhero, he progressed naturally. When we catch up with him in 2025's Superman movie, the Man of Steel had been active for three years. That goes directly against what we now know was the case for John Stewart's upbringing. Lanterns episode 3 makes it clear that John's entire life was tailored so that he would be fearless and become a Green Lantern, fixing his father's mistake. He even learned about that nearly-impossible goal when he was just five years old. When John finally gets to explore his creative side in college, he is not even initially happy at that, as he feels like a failure because of how his time with the Marines ended. As such, we now have one of the most powerful superheroes in the DCU, given the potential of the Green Lantern ring, who is incredibly creative, a perfect fit for the energy constructs, and was trained since he was a child to excel and be the best hero of all. Given that Corenswet's Superman had a completely different upbringing, Lanterns sets up John Stewart to be the most prepared and one of the most powerful DCU heroes, taking away Clark Kent's spotlight for now. Release Date August 16, 2026 Network HBO Showrunner Chris Mundy Cast Aaron Pierre John Stewart Directors James Hawes Writers Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof Franchise(s) DC Universe Creator(s) Tom King, Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof