David Corenswet hadn’t been asked to save anyone this week. He was just doing press for a movie. But between Monday night’s Supergirl world premiere in Brooklyn and the interviews that have followed, a pattern has emerged — one that even people who aren’t DC fans seem to be picking up on: David Corenswet genuinely appears to be Superman.
The Red Carpet Moment That Went Viral
Footage from the Supergirl premiere, shared on X, shows Corenswet on the blue carpet alongside co-stars Milly Alcock and Rachel Brosnahan when a photographer reached out and made contact with Alcock’s bare back. The exact reason isn’t clear from the clip — it appears the photographer was directing the group for a shot — but when Alcock moved away from the touch, Corenswet stepped in immediately, placing himself between her and the photographer and making his feelings about the situation plainly visible.
The video, posted by fan account Home of DCU, racked up close to a million views. The caption — “Why tf would you put your hands on an actress at their movie premiere as a photographer?” — set the tone, and the responses mostly followed suit. “Protective cousin moment,” wrote one fan, referencing the Superman and Supergirl dynamic the two actors share on screen. Another said: “Bro’s Superman in the movies and Superman in real life too it seems.”
Not everyone read the clip the same way. Some pointed out that Alcock’s own reaction was minimal and suggested Corenswet’s response was an overreaction to a photographer trying to do his job. Others noted the actor’s expression makes it look like he might have been joking. What’s clear is that Alcock moved away from the touch, and that’s apparently all Corenswet needed to see.
The Cup That Launched a Thousand Jokes
Meanwhile, in a completely different kind of viral moment, a Supergirl collectible cup from Mexican theater chain Cineópolis started circulating on social media for reasons that had nothing to do with the film’s story. The cup was designed to represent Kara Zor-El’s costume — her blue suit with the tan jacket over the top — but the colour and shape of the jacket created an unintended visual that fans were quick to notice.
When Corenswet and his Superman co-star Nicholas Hoult were asked about it during an Entertainment Tonight interview, the exchange was exactly as chaotic as you’d expect. Corenswet said he didn’t like it “one bit” and added that he didn’t understand the design and didn’t want it explained to him. Hoult, on the other hand, immediately said he needed a lot of them. He then started to elaborate — “It reminds me of…” — before Corenswet cut him off with a repeated “No, no, no, no.” The clip did numbers.
Milly Alcock: “He Just Is Superman”
None of this would land quite the same way if the people who’ve actually worked alongside Corenswet didn’t keep saying the same thing unprompted. Earlier this month, appearing on Kid Cudi’s podcast Big Bro, Alcock was asked to name her favourite actor to play Superman. She picked Corenswet, and while she joked that she probably didn’t have much choice if she wanted to keep her job, she followed it up with something more genuine: that when she first met him, her immediate reaction was simply, “Oh. You’re the guy.” She added that he just is Superman.
At the premiere itself, Alcock told Variety that Supergirl is “objectively stronger” than her cousin, before adding a caveat that probably tells you everything about their dynamic: that he’d just let her win anyway, because that’s who he is.
Frank Grillo Said It First
Alcock isn’t the only one. When Frank Grillo wrapped production on Superman: Man of Tomorrow last month, he posted a farewell message to Instagram that, buried inside the general warmth, contained a pretty definitive verdict. “David is Superman,” he said. “He is Superman. And he’s that wholesome.” Grillo, who plays Rick Flag Sr. across the DCU and had a front-row seat to Corenswet’s work on the sequel, described the film as “going to be f***ing dynamite” and called his time on set like nothing else.
There’s a version of this where all the warm words and viral moments are just the machinery of a press tour doing its job. But when the people who spend months on set with an actor, and the co-star who gets touched by a stranger in a crowded room and watches someone step between her and the problem — when they all arrive at the same sentence without being prompted, it’s probably worth taking at face value.
RELATED: Milly Alcock on Supergirl’s Queer Icon Status: “She Doesn’t Live Inside the Binary”
Supergirl opens in theatres on June 26.
