"Doesn't need to look cool": David Corenswet addresses Superman's red trunks

One of Superman's most recognizable aspects is apart from the "S" symbol, and the blue suit is the red trunks. James Gunn has talked in the past about his struggles in designing the suit with the iconic red trunks on the outside. It should be noted that until the upcoming movie, DC has been doing away with the red trunks in live-action movies, TV shows, and even the comics for a decade.

The 2010s New-52 comics reboot famously featured a blue and red suit without the red trunks. However, the New-52 reboot was quickly discarded, and The Last Son of Krypton's suit retained the red trunks. However, the red trunks are something that has been a point of discussion among the fans for years as of 2025. Now, David Corenswet added to this conversation recently.

On July 4, 2025, actors Nicholas Hoult and David Corenswet appeared on the DC Studios Showcase podcast together. There, Corenswet, who plays The Last Son of Krypton in the upcoming movie, talked about what went behind designing the costume with the trunk. He first said:

"The problem with the trunks is that they look kind of silly. And you can argue against it. You can try to make them not silly."

The quote above refers to James Gunn's revelation that he was struggling to create a design for the costume that included the trunks. Gunn revealed that it was Corenswet who convinced him to include the trunks so that the Man of Steel looks friendly to kids. Now, the actor also said something similar during the podcast appearance:

"What if the point is that they look a little silly? The reason that Superman wants to look a little silly is because he doesn't need to look cool. He doesn't want to look cool. He wants to be Clark Kent. He wants to be the normal, bumbling guy who's just barely fitting in at work."

Explaining David Corenswet's Superman comments:

Corenswet's words prove that he got the essence of The Last Son of Krypton from the comics. The previous version of the character played by Henry Cavill portrayed the Man of Steel as a God living amongst mortals. His version of the Big Blue Boy Scout is a dark and brooding figure, something that's associated with characters like Batman and the Punisher in the comics. Moreover, he looked scary every time he used the heat vision.

This change in the character is something that many fans criticized about the DCEU version of the Last Son of Krypton. Now, David Corenswet's comments seem to suggest that the DCU version of the character will be more human and less threatening, who doesn't rely on the heat vision regularly. In the same interview, Corenswet gave his opinion on what makes Superman compelling.

What did David Corenswet say?

In the podcast appearance, podcast host Coy Jandreau asked Corenswet about his thinking behind adding the trunks. To this, the actor responded:

"The one thought that I had about Superman before I made my audition tape that I felt very strongly about was that—and I discovered later that Grant Morrison had already made this discovery and that was sort of the origin of All-Star Superman the comic— the things that people think make Superman uninteresting. The fact that he's essentially all-powerful, he's very highly powered, and he doesn't really have... like, emotional angst. He really is a good person with a good upbringing. He doesn't have some crazy internal struggle. Those are not his weaknesses. Those are actually what make him an interesting character."