Finding the next Superman is always a daunting prospect. In many ways, Superman is the role of a lifetime, and he has been the defining character for the actors who earned the chance to bring the Man of Steel to life. Christopher Reeve, George Reeves, Brandon Routh, and Tyler Hoechlin are just a handful of the actors who have had the honor. And now, the next Superman may have been found.
Via Variety, reporter Marc Malkin states that Pierson Fodé “could be in the running for the coveted role.” Fodé is not a complete unknown, and he formerly had a starring role in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Since then, his star has been on the rise with roles in Netflix’s The Man From Toronto and The Real Bros of Simi Valley. And in the promotional picture below from his football drama, It’s Time, Fodé has an uncanny resemblance to Henry Cavill, the last actor who portrayed Superman on the big screen.
According to Malkin, “Fodé sent in a self-tape, which included a montage of footage showing his very Clark Kent-like childhood on a farm in the small town of Moses Lake, Washington.” In the comics, Clark Kent was raised in Smallville, a farming town in Kansas where his adoptive parents, the Kents, instilled in him the values that made Superman into the world’s greatest superhero.
Director James Gunn is writing and helming Superman: Legacy, which will feature a younger Clark who is already living in Metropolis and operating as Superman. At 31 years old, Fodé is only nine years younger than Cavill. But he has very youthful features, and Malkin contends that “Gunn liked what he saw” in Fodé’s audition tape.
Variety’s report stops short of saying that Fodé is definitively a contender for the role. And it may be months before Gunn makes a decision about who he will cast. As for Fodé, he has a role in Peacock’s upcoming true crime comedy, Based on a True Story, which will premiere on June 8.
