In a tease that’s unlikely to be taken well by any fan hoping for a cinematic return to form for Big Blue, according to actress Phoebe Dynevor’s first-hand experience with the film’s script, Superman: Legacy will flip the script by having Lois Lane be the one who “saves Superman”.
Dynevor, perhaps best known for her roles as Daphne Bassett in Netflix’s Bridgerton and Clarice Cliff in Sky Cinema’s The Colour Room, provided this insight into James Gunn’s upcoming kick-off to the new cinematic DCU during a January 2024 interview given to Variety.
Amidst a discussion primarily centered on her new film Fair Play, Dynevor was eventually asked by the outlet’s Angelique Jackson as to how she felt about losing the chance to portray the titular Kryptonian’s love interest, a role for which she was briefly a final contender before it ultimately went to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Broshnahan.
In turn, the actress recalled, “It was a whirlwind and then I realized that it was over, but it was great.”
Further, Dynevor admitted that particular one take-away she had from the entire affair was the fact that, in the future, she wanted to play more characters like Lois.
Ostensibly recalling to the intrepid reporter’s portrayal within Gunn’s script, the actress affirmed that she found Lois’ appeal to be the fact that “She saves Superman. She’s the brains; she’s actually the fearless one.”
Now, in the interest of fairness, it should be noted that there does exist a handful of distinct possibilities regarding Dynevor’s statements that do not automatically spell identitiy-politics-laden doom for Superman: Legacy.
For example, there’s a chance that the actress’ reference to Lois ‘saving’ Superman was meant to come across more metaphorically than literally, a possible reference to the heroine either helping to free the hero from a sticky situation in order to fight a big bad or her feelings for him serving as the spark which inspires him to push past his limits.
To this end, it’s conversely possible that in the second half of her statement, Dynevor used overtly literal language to refer to the iconic comic book pairing’s historic relationship, wherein Lois’ bold, refuse-to-take-no-for-an-answer attitude – a.k.a. her “brains” and her “fearless”-ness – serves as both an inspiration and an indispensable in-the-field-assistive asset to both of Clark’s respective careers.
But given that this statement was made amidst the West’s current, sociopolitical-charged entertainment climate, there remains a high probability that the above hedging will remain as nothing more than wishful thinking and Lois will ultimately be subjected to the same ‘strong female’ rewriting that has torpedeod the characters of so many fictional heroines before her.
Ultimately, the only thing standing in the way of such an outcome is Gunn himself – and whether or not he’ll hold firm presently remains anyone’s guess.
As of writing, Superman: Legacy is set to leap its way into theaters on July 11th, 2025.