'Superman' to film scenes with main cast in Cleveland

CLEVELAND — Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane ... it's Superman. The Man of Steel is indeed returning to his hometown. Director James Gunn ("Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise) will film scenes for DC's new "Superman" movie in Cleveland this summer, cleveland.com reported back in February. But a recent Facebook post shared by the project's local casting director provides new details about the shoot. Angela Boehm Casting announced on April 23 it is looking for background actors (extras) and stand-ins for "Genesis," which is the working title for "Superman," cleveland.com previously confirmed. The casting call says filming will take place in Cleveland from June 17 to July 16 before moving to Cincinnati on July 17 through July 18. The note says "stand-ins will be working with our director and main cast." That combined with the length of the shoots and the movie's in-state budget — believed to be around $37 million based on the $11 million tax credit it received — suggests the Ohio portion of the project will be more involved than the sort of second-unit scenes that Hollywood crews filmed for "Spider-Man 3″ in 2006 and "The Fate of the Furious" in 2016. Instead, a production the scale of "The Avengers" or "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," both filmed in downtown Cleveland in 2012 and 2013, respectively, appears more likely. Originally titled "Superman: Legacy," production on the reboot began in Atlanta in late February. David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan is Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult plays the classic villain Lex Luthor. The cast also includes Cleveland native Isabela Merced ("Madame Web") as Hawkgirl. While the plot is a closely guarded secret, the studio says the story centers on "Superman's journey as he tries to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing." The beloved superhero, of course, was created by Cleveland natives Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. The new film arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.