Alongside the supervillains he will face as Superman in James Gunn's 2025 movie, one of the movie's stars confirmed David Corenswet's Clark Kent will have an adversary of his own. DC Studios already unveiled several key villains for the Man of Steel to face in Superman, including Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, María Gabriela de Faría's The Engineer, and the mysterious Ultraman.
SNL star Beck Bennett recently sat down with DC Studios Showcase: The Official Podcast to discuss his role as Daily Planet reporter Steve Lombard in Superman, revealing his character is an "adversary" (aka enemy) to Clark Kent. The exciting revelation confirms Kent will have an antagonist to overcome in his personal and work life while Superman deals with Lex Luthor and more worldly threats.
Explaining Lombard's relationship to Superman, Bennett described his character as "the Daily Planet douchebag:"
"I've been saying that Steve Lombard is the Daily Planet douchebag. He's the office douchebag. I changed that, like, for this, for getting ready to talk about the movie. I was like, I'll say adversary. -(LAUGHS) And that's how he's written in his Wikipedia.
He added that Lombard simply "doesn't have a filter" and "thinks he's like a real macho, masculine dude:"
"He was written as the adversary to Clark Kent and basically everybody else at The Daily Planet 'cause he doesn't have a filter, and he just says whatever's on his mind, and he thinks he's like a real macho, masculine dude, and he kind of throws that around a lot, to, I think, mask his insecurity."
In terms of what Lombard does at the Daily Planet, Bennett portrayed him as a general "sports journalist:"
"He's a sportswriter, and he's been different-- At first, he was a sportscaster, then sports editor, but in this, I've just been going with, like, a sports journalist, sports reporter."
The SNL star explained one unique trait he gave Lombard was "the way he puts his hands on his hips" as a "power stance:"
"Huh, let's see. I mean, I think it was a little bit-- I don't know if you'll see this a ton, but it's the way he puts his hands on his hips. Like, it's kind of what would get me into the mode, like... I can't do it right now, but, like, it was just a little thing that, like, you know, I don't know, maybe he does it in the comics or whatever... It's his power stance. It's a little bit of like a... 'What the f*** are we talking about here?' Just kind of like a hand on his hips kind of like, but yeah, that was a little-- If there was like a physical tick, it was probably that.
He continued to tease that there are "some written things" in Superman from writer James Gunn that make Lombard different from past iterations:
"But I mean, I think there were quite a-- there were some written things in here that I think you'll find unique to Steve that you haven't seen in the comic books and in previous iterations of Steve."
Steve Lombard (Beck Bennett) is joined at the Daily Planet in Superman by Clark Kent (David Corenswet), Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Perry White (Wendell Pierce), Cat Grant (Mikaela Hoover), and Ron Troupe (Christopher McDonald).
While the extent of Lombard's role in James Gunn's Superman is unclear, fans won't be waiting long to learn more as the DCU movie hits theaters on July 11.
Steve Lombard's Adversary Role in Superman Explained
As David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan are co-leading Superman, the Daily Planet cast ought to have an important role, even when the Man of Steel is preoccupied with his heroic duties and the looming threat of Lex Luthor.
With Steve Lombard being described as an unfiltered "adversary" at the Daily Planet who sees himself as a "real macho, masculine dude," it wouldn't be surprising if he plays into some of Superman's comedy.
Lombard has only appeared in live-action once before in Man of Steel where he was played by Dawn of the Dead actor Michael Kelly, who recently picked up his second DC acting credit in The Penguin.
The sports journalist being portrayed as the "Daily Planet douchebag" is nothing new, as, in Man of Steel, he was a former NFL player who unsuccessfully flirted with his younger, female colleagues but ultimately helped protect his co-workers during General Zod's Kryptonian invasion of Metropolis.
