When you’re cast as Superman in an upcoming DC movie, certain boxes need checking: the jawline, the presence, the so-called “Superman face,” as James Gunn put it in a recent interview. And in the 2025 Superman reboot, David Corenswet definitely delivers. But he didn’t just “play” Big Blue — he became him, at least for a moment, in a viral grip strength test that might be his most Clark Kent-to-Kryptonian moment yet.
In a viral TikTok video, which you can watch below, the actor takes part in a grip strength test — casually, surrounded by his fellow Superman cast members — and absolutely demolishes it. His score? A jaw-dropping number.
172! For context, that puts him well above the 95th percentile of grip strength scores. We're talking specialized athlete levels here — the kind of result you wouldn’t necessarily expect from an actor, but from a top-tier rock climber or elite weightlifter.
But here's where it gets even more interesting, because grip strength isn’t just about forearm flex. According to the Rochester Athletic Club, it’s also a major biomarker of overall health, longevity, and even cognitive function. That’s right, your grip might actually say more about your health than your biceps do.
So if we look closer into this study, the stronger your grip, the better off you are, both physically and mentally. Studies have even shown that for every 10-pound decrease in grip strength, the risk of all-cause mortality increases by 16%. Not exactly what you want to hear when you’re struggling to open a pickle jar.
When David Corenswet scores a whopping 172 on the dynamometer, that’s not just a flex, it’s Kryptonian-level wellness. And just to keep things fun, Lex Luthor himself, actor Nicholas Hoult, steps up next and hits a still-solid 118. Great score! According to normative grip strength charts, the average man in his 30s scores around 97–115 pounds of pressure, so this is above average for his age. But let’s be honest… it’s not exactly a superhero grip.
Between this fun behind-the-scenes moment and the Pearl star’s literal show of strength, I’m even more hyped for the upcoming sequel, Man of Tomorrow. While James Gunn’s first The Last Son of Krypton outing (now streaming with an HBO Max subscription) leaned bright and optimistic, the sequel promises a shift — less four-color spectacle, and more balance between Superman and Lex Luthor sharing the spotlight. That alone is promising, but it’s Gunn’s darker, more grounded take on Lex that really has me curious. And after he teased the finished screenplay recently, I have to wonder, will we see Lex upping his grip profile to go toe to toe with the Man of Steel? Only time will tell.
And now that Gunn has teased the finished screenplay, I have to wonder — will Lex be leveling up his own grip strength to go toe-to-toe with the Man of Steel? We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, David Corenswet is embodying the “man” in Superman, both on and off screen. A cape may not be included, but the grip? It's about as heroic as it–meaning, human grip strength–gets.
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