An East Sussex teenager has designed the age classification card that UK cinemas will show before screenings of the new Superman film.

Elsie, from Eastbourne, submitted artwork to a competition seeking a replacement for the traditional black card displaying the film’s 12A age rating.

After winning the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) contest, she met the film’s stars David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult.

The 14-year-old said: “It’s a really big deal because I really like Superman and I think meeting the talent was the pinnacle of my life.”

“I think he’s just a really refreshing character” who is “nice and positive”, Elsie said.

She said she chose colours that “would pop on screen” in her winning design.

Her submission took “a few takes” to get right and was initially sketched before being coloured in with watercolours and paint pens.

Elsie’s design beat submissions from hundreds of secondary school pupils across the UK.

BBFC chief executive David Austin, who was on the judging panel, said Elsie’s design “really captured Superman’s spirit of hope” and the colours would be “really outstanding on the cinema screen”.

The 14-year-old only learned she would meet the Superman cast, as well as director James Gunn, when she arrived at the BBFC offices after being confirmed as the competition winner.

Elsie said: “Missing a day of school for that was awesome, the best excuse.”

“In the moment I was trying to keep it cool because I didn’t want to embarrass myself, ” she said, but the day after was “going round to all my friends saying ‘guess what? guess who I just met?'”

“I don’t think they really understood the severity of it. It was quite a big thing, which I didn’t even realise until I found out I won, she told the BBC.

The mega-fan, who said she had “probably” seen Superman films at least 50 times, also attended a fan preview of the new movie, which hits UK cinemas on Friday.

Elsie’s mum Liz said the family was “really proud” that her daughter’s work had received recognition.

“I’ve only seen pictures but I can’t wait to see the actual film and see it in real life,” she said.

“I think I might possibly start crying.”