As many fans had expected, Superman and Lex Luthor will reportedly form an uneasy alliance to defeat Braniac in James Gunn’s upcoming Man of Tomorrow.
Speculation that classic Superman villain Brainiac would be the movie’s big bad has been rife among fans ever since Gunn teased a script image back in September showing an anatomical illustration of a brain.
Now, The Wrap states that it has confirmed Brainiac is indeed Man of Tomorrow’s main focus, and the reason that David Corenswet’s Superman and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor are forced to team up together.
Aside from Gunn’s prior tease, Brainiac’s appearance in the Superman sequel simply makes a lot of sense. The list of classic villains big enough to spark a Superman/Lex alliance was never a long one, and the appearance of Brainiac will likely benefit from the character not having appeared in a big Superman movie before.
Frequently depicted as a green-skinned cyborg, Brainiac could easily be seen as a threat to both Superman and Lex, as his alien hunger to dominate the universe is only outmatched by his galaxy-brained intellect.
“It is a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together, to a certain degree, against a much, much bigger threat,” Gunn teased previously. “And it’s more complicated than that. It’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I relate to the character of Lex Luthor, sadly.”
At the time, fans pointed to Brainiac as the perfect foil for the smart but jealous Luthor, who would likely be unhappy getting usurped again.
“That’s the center of Lex for me,” Gunn continued, discussing Luthor’s out of control jealousy. “Three years ago, before Superman came along, he was considered the greatest guy in the world, even with other metahumans and superheroes in the world. And then in one fell swoop, this guy comes in wearing a silly costume, with dimples, and a charming smile, and a great chin, and he’s forgotten.”
Full production on Man of Tomorrow is expected to begin in April 2026, ahead of the movie’s release in theaters on July 9, 2027. While we wait for more from Gunn and the rest of the DC team, you can check out everything else we know about Man of Tomorrow. You can also read about its connections to Peacemaker Season 2.
Image credit: DC Comics
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
