MAN OF TOMORROW Director James Gunn On Fan-Theories, Potential Villain & Who The Title Refers To

James Gunn has shared a few more updates on his plans for Man of Tomorrow, commenting on fan-theories that have been doing the rounds, the movie's potential villain, and more...

News

By MarkCassidy - Oct 23, 2025 11:10 AM EST

Filed Under: Superman

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has been chatting to some of his favorite YouTube channels over the past couple of days, answering questions about Superman, Peacemaker season 2, and some upcoming DCU projects.

Gunn recently revealed that he is making good progress on Man of Tomorrow, and has almost finished his fourth draft of the script. He has now shared some minor updates with Go Read Some Comics, confirming that he is in the process of "building costumes and doing all this sort of stuff for Man of Tomorrow."

Host Jenna asked Gunn if he had read any fan-theories about MOT that correctly guessed any plot points. He said that he "hasn't read anything" yet, but did suggest that people might be assuming that the Superman follow-up is more connected to the events of the Peacemaker season 2 finale than it actually is, noting that it is "still very much its own thing."

Gunn did confirm that the "Man of Tomorrow" title refers to both Superman and Lex Luthor, and it sounds like this really will be more of a Lex movie with Kal-El as a supporting character.

As for Man of Tomorrow's villain (Brainiac is the prevailing theory), Gunn wasn't about to give anything away while speaking to Emergency Awesome, but did say that he's "trying to make everything feel very different to what's come before."

Gunn has previously admitted that he knew the Brainiac theories would ignite when he shared the first page of the MOT script, which featured the movie's title, along with an image of a medical X-ray of a human's brain.

"Listen, of course I wasn't unaware that when I posted the cover of the script that there was going to be discussion around that particular topic," he told EW. "But I think we'll hold off from what exactly is happening."

Even before this tease, fans had speculated that Brainiac might make his DCU debut in the Superman follow-up.

Back in August, an hour-long documentary about the making of Superman gave us a quick glimpse of a storyboard featuring the Man of Steel, Supergirl, Krypto, and what looked a lot like the top of Brainiac's head. Though there was a chance this was simply an unused idea for Superman, many fans remain convinced that the superintelligent villain will make his DCU debut in Man of Tomorrow.

Do you think Brainiac will be the villain of Man of Tomorrow? What do you make of the notion of a Lex Luthor-focused movie? Drop us a comment down below.

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45 Comments

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UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 11:37 AM

Am I the only one who's noticing the public discourse turning on Gunn's DCU and Superman?

I don't remember it being this bad with MoS...but then if guess social media was still growing back then...

Anyway looking forward to Lanterns at least.

JobinJ - 10/23/2025, 11:39 AM

@UnderBelly - I walked out of the theater after watching it and I thought immediately it was terrible. It was goofy and a mess. I think people were just so hungry for something other than Snyder that they are too proud to admit it wasn’t a good movie.

Man of Steel, it had its problems, but it was a phenomenal, beautiful film.

James Guns Superman was just a goofy non-consequential poorly written cartoon.

McMurdo - 10/23/2025, 11:41 AM

@UnderBelly - The discourse is no greater than what it was during its theater run. Man of Steel's discourse related to him letting his father commit suicide via weather whilst he stood and watched from 15 yds away rather than getting him safely to Indiana in the blink of the eye and then also blasting a city into smithereens without any real attention given to the civilians living there, and then it peaked hard when BvS dropped and he was a supporting act amongst a Batman who openly killed people. The BvS and Mos drama was certainly greater than what we have here with Superman.

ferf - 10/23/2025, 11:42 AM

@UnderBelly - I remember talking to regular offline people when MOS/BVS came out and their reactions ranged from "I didn't see it" to "I hated it" but Snyder clearly had fans online. With Gunn it's the opposite experience so far.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 11:44 AM

@JobinJ - Kind of agree,
But i did mostly enjoy it. Corenswet was given alot more to work with and was able to portray a likeable Superman/Clark....

I feel Cavill didnt really get the chance to convince us apart from looki g the part. He was all gloomy and 'lost' in the first...was then secondary character in the second and was barely there in JL.

I was really looking forward to MoS 2 though.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 11:46 AM

@McMurdo - Oh I definitley rememeber the issues around the 3rd act (reduce that damage a bit and have his dad die of a heart attack and it would have been a perfect movie)

But i feel at the time they weren't trying to set up the DCEU at first, so it had some room to grow if you know what I mean...but then yeah BvS came and we all know Snyder's true hard on is for Batsy.

lazlodaytona - 10/23/2025, 11:49 AM

@JobinJ - honestly, Superman Returns was a bit of a tedious, boring film, but it was a beautiful Superman film that, like MoS, gave reverence to the character and didn't have him swear, argue like a petty person, looked over matched, and was very emotional.

I feel previous directors at least triex to make Supes unique and having an "awe-factor."
Gunn's Superman I didn't hate, but it was like he randomly pulled a comic out of a stack of modern-day Superman comics and decided to go with that.
To me, I feel like Gunn feels Superman is "just" another comicbook character.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 11:51 AM

@ferf - I liked MoS but had issues with act 3....I REALLY wanted to like BvS and thought Affleck was really suited to the part, but the overall product ruined all the parts that could have been memorable...

I tell myself Snyder didnt write those movies but he shot the hell out of them, so I guess im a fan.

Those Rebel moon movies were awful though.

Irregular - 10/23/2025, 11:59 AM

@UnderBelly - "I don't remember it being this bad with MoS"

I specifically remember when MoS was released, Rotten Tomatoes, was becoming more prominent as a review source. So much so, there was a news anchor or someone on TV had to make a comment about the score and how it effects movies. However the anchor/person/whoever, did state that she disagreed with the score and thought MOS was "really good."

But if news stations had a story to make out of this and was literally aired live on national television about the backlash, and debating Rotten Tomatoes, then NO. It's not even close.

This "discourse" is just because Peacemaker S2 was incredibly oversold for a lot of people and now because WBD is going to be sold off. Not a good time to be a DC fan when the property you love is always constantly changing with new people over and over again.

Don't even care about DC expanding it's universe anymore at this point. It's just going to get sold off again with new owners who are just going to fire, rehire and rinse & repeat the same bullshit.

regularmovieguy - 10/23/2025, 12:02 PM

@UnderBelly

Public discourse as in comicbookmovie.com discourse? This site isn't a good index of what the public thinks at all, lmao.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 12:34 PM

@regularmovieguy - Well with people who are tapped in with comic book movies. This isn't the only place i go to. Use to be a regular on countingdown.com in the X2 days and then superherohype.com, haha, but these days it's here, reddit and the socials.

@Irregular - fair points. I hear you though, WB has been circling the drain since the pandemic and the moves they made that year to let all their releases to go day and date release to streamers. I hope if it does get sold though they at least leave DC Studios relatively untouched. I'm no lover of Superman 2025, but at least there's been a plan and some consistency with who's in charge etc, unlike the Snyder and Hamada days.

Irregular - 10/23/2025, 12:55 PM

@UnderBelly - Yeah I do hope DC Studios is untouched, but I will say it will be sad to see it just be sold off like that and being absorbed. Kind of had the same sentiment with 20th Century Fox.

But I feel with WB, it feels like it hits deeper and kind of makes me not interested in what the future of filmmaking is going to turn into to whoever buys it. Everything feels soulless at this moment for the industry now that big tech giants and big corporations are just absorbing all types of media.

Now interviews feel like corporate answers from actors and directors, secrecy when revealed has become mixed to underwhelming, attention spans and patience has grown thinner, and expectations have become predictable or so far removed that it becomes less enjoyable. So honestly, the moment they put WB for sale, it gave me a lot of introverted perspective on the movie industry, and unfortunately, looks like it's dead.

Irregular - 10/23/2025, 12:57 PM

@UnderBelly - Use to be a regular on countingdown.com in the X2 days and then superherohype.com

Just saw this and YES!!! And all those god-awful Avi Arad interviews. Remember that Deathlok movie he swore up and down was so good but yet never got made lol?

HashTagSwagg - 10/23/2025, 1:12 PM

@UnderBelly - Snyder did not put himself before the characters. Gunn put himself front and center of everything, the marketing, the interviews, he had full creative control, the flaws of this universe aren't on the actor's but the direction, writting and creative choices so he's rightfully the one to blame for it's failures.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 2:20 PM

@Irregular - For all the shit Arad gave the fans, he's also to thank for those early 2000 movies that really set the stage. What an era that was.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 2:26 PM

@HashTagSwagg - I dont disagree, but he at least has a plan.

Not shitting on Snyder either... he was handed MoS by Chris Nolan and set out to make a solo Superman movie.. expanding it into the DCEU was a possibility but I don't think they had it mapped out beyond seeing a Wayne logo. But by the time BvS came around they shoved so much world building into it that it all fell apart. He didn't write it, but he was given alot of creative control there with the casting and stylistic choices. Visually the movies were stunning though, but the story was not what I'd of wanted for Superman.

HashTagSwagg - 10/23/2025, 2:33 PM

@UnderBelly - Batman's inclusion in BVS was not Snyder's decision, that was WB. Lex and Flash were the only casting decisions that I really hated.

UnderBelly - 10/23/2025, 2:45 PM

@HashTagSwagg - There conflicting reports on thats from what I've seen and haven't seen zack denounce or taken ownership for that decision (unless you got a link stating otherwise?) so ill settle on thinking it was a bit of both, but those shots of Affleck in thr suit were since 2013 the same year MoS came out..

jratz - 10/23/2025, 3:13 PM

@McMurdo - Batman openly killed in 89 too.

WalletsClosed - 10/23/2025, 4:02 PM

@JobinJ - Calling it a cartoon is incredibly disrespectful to the animated series. This was more Gunn slop

WalletsClosed - 10/23/2025, 4:06 PM

@regularmovieguy - "This site isn't a good index of what the public thinks at all, lmao." Says who? You?

regularmovieguy - 10/23/2025, 4:26 PM

@WalletsClosed

You actually asked this while quoting me, lmao.

JobinJ - 10/23/2025, 11:37 AM

Yay, let’s have Superman team up with a guy that blew an innocent man’s brains out right in front of him. I’m sure they’ll develop some kind of slight friendship. Rather than just have Superman break his [frick]ing arms and throw them off a [frick]ing building for killing that man.

Why not just let them be buddies and team up.

Nothing matters in this universe that he has created.

Superman watched Lex blow a man’s brains out right in front of him, and when he finally caught him, he gave him an inspirational speech instead of punching a hole in his chest

MarkCassidy - 10/23/2025, 11:42 AM

@JobinJ - Well he was obviously never going to punch a hole in his chest, but I do agree with the rest. Gunn seemed too concerned with showing how evil Luthor could be that he didn't think through what the ramifications of then showing us a more heroic side of the character could be. And Supes giving him that speech at the end like he'd just stolen a bar of chocolate and was heading down the wrong path or something didn't sit right.

McMurdo - 10/23/2025, 11:42 AM

@JobinJ - This isn't a Snyder film bud. did you expect him to just murder Lex on the spot? not really his MO.

JobinJ - 10/23/2025, 11:57 AM

@MarkCassidy - Exactly.

JobinJ - 10/23/2025, 12:03 PM

@McMurdo - I expected Superman to be capable of dishing out some punishment. Not just lecturing someone after they murder people. Maybe not kill Lex...but something.

This Superman came of incredibly weak. Would strike ZERO fear into any criminals heart.

TDKRnry88 - 10/23/2025, 1:03 PM

@JobinJ - Striking fear into criminals' hearts is Batman's thing & you know this. Superman doesn't go around trying to scare anyone. Just admit you want the scowling, heat vision-eyed Cavill version back. And exactly what should Superman do to Lex after catching up to him? He already shoulder checked him across the room.

McMurdo - 10/23/2025, 11:38 AM

This article told us absolutely nothing new with more words than necessary.

JackDeth - 10/23/2025, 11:47 AM

Before everyone starts complaining about him 'talking too much' just know that he JUST did an interview with BobaTalks, so you can expect every sentence that came out of his mouth to become its own story here.

TheVisionary25 - 10/23/2025, 11:49 AM

Cool!!.

It will be interesting to see if some or any of the All Star Superman inspiration Gunn had for the first film will make it into Man of Tomorrow if he’s trying to make it all feel different to what’s come before in his words…

Some of that feels inherent to this version of Superman such as his characterization to an extent while others like the aesthetic could definitely be changed which will be interesting to see if it happens.

Also in regards to MOT’s connection to the finale of Peacemaker S2 , I’m thinking it will focus more on the partnership between Lex and Rick Flagg Jr then dealing with Salvation which might be part of Gunn’s long term plan.

Anyway , I thought Gunn’s Superman was solid so looking forward to Man of Tomorrow!!.

hainesy - 10/23/2025, 11:51 AM

Let me guess:

"It's heartwarming a buddy cop film about two completely different people on a road trip through the galaxy, trying to stop a greater power than either one of them. Along the way, they learn that despite their differences, they have a lot in common."

lazlodaytona - 10/23/2025, 11:52 AM

Gunn is literally as addicted to his computer and social sites like the average person is to their smartphones....while on crack.

HulkisHoly - 10/23/2025, 11:54 AM

“Gunn did confirm that the "Man of Tomorrow" title refers to both Superman and Lex Luthor, and it sounds like this really will be more of a Lex movie with Kal-El as a supporting character.“

Complete nonsense conjecture.

ModHaterSLADE - 10/23/2025, 12:01 PM

Gunn loves him some social media. If he does Brainiac, I just hope it's at least as good as the one on Krypton.

centaur - 10/23/2025, 12:16 PM

dude literally shot a mans head in front of superman, they are just going gloss over that i bet.

HashTagSwagg - 10/23/2025, 1:15 PM

@centaur -

RolandD - 10/23/2025, 1:31 PM

@centaur - Way to get worked up on your speculation.

centaur - 10/23/2025, 3:21 PM

@RolandD -

MAN OF TOMORROW Director James Gunn On Fan-Theories, Potential Villain & Who The Title Refers To

James Gunn has shared a few more updates on his plans for Man of Tomorrow, commenting on fan-theories that have been doing the rounds, the movie's potential villain, and more...

If Not Darkseid, Who Should Be The DCU's Big Bad? These Are The 5 Most Likely Possibilities

DC Studios Has Registered SALVATION RUN Trademark For A Film And More

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, Comic Book Movie is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

DC Studios Has Registered SALVATION RUN Trademark For A Film And More

If Not Darkseid, Who Should Be The DCU's Big Bad? These Are The 5 Most Likely Possibilities