Superman was the light-hearted, optimistic take on the hero that many fans had been asking for after the DCEU's grim, gritty take on Clark Kent. However, it sounds like next summer's Man of Tomorrow will be a little darker.
During a recent interview, David Corenswet opened up about what fans can expect from James Gunn's Superman sequel. While the actor chose his words carefully, he likened the Superman/Lex Luthor team-up to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
The middle chapter in George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy introduced a Luke Skywalker who was far more mature and experienced than the young farm boy we'd met in A New Hope. Han Solo and Leia Organa's personalities had also deepened, and it seems we can expect something similar for Man of Tomorrow's leads.
"The thing that I thought of was the opening of Empire Strikes Back and how every time I watch that movie I'm so excited when you re-meet Luke and Han and Leia," Corenswet says in the video below. It was really exciting hearing James Gunn talk about how he wanted to bring the characters, especially the relationships of Superman and Lex, and then of Clark and Lois, into their second phase."
"They've been through more in the interim," he continued. "And so, in Man of Tomorrow, we meet them in those more solid, established situations, but the stakes are obviously that those things are gonna be put at risk."
Clark and Lois were still a relatively new couple when we met them in Superman, so seeing their relationship deepen should be very satisfying for fans. As for the Man of Steel, he had a brief cameo in Supergirl, but it didn't really offer any insights into what he's been up to on Earth.
Lex, however, is a particularly interesting case, given that he's been working with A.R.G.U.S. and Rick Flag Sr. to create Salvation and get himself into a much cushier prison.
In Man of Tomorrow, Superman will be forced to team up with Lex Luthor to battle Brainiac, a threat not just to Metropolis but to the entire world.
Written and directed by James Gunn, the movie stars include David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Lars Eidinger as Brainiac, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr., Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, and Milly Alcock as Supergirl.
Andre Royo, Matthew Lillard, Sinqua Walls, and Adria Arjona will also star. However, as we mentioned above, we still don't know whether the latter is playing Maxima or Wonder Woman. There's also speculation that Eva De Dominici is playing one of the characters, and there's always a chance the Diana Prince rumblings don't pan out. We'll have to wait and see.
Man of Tomorrow arrives in theaters on July 9, 2027.