Man Of Tomorrow Spoilers Promise "Terrifying" Brainiac, DCU Tonal Shift, Lex Luthor And Wonder Woman Plans

Man Of Tomorrow Spoilers Promise "Terrifying" Brainiac, DCU Tonal Shift, Lex Luthor And Wonder Woman Plans

Rumoured Man of Tomorrow details tease James Gunn's plans for a darker DCU epic, with Brainiac, Wonder Woman, John Stewart, Captain Atom and a surprising Lex Luthor scene all mentioned.

By JoshWilding - Sep 12, 2026 05:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Man of Tomorrow

While details about James Gunn's highly anticipated Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, remain tightly under wraps, a new batch of rumoured plot and production details from Mundos da DC have promised fans a vastly different DCU movie.

According to these claims—and we advise taking everything you read here with a pinch of salt—Gunn took note of complaints about 2025's Superman, addressing them head-on in his upcoming follow-up. One reported result led to a change behind the camera, with Man of Tomorrow landing a different director of photography for improved cinematography.

The movie is also reportedly being positioned as the first true DCU event movie, bringing together characters and storylines from Superman, Supergirl, and Lanterns. That suggests Man of Tomorrow is viewed as a major crossover for the fledgling DCU, rather than just a straightforward Superman sequel.

The tone is said to be considerably more mature, dense, and epic than Superman, with the film's lengthy runtime reportedly allowing Gunn to explore a story closer in tone to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

It seems we can expect some big scenes for Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, too. One action sequence reportedly sees Lex caught up in a prison brawl, with Hoult appearing shirtless and showing off the physique he has developed for the role. That seems to be a nod to All-Star Superman, a story Gunn is a huge fan of.

Even more intriguing are the claims surrounding Brainiac. The iconic Superman villain's design is said to be "terrifying," with the goal reportedly being to give his appearance the kind of frightening presence that will immediately unsettle moviegoers.

John Stewart is also said to have a substantial role in the story following his introduction in Lanterns, with the Green Lantern reportedly receiving a comic book-inspired costume.

Perhaps the biggest rumour is supposed confirmation that Adria Arjona is playing Wonder Woman. Arjona and Eva de Dominici were allegedly finalists for a role that used Maxima as a misdirect to throw the trades off the scent.

Elsewhere, Captain Atom is reportedly set to appear and receive some sort of medal, although the wider context surrounding that scene is unknown. Finally, one potentially emotional moment will apparently see Clark helping his father, Jonathan Kent, who is shown in a wheelchair.

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.

About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
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Nonameforme
Nonameforme - 9/12/2026, 5:10 PM
Sounds. Good. To. Me.
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 9/12/2026, 5:20 PM
I think a tone that rests somewhere between Superman and Lanterns would be beneficial and truly, if Gunn is taking criticisms and moving in a different direction, good on em.

My only concern is between Superman, Lex in his battle suit, Brainiac, The Justice Gang, Stewart's GL, Supergirl, and the rumored appearances of Wonder Woman, The Atom, and Jay Garrick, this movie is gonna suffer from a massive bloating problem and ultimately, not feel like a Superman sequel.
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 9/12/2026, 5:23 PM
@TheWinkler - correction, Captain Atom, but that sounds like a one off from the description. Also, forgot to throw in Blue Beetle's name.
cyclopstb
cyclopstb - 9/12/2026, 5:29 PM
@TheWinkler - It's a follow up movie, not a sequel.
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 9/12/2026, 5:56 PM
@cyclopstb - Jesus [frick]ing christ, okay.

Not feel like a film thats gonna have a lot of focus on the character whose moniker is in the title.

Repian
Repian - 9/12/2026, 5:26 PM
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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/12/2026, 5:40 PM
@Repian - yeah , if he’s terrifying that i can see them taking inspiration from the Absolute version…

Maybe even going back to the original iteration aswell.

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Nolanite
Nolanite - 9/12/2026, 5:29 PM
As it should be.

We all knew that she was playing Wonder Woman so it's not a big secret.

We can't keep secrets in Hollywood these days.

Looking forward to seeing this movie!

Nolanite out
LSHF
LSHF - 9/12/2026, 5:32 PM
"DCU Tonal Shift"?

What "was" the tone?
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/12/2026, 5:41 PM
@LSHF - it hasn’t had one consistent tone so I don’t get this either…

Perhaps they mean a tonal shift from the last Superman film so while that was lighter & brighter , this could be darker etc?.
UceOmega
UceOmega - 9/12/2026, 5:37 PM
Gunn ain’t gonna change no tone. It will be the same goofiness as last time. 🤦🏿‍♂️
Sominan
Sominan - 9/12/2026, 5:42 PM
Sounds phenomenal. I can't wait to see this.
WakandaTech
WakandaTech - 9/12/2026, 5:44 PM
2027

Avengers: Secret Wars
Man of Tomorrow

Both the MCU and DCU Bringing out the big guns
LibraMattered
LibraMattered - 9/12/2026, 5:50 PM
I am so down! I don’t really worry too much about the film being overstuffed. Sometimes characters don’t get flushed out but that’s normal for any movie. The supporting characters are there to move the story along. Also, if some characters are introduced, who’s to say we wont have more time with them in another movie in the universe.
RamboJohnJay415
RamboJohnJay415 - 9/12/2026, 5:51 PM
Brainiac is just going to be the High Evolutionary. That’s all.

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