James Gunn is aware of easy methods to get followers speaking. The DC Studios co-head and director of the 2025 film schedule’s Superman, in addition to its confirmed follow-up Man of Tomorrow, not too long ago shared a cryptic script cowl, and the web lit up. The picture? A medical illustration of a bifurcated human head revealing a mind. Naturally, followers zeroed in on one identify: Brainiac. Might Superman’s longtime foe lastly be making his big-screen debut in Gunn’s upcoming DC film? Effectively, the writer-director responded to all these fan theories.
In an unique interview with Leisure Weekly, Gunn addressed the thrill instantly. Type of. He didn’t verify the villain, however he did admit he did not notice what would occur as soon as he dropped that mind scan on-line. He defined:
Pay attention, in fact I wasn’t unaware that once I posted the quilt of the script that there was going to be dialogue round that specific subject. However I feel we’ll maintain off from what precisely is going on.
Whereas Gunn stays tight-lipped, his calculated ambiguity will undoubtedly gasoline extra fan theories. Brainiac has lengthy been certainly one of Superman’s most iconic and underused adversaries in live-action, and the illustrated mind imagery felt like greater than a coincidence. If the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker wasn’t hinting on the basic alien AI, he positively knew what he was doing by posting that picture. Test it out for your self:
We do know some particulars concerning the upcoming movie. David Corenswet will return as Large Blue, with Nicholas Hoult reprising his function as Lex Luthor. The dynamic between these two characters is on the coronary heart of the story. Actually, the Brightburn producer instructed The Howard Stern Present that Man of Tomorrow would differ from Superman as a result of it could be as a lot a Lex film as it’s a Superman one.
Provided that data, followers are in for an fascinating installment within the DCU, one which highlights two protagonists and never merely the Man of Metal. Kal-El’s dynamic with Lex is Superman is advanced and intense, and it makes for among the finest parts of that movie. So I am curious to see how this all performs out, and it feels just like the paradigm is about to shift in a serious means.
The Slither filmmaker hinted on the want for Superman and Lex Luthor to group up towards a much bigger menace within the subsequent installment of the bigger Superman story transferring ahead. So will that “greater menace” become Brainiac? Effectively, that’s not simply fan service—that’s legacy storytelling.
Comics like Brainiac by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank—and even animated entries like Superman: Unbound—have explored this dynamic earlier than. A reluctant team-up towards a hyper-intelligent alien AI bent on bottling cities? Yea watch the hell out of that.
It stays to be seen whether or not or not Brainiac will truly grace the massive display screen in his subsequent directorial effort. Such a growth is actually attainable, however Gunn is not confirming or denying something in the intervening time. Within the meantime, know that Superman is at present accessible to stream with an HBO Max subscription as is DCU-set present Peacemaker. Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026, adopted by Man of Tomorrow on July 9, 2027.