James Gunn not too long ago phoned into The Howard Stern Present and confirmed the title Man of Tomorrow for his Superman sequel and staked out July 9, 202, for the upcoming DC film. He additionally teased the hook of a Superman and Lex Luthor team-up, as the 2 are pressured into an uneasy alliance when a bigger risk hits Metropolis. Cue the hypothesis—together with a killer piece of fan artwork that imagines Nicholas Hoult in Lex’s iconic Conflict Swimsuit.
Over on Instagram, a brand new piece of fan artwork, the favored digital artist @spdrmnkyxxiii, simply stomped the gasoline on sequel hypothesis. The favored digital artist dropped a elegant one-sheet, which you’ll see under, that envisions a Luthor, as carried out by Nicholas Hoult, shoulder to shoulder with Supes in a modern, emerald battle rig. It’s not an announcement, however it’s a vibe.
Why does the armor selection matter in regard to the upcoming superhero film? As a result of that “battle go well with” isn’t a random pores and skin swap; it’s a deep reduce from the comics. Lex began within the Nineteen Forties in Motion Comics #23 as a genius baddie, largely in avenue garments or jail garb. The purple/inexperienced palette confirmed up within the ’70s as a jumpsuit with wrist lasers and repulsors—the look you bear in mind from Tremendous Buddies merch. The true game-changer arrived in 1984: DC (working with Kenner on the Tremendous Powers toyline) tapped George Pérez to revamp Lex right into a full metallic menace, debuting the armored go well with in Motion Comics #544 and marching it straight into Disaster on Infinite Earths. It briefly gave Metropolis’ grasp manipulator bodily parity with Superman.
Publish-Disaster (1986), Lex pivoted to billionaire kingpin—LexCorp fits as a substitute of energy armor—and that mogul model outlined every thing from Lois & Clark to The Adventures of Superman animated sequence (out there with an HBO Max subscription) and past. However the battle go well with by no means stayed buried. Within the 2000s, artists like Ed McGuinness and later runs (together with Paul Cornell’s Motion Comics) introduced it again—typically bulkier, typically streamlined, all the time unmistakably purple and inexperienced. The purpose is, when the armor seems, it alerts that Lex isn’t simply out-thinking Superman; he’s coming for him or, on the very least, anticipating to face toe-to-toe with Large Blue.
By James Gunn’s personal tease, Man of Tomorrow places Clark and Lex in an uneasy alliance towards a bigger risk—my cash’s on Brainiac. That setup virtually begs for the Conflict Swimsuit: it provides Lex aerial parity with the Justice Gang and units the stage for a darker twist. Suppose one of many finest Justice League Limitless episodes the place: Brainiac piggybacks inside Luthor, culminating in a fused Luthor/Brainiac (“Luthoriac”). An identical possession flip may flip the partnership mid-fight—crowd-pleasing team-up first, terrifying third-act escalation subsequent, with Clark attempting to avoid wasting the world with out shedding the ally at his aspect.
It’s additionally value noting that Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow announcement arrived with paintings exhibiting Lex within the purple-and-green Conflict Swimsuit beside Superman (who’s cheekily holding a screwdriver). So this fan piece isn’t out of left discipline—it riffs on imagery the DC exec has already put in entrance of followers.
To be clear, the poster that includes Lex in armor is fan artwork, not a DC Studios announcement. Dates, titles, and ideas evolve. Nonetheless, the comics historical past—and the movie’s administrators’ personal teases—make the armor really feel like good, crowd-pleasing canon. If he goes one other route, that’s his name; if he doesn’t, anticipate cheers when that go well with hits the display.
Whether or not Nicholas Hoult appears to be like as cool as he does within the fan artwork, we’ll discover out when Man of Tomorrow hits theaters on July 9, 2027. Earlier than that, the DCU returns with the new Supergirl, which lands on the 2026 film schedule on June twenty sixth, 2026.