The director and DC Studios cohead speaks to EW after sharing a photo of the &34;Superman&34; followup movie's script cover page teasing the popular villain. Su

The director and DC Studios co-head speaks to EW after sharing a photo of the "Superman" follow-up movie's script cover page teasing the popular villain.

Superman director James Gunn addresses whether Brainiac is villain in *Man of Tomorrow *(exclusive)

The director and DC Studios co-head speaks to EW after sharing a photo of the "Superman" follow-up movie's script cover page teasing the popular villain.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in TV Guide Magazine, E! News/E! Online, The Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, The Daily Northwestern, and more.

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on September 26, 2025 6:30 p.m. ET

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David Corenswet in 'Superman,' Brainiac in DC Comics. Credit:

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics; DC Comics

James Gunn knew exactly what he was doing when he posted a photo of the *Man of Tomorrow* script page.

On Monday, the *Superman* director and DC Studios co-head seemingly revealed the villain in his follow-up movie with a photo of an X-ray vision of a person's brain. Of course, fans immediately speculated that it meant Gunn was introducing the popular comic book supervillain Brainiac into his new onscreen DC universe, so ** asked him to address the discourse his social media post sparked.

"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," Gunn tells EW. "But I think we'll hold off from what exactly is happening."

Nicholas Hoult and David Corenswet in 'Superman'.

Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Pictures

While Gunn remains cagey on confirming Brainiac's debut, we do know for sure that *Man of Tomorrow *will bring back David Corenswet as the Man of Steel and Nicholas Hoult as his nemesis turned chagrined ally Lex Luthor.

However, Hoult more recently reprised his role on *Peacemaker* season 2 with a cameo in this week's episode 6, "Ignorance Is Chris," as Rick Flag (Frank Grillo) visited him in Belle Reve Penitentiary to strike a deal: Lex trades his alternate dimension energy tracking technology in exchange for a transfer to a better prison.

"Nick's a big fan of the show," Gunn says of bringing him onto *Peacemaker*. "Everything's connected, so there is a story here that we're telling throughout the DCU, and this is connected very much to *Man of Tomorrow."*

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Gunn clarifies that *Peacemaker*'s current Earth-X storyline won't carry over to the big screen, because that's just for the TV show.

"But there are other elements, and part of that is the relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor, and that's an important thing going forward in the DCU and *Man of Tomorrow* and so on," Gunn adds.

Speaking recently on the *Ringer-Verse* podcast, Gunn said the *Superman* follow-up film will explore the "incredibly heroic" side and "heart of Lex," and "getting to know more of Lex as a human being." In a separate appearance on *The Howard Stern Show*, Gunn called *Man of Tomorrow* "a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat."

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He continued, "It's more complicated than that, but that's a big part of it. It's as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I loved working with Nicholas Hoult. I relate to the character of Lex, sadly. I really wanted to create something extraordinary with the two of them. I just love the script so much."

*Man of Tomorrow* will follow *Peacemaker* season 2 (currently airing Thursdays on HBO Max) and next year's *Supergirl*, which is slated for release on June 26, 2026. *Man of Tomorrow* flies into theaters on July 9, 2027.

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