Superman: Man of Tomorrow’s First Set Photo Quietly Teases the Movie’s True Direction

Man of Tomorrow recently began filming and celebrated this milestone with an official set photo from none other than writer and director James Gunn. The DC Universe is fully fledged now with Creature Commandos, Peacemaker Season 2, and Superman having laid the foundations for the continuity’s mythology, and it is thrilling that we are receiving Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface before Man of Tomorrow is released in a couple of summers.

Details are relatively sparse for James Gunn’s Superman sequel, and yet we likely know everything about it that we could possibly need to. For instance, Superman and Lex Luthor teaming up was teased in the original announcement of the sequel’s title and release date, before Brainiac was confirmed as Man of Tomorrow’s main villain, and this set photo is proof that David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult’s charming chemistry will be crucial to the plot.

Superman And Lex’s Dynamic Is A Game Of Chess

They may still be enemies by the end of the movie—frenemies, perhaps—but Man of Tomorrow’s Superman and Lex Luthor will likely outshine Brainiac and any other antagonists that appear. Indeed, the best scenes in Superman are arguably the ones with Kal-El/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, or Superman and Lex, with James Gunn’s masterful character work and dialogue pouring heavy emotion and tension into them.

The set photo in question tells us a lot about what may be the point in the story in Man of Tomorrow when Superman goes to Lex and asks for his help. Because Lex was behind Superman’s dimensional portals, it would make a ton of sense for Brainiac to be introduced to Earth via a rift in the universal fabric accessed through one of these portals, potentially, with Lex’s expertise and aid then beseeched.

The chess match, in particular, could be a literal game Lex is playing against either Superman or a fellow inmate, and/or an explicit allusion to the dynamic that Superman and Lex will have throughout Man of Tomorrow. Superman showed Lex tremendous empathy when he tried to relate to him with his humanity being his greatest superpower, but Lex’s xenophobia and villainous acts toward him guarantee that their roles will be fascinatingly developed.

Man Of Tomorrow’s Brainiac Is Outmatched

A marriage of Superman’s brawn and Lex Luthor’s brains, especially if it is paired with the loyalty and resourcefulness of Superman’s companions and Lex’s lackeys, is sure to make for an interesting Brainiac fight. Plus, with Lex’s green-and-purple mech suit teased in artwork for the movie’s initial announcement, it seems as if Lex will get some punches in, too.

It is also possible that we will see the DCU’s debut of Bizarro, who could be the Superman clone disguised as Ultraman in Superman that was sucked into a black hole. This would give Lex a Superman who he could battle or kill without blowback, evening the playing field while Superman attempts to fight Brainiac one-on-one.

Brainiac will obviously be an enormous threat if Superman and Lex are required to join forces, but there is a non-zero chance that this villain will be eclipsed by Man of Tomorrow’s deuteragonists’ own rivalry. Either way, it will be phenomenal to see more of David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult together in-character, and Man of Tomorrow featuring both Aaron Pierre’s Green Lantern and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl should add an interesting wrinkle to however the movie is going to flesh out the DCU canon’s worldbuilding.

Man of Tomorrow is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 9, 2027.

Release Date

July 9, 2027

Cast

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  Nicholas Hoult

  Lex Luthor

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  Rachel Brosnahan

  Lois Lane

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