David Corenswet as Superman and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor on the set of Superman. DC Studios

MAN OF TOMORROW Unites Superman and Lex Against a Common Foe

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated Sep 11, 2025 11:20 AM ET

Recently, we learned that the upcoming follow-up to James Gunn’s Superman is not going to be your standard “Superman II.” The newly named Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow would actually feature David Corenswet’s Superman in a co-lead role with Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor. But now we know that Man of Tomorrow is actually a team-up between the two mortal enemies. Via Variety, we learned that while appearing on Howard Stern’s show on SiriusXM radio, Gunn confirmed that Clark Kent and Lex Luthor will join forces against a common enemy in the new Superman movie. Here’s what Gunn told Stern about the upcoming sequel:

It’s a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat. 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.

So who could this much, much bigger threat be? Our top choice is the alien A.I., Brainiac. He’s easily Superman’s second most notorious foe, right behind Lex. And he’s yet to appear in a Superman movie. Gunn recently revealed that Brainiac was once considered for Superman. Another clue that it might be Brainiac is that in the comics and in Superman: The Animated Series, Lex Luthor and Brainiac often had an adversarial relationship of their own.

Brainiac, Superman’s Second Most Important Villain, Explained_1 DC Comics

Brainiac is also a world-ending cosmic threat in DC’s world, comparable to Galactus in the Marvel Universe. And that’s something that even Superman might need help in dealing with. Other options include Mongul, the master of Warworld, and possibly even Darkseid. However, we have a feeling DC Studios is going to hold on to those two for a bit longer. So our money is still on Brainiac as Lex and Superman’s common enemy in the sequel movie. We’ll find out for sure when Man of Tomorrow hits theaters on July 9, 2027.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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