James Gunn’s Next Superman Villain Is Finally Delivering on the Promise of Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel 2

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It’s been all but confirmed that Brainiac will be the main antagonist of Superman: Man of Tomorrow, with even James Gunn dropping sublimnals that he’s coming in the next film. It’s an exciting prospect for longtime DC fans to finally be getting Brainiac in live-action. However, it will be a bittersweet experience for fans of Zack Snyder’s DCEU era, as seeing Superman take on Brainiac was something they’d been hoping for since 2013.

At one point, the plans for Man of Steel 2 involved Brainiac freeing all the prisoners of the Kryptonian prison known as the Phantom Zone – including Faora-Ul (Antje Traue), who would’ve survived the events of the first film. The threat that Brainiac presents to all species and life would’ve had the escaped prisoners eventually experience a change of heart and ally with Superman to take down Brainiac. A later version of the sequel pitched by Cavill and his Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie also added the Green Lantern Corps to the mix.

“Henry had a take on that, and I suddenly realized how these two characters [Superman and Green Lantern] had amazing similarities, which also allowed for amazing conflict,” McQuarrie told the HSC Podcast. “And an amazing, universe-expanding resolution.”

Man of Steel 2 Would’ve Been A DC Sci-Fi Epic (With Heart)

The ironic thing about it is that both versions of the Man of Steel sequel stories seemed to have the same goal: to tell a Superman story on a massive sci-fi scale, while still “humanizing” the hero by making him shine as a leader and symbol that even touches and inspires some of the galaxy’s worst offenders. There was also an opportunity for the sequel to force Clark/Kal-El to confront darker elements of Krypton’s culture and history, and weigh that alien world against his identity as an adopted Earthling.

It was part of the larger saga and character evolution for Superman that Snyder had planned across the Man of Steel films and epic Justice League trilogy. Taken altogether, Henry Cavill’s Superman would’ve gone from the inexperienced and flawed beginner we saw in the first film to learning to be the world’s greatest hero through overcoming trial, error, and a timeline-breaking possession by Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation. Ultimately, fans had to settle for the Superman death and resurrection storyline seen in Batman v Superman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Man of Tomorrow Can Still Convey the Thematic Heart of Man of Steel 2

The rumored story for Man of Tomorrow will allegedly see the threat of Brainiac force Superman (David Corenswet) to take on an unlikely ally in Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Both men will presumably want to prevent Earth from becoming part of Brainiac’s collection – the delicious tension will be in seeing if (and for how long) Superman and Lex can maintain a partnership.

There’s nothing in that proposed story for Man of Tomorrow that prevents James Gunn from nailing down the same kind of thematic point as Man of Steel 2. The first film in Gunn’s run ended with Superman rejecting his Kryptonian heritage (which was retconned to have authoritarian origins) in fully embracing his “Clark Kent” identity and upbringing on Earth. A lot of DC lore links Brainiac’s origins to Krypton; given the controversy surrounding Gunn’s new take on Superman’s birth parents (who sent him to conquer Earth), Brainiac can either serve as a means for Clark to confront and reconcile his alien heritage – or even be an escape hatch for Gunn to retcon his own controversy, by revealing that Brainiac somehow manipulated Jor-El and Lara’s message to their son, trying to indoctrinate Kal-El with Brainiac’s agenda for Earth.

The point would be the same: Gunn can tell a big DC sci-fi story that incorporates all kinds of other cosmic lore, but still ends with Superman evolving into a greater symbol of heroism and leadership, to both the world and the galaxy. That’s all to say: Man of Steel fans are never going to get that sequel, but Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow may still deliver everything it promised.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow is set for release on July 9, 2027.