DC co-chief James Gunn has completed penning the first draft of the script for his Superman follow-up film Man of Tomorrow, slated to hit theatres in July 2027, he said on Tuesday, dropping a photo of the screenplay.
The illustration on the front page of the screenplay shows a brain anatomy of a man, leading fans to speculate that the villain in the next film will be Brainiac, easily one of the most technologically-advanced foes of Superman.
“I understood the reference Brain > Braniac,” wrote a fan on Instagram, setting the buzz for the supervillain on the internet. “IT’S GOTTA BE BRAINIAC,” another posted.
Brainiac was last seen in the TV series Superman and Lois. The half-alien-half-android being, who hails from the planet of Colu, shrinks cities and has a penchant for collecting them. His most favourite collection? General Zod’s home Kandor.
Gunn, who heads DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran, announced the upcoming project on social media earlier this month, unveiling artwork of Superman alongside arch-nemesis Lex Luthor in a purple-and-green power suit.
Corenswet is returning for the follow-up to Superman alongside Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
Man of Tomorrow follows the blockbuster success of Gunn’s Superman, which premiered earlier this year and went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 2025.
Superman was the first feature from Gunn and Safran since taking charge of DC’s cinematic universe. The film, which released in July, grossed USD 612 million globally, including USD 352 million in the US and USD 260 million internationally.
Last month, Gunn had hinted that the Superman follow-up would be shot “much sooner than later”. “We’re scheduling it now. I’m totally done with the treatment. My treatments are incredibly intense. They’re not regular treatments. They’re 60-page treatments with dialogue and everything,” the 59-year-old filmmaker said in a recent interview.
However, Gunn was very particular about calling the upcoming film a “follow-up” to Superman instead of a direct sequel.
