Superman will end 2025 as the year's highest-grossing superhero movie, meaning James Gunn's reboot handily beat Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps to the top spot.
The filmmaker has confirmed that his next DC Studios movie is Man of Tomorrow. In the Superman follow-up, Clark Kent will be forced to team up with Lex Luthor as they take on a much bigger threat (widely believed to be Brainiac).
Gunn recently confirmed that he's finished his fourth draft of the sequel. Now, he's taken to Threads to share a first look at an epic pile of storyboards progress, used as a basis for what will clearly be a huge sequence in Man of Tomorrow.
A fan followed up by asking if every card is a shot from the movie, prompting Gunn to explain, "No. Some shots take up more than one card because of movement in the shot."
In a recent interview, the DC Studios co-CEO teased his DCU plans by saying, "I like my movies to be different. Guardians 1 is not the same as Guardians 3. They're different. And Man of Tomorrow will not be the same as Superman. And it is Lex's story too, so it's the two of them. That colours it in a totally different way."
"I don’t know what people have guessed, but Man of Tomorrow is really—it’s very, very connected to Peacemaker—but it’s also its own thing," Gunn continued. "I mean, it has its own story that’s separate from this."
Man of Tomorrow is expected to be a crucial chapter in his wider plans for the DCU, and Gunn confirmed that he has one eye on the future when he said, "Yes, [my plans] definitely go significantly further than Man of Tomorrow. So whether or not that'll be me that's able to fulfil that promise depends on a lot of things in life."
Salvation is going to factor into Man of Tomorrow, though how crucial it will be to the story that's being told isn't clear. However, Rick Flag Sr.'s alliance with Lex is likely what leads to the villain being free to team up with the alien he holds so much disdain for.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Man of Tomorrow stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr. Several actors are rumoured to appear, including Aaron Pierre's John Stewart/Green Lantern and John Cena's Peacemaker.
Man of Tomorrow arrives in theaters on July 9, 2027.