Yesterday evening, the trades confirmed what we'd long suspected by revealing that Brianiac will be the main villain in DC Studios' Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.
Filmmaker James Gunn already teased the iconic villain's debut when he shared a first look at the movie's script, and at this point, anyone else would have just disappointed fans. Now, though, we have word on who Gunn is meeting with to potentially play Brainiac.
Grace Randolph was first to share the news that David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), Wallace Shawn (Young Sheldon), and Claes Bang (Dracula) were all possibly in the mix. Since then, Nexus Point News' @ApocHorseman has revealed, "I can confirm I heard Claes Bang too. But there’s a handful of others who are going to be tested, so it’s undecided."
Bang is a talented actor who has played some despicable characters throughout his career (look no further than Apple TV's Bad Sisters). However, this continues an interesting trend in the DCU of Gunn looking at actors to play these heroes and villains who aren't on the A-list.
Is it a cost-cutting measure, or is the DC Studios co-CEO simply seeking the right people for the job and relying on the characters themselves to sell tickets? Both could be true.
We'll see what happens, but Gunn testing actors is likely how The Wrap managed to confirm that Brainiac is the big bad of Man of Tomorrow. Hopefully, this means we can expect official casting news before the end of the year.
"Listen, of course I wasn't unaware that when I posted the cover of the script that there was going to be discussion around that particular topic," Gunn previously said of the Brainiac speculation. "But I think we'll hold off from what exactly is happening."
"Everything's connected, so there is a story here that we're telling throughout the DCU, and this is connected very much to Man of Tomorrow," the DC Studios co-CEO later said of how Peacemaker leads into the movie. "But there are other elements, and part of that is the relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor, and that's an important thing going forward in the DCU and Man of Tomorrow and so on."
"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," Gunn continued. "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."
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.