Though there was never really any doubt after a trade report and several pretty obvious teases from James Gunn himself, we finally got confirmation that Brainiac will make his DCU debut in Man of Tomorrow over the weekend, with German actor Lars Eidinger set to play the super-smart cyborg.
Though Eidinger is a fairly prolific actor who has appeared in a number of American productions, his casting as the lead villain in DC Studios' Superman follow-up still came as a surprise, as it was generally assumed that Gunn would enlist a better-known star to play the movie's big bad.
The likes of Claes Bang, Matt Smith and Sam Rockwell had been rumored to be on the studio's radar, but Gunn claimed that none of these actors auditioned (though he didn't say there were never considered) on social media.
Now, Boss Logic has some new artwork featuring his take on Eidinger as Brainiac. The villain has sported various different looks in the comics over the years (sometimes more robotic, others more alien), but we have a feeling Gunn won't stray too far from this character design.
Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters on July 9, 2027. Production is expected to get underway next summer.
Man of Tomorrow will see the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) team-up to face Brainiac. Rachel Brosnahan will also return as Lois Lane, along with Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. (we've heard that other characters from Peacemaker season 2 will also feature).
It remains to be seen how the character will be introduced in the movie, but there's a good chance it will have something to do with the events of the Peacemaker season 2 finale.
The HBO Max series concluded with Chris Smith and the rest of the 11th Street Kids, along with Judomaster and A.R.G.U.S. Agents Sasha Bordeaux and Langston Fleury, founding Checkmate, and a vengeance-fuelled Rick Flag Sr. establishing his villainous turn by kidnapping Chris and stranding him in Salvation, the Earth-like dimension Flag intends to use as a prison for the planet's metahumans.
We assume that Flag is going to continue down this path, so don't be surprised if he winds up as an adversary of the Man of Steel in MOT - at least until Brainiac puts everyone on Earth on notice.