Man of Tomorrow director James Gunn recently took to social media to debunk the rumor that Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista was in the running to play Brainiac, and has now followed up by elaborating on his reasons for weighing-in on the reports when he had previously stated that he was going to avoid commenting on "silly online rumors."
Bautista was just the latest name to be mentioned in connection with the role, as we had heard that Claes Bang, Sam Rockwell and Matt Smith were on the shortlist (Smith was believed to be the frontrunner).
Gunn claimed that none of these names were being eyed to play the villain, while pointing out that he never actually said that Brainiac was going to be the Superman sequel's antagonist in the first place.
While this is true, The Wrap seemed fairly confident that Brainiac would be the film's villain when they ran with the story, and Gunn did drop a couple of pretty big hints that MOT would feature the debut of the super-smart cyborg.
At any rate, fans believe he may have confirmed it now - possibly without even realizing!
"There are numerous reasons," Gunn replied when a fan asked why he decided to address the rumor. "I said why I addressed this one in the post. Dave is a friend. I don't need a bunch of stories out there about why he didn't get the job or whatever when someone else is eventually cast."
Eventually cast... as?? Gunn could have been referring to the actor who will ultimately play whichever villain is going to be in the movie, of course, but we'd be very surprised if Brainiac wasn't introduced in this movie.
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).
Brainiac casting is underway, but as far as we know, no offers have been made.
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.