When James Gunn shared a first look at his Man of Tomorrow script with an anatomical drawing of a brain on its cover, many fans—understandably—took it as confirmation that Brainiac would be the movie's big bad.
The Wrap has since reported that the filmmaker is looking to cast the iconic villain for his Superman sequel, and names like Matt Smith, Claes Bang, Sam Rockwell, and, more recently, Dave Bautista, have all done the rounds online.
Jeff Sneider has stated that his comments suggesting the Guardians of the Galaxy star is the "frontrunner" to play the DCU's Brainiac were taken out of context. Regardless, the filmmaker took to Threads earlier today to set the record straight.
"Oh boy. Let's forget a moment, I've never said Brainiac was in the movie," he shared. "I freaking love [Dave Bautista] [and] I have many ideas for who he could play in the DCU. But he [and] I have never discussed a role in Man of Tomorrow, nor have we discussed it amongst ourselves at DC."
"In addition, truly, NONE of the names, from the six or seven I've seen rumored for a role, have auditioned or been discussed at all."
The DC Studios co-CEO added, "In general, I'm just letting the silly rumors go - and this is certainly not the silliest I've heard recently - but Dave is a friend, and that makes it more irritating."
While it's always good to see an incorrect or misunderstood report debunked, it's hard not to feel a little frustrated that Gunn is playing so coy about Brainiac. It's fairly obvious that he is in the movie, and we're not sure what Man of Tomorrow stands to gain from its writer and director not confirming that to further increase excitement among DC fans.
Daniel Richtman is the latest to say that the role is close to being cast, so we may get an official announcement before the Holidays.
When someone else asked if the Superman sequel would revolve around a villain who is neither Lex Luthor nor General Zod, Gunn replied, "Yeah." Given what a fan of Luthor he is, it's easy to imagine the filmmaker not loving someone expressing the widespread fatigue with Luthor constantly being front and centre in the Man of Steel's movies. Still, it sounds like the idea is to portray him as a hero in this movie.
"I think I'm just more interested in getting into the heart of Lex and seeing how he fits into all of this," Gunn said earlier this year. "I think getting to know more of Lex as a human being. We saw a lot about the evil part of Lex. He's pretty evil. He, as a character, is really interesting. There's something, despite everything, that is incredibly heroic about Lex."
"Take aside morality, which is hard to do, but here is this guy who is saying, 'You can shoot down planes with your eyes. F*** you, I'm going to kick your ass because I'm better than you. I can't help but admire his tenacity and his ego. His ambition is beyond compare. He's the underdog."
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 and characters are rumoured to appear, including Aaron Pierre's John Stewart/Green Lantern and John Cena's Peacemaker.
Recent reports have suggested Gunn is looking to cast the DCU's Wonder Woman, and while the filmmaker has remained silent on that, he did recently confirm that Steve Trevor won't appear in the Superman sequel. The hunt for Brainiac also continues, with Dave Bautista, Matt Smith, Claes Bang, and Sam Rockwell among those said to be in the mix.
Man of Tomorrow arrives in theaters on July 9, 2027.