Superman will work alongside an unexpected ally in Man of Tomorrow.
According to director and DC Studios co-head James Gunn, the Man of Steel will team up with none other than his longtime nemesis Lex Luthor in order to face off against an even greater enemy.
“It’s a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat,” Gunn said during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show when asked about the upcoming sequel to 2025’s Superman.
“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. 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,” Gunn added.
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While it’s unclear which villain Superman and Luthor will be forced to put their noggins together to defeat, the Kryptonian hero has battled a number of majorly powerful, otherworldly foes in his comics over the years, including Doomsday, Brainiac, General Zod, and Darkseid, to name a few.
Of course, it’s also likely Lex will find plenty of ways to antagonize Superman in spite of their alliance, and we can probably count on the self-serving mogul to do something slimy or secretive to advance his own greedy desires on the down-low. Still, we’ve seen plenty of bad guys turn good or experience character growth in various superhero flicks, so we’ll give Lex a chance to surprise us.
It’s also possible the pair will have some help in their joint effort to save the world, with the Justice Gang likely to appear in the sequel, as well as potentially some characters from HBO Max’s Peacemaker spinoff series, the forthcoming Season 2 finale of which Gunn recently teased will directly set up the events of Man of Tomorrow.
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The filmmaker first teased Lex Luthor’s involvement in Man of Tomorrow in a social media post on Sept. 3 when he uploaded a Jim Lee comic book illustration of Lex wearing his infamous Warsuit while standing next to Superman.
In the comics, the obsessed billionaire designs the suit to give himself the same strength and flying abilities as his adversary. Now it seems Lex could don the suit in order to assist Superman in their battle against whatever threat they’ll face in Man of Tomorrow.
During his chat with Howard Stern, Gunn also confirmed he plans to begin shooting the Superman follow-up in April 2026, just a little over a year ahead of the sequel’s scheduled July 9, 2027 theatrical release date.
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Gallery Credit: Erica Russell