James Gunn Reveals Man of Tomorrow Will Have a Different Tone Than Superman

DC Studios co-chief James Gunn has revealed that the next DCU movie under his direction, Man of Tomorrow, will be ‘slightly, tonally different’ from the Superman movie. While Superman is described as ‘more comic booky,’ Man of Tomorrow focuses on the duality of Superman and Lex Luthor.

In a recent interview with The Ringer-Verse podcast, Gunn said Man of Tomorrow has a different tone from Superman.

Gunn said, “Superman is more comic booky in some ways than Man of Tomorrow. It has to do with the dual characters of Lex and Superman at the center,’ he added. ‘I think I’m just more interested in getting into the heart of Lex and seeing how he fits into all of this. 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.”

Gunn continued, “Take aside morality, which is hard to do, but here is this guy who is saying, “You can hold up a building. 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. Yeah, sure, he’s got a lot of corporate power that he can use to manipulate things, but he can’t fly into outer space, lift up a building, or punch something across three states. He’s a guy, and I f***ing love that.”

Filming is scheduled to begin in June 2026. Gunn will write, direct, and produce the film alongside DC Studios’ Peter Safran, who will also serve as co-producer.

Speaking to the Stern Show, Gunn said Man of Tomorrow is as much a Lex Luthor movie as it is a Superman movie. “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.”

According to Gunn, Man of Tomorrow is not a direct sequel to Superman. In the film, David Corenswet returns as Clark Kent/Superman, and Nicholas Hoult reprises his role as Lex Luthor. Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane, Edi Gathegi appears as Michael Holt/Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, and Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, among others.

Man of Tomorrow will be released in theaters on July 9, 2027.

Superman is now streaming on HBO Max.