According to new quotes from DC Studios head James Gunn, Superman 2 will be the first time a villain will act as the hero in a DCU movie. The upcoming Superman sequel, known as Man of Tomorrow, will see David Corenswet's Man of Steel forced to team up with the evil Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult) to take on what Gunn describes as a greater threat.
This means Hoult's maniacal mega-genius will play the opposite side of the coin from where fans traditionally see the character on-screen, as he allies himself with the heroes of the DCU (for once), instead of actively seeking to take them down.
Gunn detailed the character's heroic role in Superman 2 during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, revealing, "It's a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together." He went on to say that the 2027 blockbuster will be as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman one.
This marks the first time Superman and Lex have teamed up on the big screen in live action.
Clayface is another DCU movie on James Gunn's slate centered around a villain. However, while Matt Hagen will be the movie's protagonist, it seems that he will not be a heroic figure like Lex is being positioned to be.
While this is a first for the DCU, Man of Tomorrow is the latest in a long line of superhero films in which a villain is the hero.
Every DC and Marvel Movie Where the Villain Is the Hero
Catwoman
Technically, the first DC movie to feature a villain as its main character is the oft-maligned Catwoman. The 2004 Halle Berry-led DC venture followed artist Patience Philips as she takes on the leather-clad alter-ego Catwoman.
Dubbed one of the worst-reviewed comic book movies of all time (sitting at a meager 8% on Rotten Tomatoes), Catwoman saw the titular Batman villain taking down a criminal cosmetics empire that she has been working within.
Suicide Squad
When DC returned to the idea of a villain taking the spotlight in one of its big-screen affairs, the iconic comic book brand did so with an entire team of lovable rogues. Suicide Squad came to theaters on August 6, 2016, from The End of Watch director David Ayer.
Led by Margot Robbie as the criminally insane Harley Quinn and Will Smith as the sharp-shooting Deadshot, Suicide Squad centered on a team of DC villains forced together to do the government's bidding by the devious Amanda Waller.
Avengers: Infinity War
Some would argue that the Avengers are the main characters of Avengers: Infinity War, but that is not necessarily the case. The iconic comic book team-up focused mainly on its central villain, Thanos, with many seeing the mad Titan as the main character of the 2018 epic.
Infinity War marked the first part of The Russo Brothers' massive Infinity Saga-capping Avengers duology, following Thanos as he collected the Infinity Stones and ultimately snapped half the universe out of existence.
Venom
While Sony's ill-fated Spider-Man universe did not produce the most acclaimed movies in the comic book genre, it did manage to bring some of Marvel Comics' biggest and baddest villains to the big screen in a way unlike ever before.
2018's Venom started it all for the franchise, introducing audiences to Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock, a fledgling San Francisco journalist who becomes attached to an alien symbiote and takes on an alter-ego as the ruthless Venom.
Joker
In 2019, director Todd Phillips brought the idea of a villain-led comic book movie all the way to the Oscars with his take on the Batman big bad, Joker. Joker recounted the origins of the Clown Prince of Crime, as he went from a mentally unstable Gotham City resident to the iconic DC Comics villain fans know and love.
Star Joaquin Phoenix led the movie as Arthur Fleck/The Joker, eventually going on to win Best Actor for his portrayal as Batman's most formidable foe at the 92nd Academy Awards.
Birds of Prey
After winning people over (despite the overall quality of the movie) with her take on Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. gave Margot Robbie's DC villain her own big-screen adventure in 2020's Birds of Prey (aka Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
Birds of Prey told the tale of Harley Quinn after she had broken up with the Joker, assembling a team of female supervillains to take on the criminal crime boss Black Mask (played by Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor).
The Suicide Squad
Margot Robbie's tenure leading DC's more villain-focused affairs did not end after Birds of Prey. The Academy Award-nominated actress reprised her Harley Quinn role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad in 2021.
The Suicide Squad sequel saw Task Force X deployed on a dangerous new mission to eradicate all traces of the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror on the South American island of Corto Maltese.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
After the first Venom made over $1 billion at the global box office, Sony Pictures quickly dipped back into the symbiotic swamp with the release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage in October 2021.
The Sony Spider-Man Universe sequel once again spotlighted iconic comic villain Venom (played by Tom Hardy), this time, as he grappled with the emergence of another symbiote-fuelled big bad, Carnage.
Morbius
Before appearing on the big screen in Morbius, the blood-sucking comic book character was known as one of Spider-Man's most dangerous villains. However, he got thrust to center stage as the hero of his own movie in the 2022 Sony Spider-Man Universe blockbuster.
The film focused on Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a scientist suffering from a rare blood disease who, in looking for a cure to his affliction, becomes a vampire himself.
Black Adam
In October 2022, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson promised fans he would "change the hierarchy of the DC Universe" by releasing his villain-focused Black Adam movie. While that did not happen (at least in the way Johnson expected), it did bring one of DC's most popular big bads to the cinema for the first time.
Black Adam tells the tale of the super-powered Metahuman Teth Adam, an ancient being granted the power of a god (similar to Shazam). During the film, he actively fought the altruist Justice Society, clearly showing that he is not your traditional superhero.
Joker: Folie à Deux
In fall 2024, Warner Bros. returned to the world of Todd Phillips' Joker. Dubbed the first Esleworlds story released under the (at the time) newly introduced DC Studios umbrella, Joker: Folie à Deux featured Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck once again, as he was admitted to the Arkham State Hospital and became infatuated with fellow inmate Harley "Lee" Quinzel (played by Lady Gaga).
The Joker sequel, while still being a dark and gritty villain-focused story, did not resonate anywhere near as well as the first film, earning a dismal 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Venom: The Last Dance
Sony Pictures closed out its Venom trilogy in October 2024 with the Kelly Marcel-directed Venom: The Last Dance. The third film in the Venom saga saw Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and his symbiotic alter ego Venom pursued by dangerous forces from Earth and other worlds.
The movie concluded with a tease of the next potential big bad for Venom and Eddie to take on in the terrifying Knull, but it seems unlikely at this point that story will ever be explored on-screen.
Kraven
The most recently released villain-focused superhero movie was Sony Pictures' Kraven. Starring Avengers: Age of Ultron actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular Kraven the Hunter, the Sony Spider-Man Universe epic put Spider-Man villain Kraven in the driver's seat as he took on other iconic foes of Marvel's wall-crawler, like Chameleon and Rhino.
Kraven concluded Sony's Spider-Man Universe films, marking the studio's end to villain-focused fare (at least for now).
Other Comic Book Movies Where the Villain Is the Hero (BONUS)
Despite not taking place in the Marvel or DC universe, there are still several superhero movies out there that focus on a villain as the hero, rather than the traditional hero vs villain story.
Brightburn
Produced by Superman director and now-DC Studios boss James Gunn, Brightburn asked, What if Superman was evil? The 2019 superhero movie mixed comic book film tropes with the spine-chilling narrative set dressings of horror, creating this terrifying take on the familiar superhero tale.
The movie follows a young alien boy, Brandon Breyer, who, like the Man of Steel, crash-lands on his parents' small-town Kansas farm. However, his adopted parents get a little more than they bargained for as his extra-terrestrial origins grant him demonic powers that put everyone close to him in grave danger.
Chronicle
When Chronicle hit theaters in 2012, it not only broke brains with its unique found footage format and stellar performances by (at the time) relative unknown actors Michael B. Jordan and Dane DeHaan, but it also included one of the great superhero movie twists, making its primary villain the hero.
After gaining telekinetic powers with his friends, Seattle teen Andrew Detmer (Dehaan) eventually becomes the biggest threat to his fellow teenage superhero, being forced to be taken down by his metahuman classmates.
Split
Director M. Night Shyamalan has dipped his toes in the superhero genre several times over the years, but the only time he has focused on a villain came in 2016's Split.
Starring James McAvoy as a distraught man with dissociative identity disorder, Split tells the tale of McAvoy's character as he walks the dark path to supervillainy, eventually crossing over into Shyamalan's Unbreakable universe and being pitted against Samuel L. Jackson's superhero Mr. Glass.
Superman 2 soars into theaters on July 9, 2027. The upcoming DCU sequel will again be written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn. The only three confirmed cast members for the new DC Studios flick are David Corenswet as Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
