Lex Luthor ended Superman locked inside Belle Reve with a 265-year sentence, broken, humiliated, and limping from the beating he received from Krypto. This defeat set up one of the most consequential deals in the new DC Universe when Peacemaker Season 2 dropped him into a prison bargain with Rick Flag Sr., and the fallout from that deal is now showing up on the set of the next Superman movie, which arrives in theatres on July 9, 2027.
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn just shared the first official image from Man of Tomorrow on Instagram, and the photo confirms where Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor sits when the sequel begins. On the set table is a pass stamped with the fictional VanKull Department of Corrections, issued to inmate Alexander Luthor, alongside a chessboard, a bag of Ruffles, and a clapperboard bearing a logo that fuses Superman's shield with Brainiac's three-dot symbol.
The Van Kull reference confirms an important connection between Peacemaker Season 2 and Man of Tomorrow. In the sixth episode of the season, titled "Ignorance Is Chris," Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. flies to Belle Reve to recruit Luthor. ARGUS had lost track of Peacemaker after he escaped into another dimension using the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, and Flag needed Luthor's expertise in cross-dimensional tech to find him.
Luthor refused to help for free and demanded his freedom. Flag refused that, but offered what he called "an opportunity for redemption" and a transfer out of Belle Reve, which Luthor spent most of the scene mocking for being packed with metahumans. The destination Flag named was Van Kull, a facility he pitched as an all-human prison. Luthor accepted, agreeing to provide ARGUS with the scanners needed to track the portal.
Gunn's set photo picks up where that deal left things. The visitor badge confirms Luthor is already in Van Kull when Man of Tomorrow begins, meaning the Peacemaker transfer went through off-screen. In the DC Comics source material, Van Kull Maximum Security Prison is located in Metropolis and first appeared in Power Company: Bork #1 back in 2002.
The other detail hiding in plain sight is the logo on the clapperboard, which combines the House of El crest with the three-dot icon associated with Brainiac.
Lars Eidinger is playing Brainiac in the film, and the mashup symbol reinforces what Gunn has said for months about the story: Superman and Luthor are going to be forced into a shaky alliance because Brainiac is a bigger problem than either of them can handle alone.
Lex Luthor in Van Kull Is the Smartest Way Into Man of Tomorrow
Using Van Kull as the starting point for Man of Tomorrow is the best way Gunn could have tied his first two theatrical Superman stories together, alongside his best TV show so far. Luthor is locked up, but since an important opponent needs him badly, he has leverage.
The setup forces Superman and Luthor together without pretending they are friends. Flag's Van Kull deal gave Luthor a pathway to regaining what he lost. Brainiac's arrival is the perfect scenario to regain his freedom. There's a high chance that Superman visits him in prison, just like Flag did, and asks for his help in stopping Brainiac.
In 2021's Superman: Son of Kal-El Annual #1, Superman visits Luthor in prison to get info from him and ends up sitting down for a game of chess at Lex's request. Gunn could be adapting a similar scenario in his film, and the chessboard in the set photo may be a reference to this. Since Man of Tomorrow is supposed to be an uneasy alliance between Superman and Lex, it makes sense for their partnership to happen in this manner, and this set photo might be teasing that.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
