Superman 2: Man of Tomorrow Will Feature 4 Things Never Seen in DC Movies

Man of Tomorrow is lining up to be one of the most ambitious DC films ever made, and not just because of how huge it is. James Gunn's follow-up to his highly successful 2025 reimagining of the Man of Steel is set to bring together David Corenswet's Clark Kent, Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, and a roster of DCU heroes to face a threat unlike anything the franchise has tackled before.

With filming set to begin in Atlanta in April 2026 and a release date of July 9, 2027, the production is picking up speed fast. And as the cast and story details continue to come together, it's becoming clear that Man of Tomorrow will mark an exciting number of firsts for live-action DC movies, none of which DC has ever pulled off on the big screen before. 

4 DC Movie Firsts in Man of Tomorrow

 Superman & Lex Luthor's First Live-Action Movie Team-Up

Lex Luthor and Superman have clashed across films and television for decades, but Man of Tomorrow marks the first time the two will be forced to work together in a live-action movie. Gunn himself described the film as a dual story, saying it is "as much of a Lex Luthor movie as it is a Superman movie," with the two having to collaborate against a much larger threat. 

Hoult's Lex was one of the standout elements of the first Superman film, playing the character with a cold, calculating menace that made him feel genuinely dangerous. Putting him side by side with Corenswet's Clark Kent in a reluctant alliance is a combination that live-action DC movies have simply never explored before.

In the comics, Superman and Lex Luthor have reluctantly teamed up numerous times over the decades, usually when a threat too large for either to handle alone forces their hand. That tension, the question of whether Lex can be trusted at all, is precisely what makes this such compelling ground for a film to explore.

Brainiac's First Live-Action Movie Appearance

Finally, after about 50 years, a Superman film introduces Brainiac. Despite being one of Superman's most iconic villains, the character was never successfully brought to the big screen in a live-action film, coming painfully close in productions that ultimately fell apart. Man of Tomorrow finally breaks that unfortunate record and finally gives Superman fans their favourite cosmic-level villain.

German actor Lars Eidinger steps into the role of Vril Dox, also known as Brainiac. Eidinger was confirmed for the part last year. Brainiac has appeared in live-action television before, portrayed by James Marsters in Smallville and Blake Ritson in the Syfy series Krypton, but neither version ever made it to a theatrical release. On the big screen, Brainiac somehow does not exist in live-action, making Eidinger's casting a historic moment for the character.

In DC Comics lore, Brainiac is a super-intelligent techno-organic being from the planet Colu, whose defining obsession is collecting and preserving knowledge, typically by shrinking entire cities and bottling them aboard his skull-shaped warship. Brainiac is such a big threat that Man of Tomorrow will feel like a Justice League movie, as many heroes and even a villain will need to band together to stop him.

Lex Luthor's Warsuit on the Big Screen for the First Time

Lex Luthor's iconic armored Warsuit, his green-and-purple powered exoskeleton designed to let him go toe-to-toe with Superman physically, has never appeared in a live-action DC movie. That changes with Man of Tomorrow, which lists the Warsuit among its confirmed production elements.

The suit has a rich history in the comics, first appearing in Action Comics #544 in 1983, designed by George Perez as part of DC's Super Powers toy line before being folded into the canon. It became one of Luthor's most recognizable weapons, allowing him to match Superman in raw physical combat and granting him flight, enhanced strength, and a suit of Kryptonite-based weaponry.

In live-action television, the Warsuit debuted on the CW's Supergirl in 2018, where it was worn by Lillian Luthor before Jon Cryer's Lex eventually donned the armor himself in season 4. The suit also appeared in the final season of Superman & Lois. Despite these small-screen appearances, no live-action DC film has ever put Lex in the armor. Seeing Hoult's Luthor climb into that suit for the first time on a cinema screen is a moment DC fans have been waiting for far longer than they may even realize.

John Stewart Green Lantern's First Live-Action Movie Appearance

Aaron Pierre's John Stewart will mark the first time the character appears in a live-action film. Stewart, one of DC's most beloved Green Lanterns and one of the first African-American superheroes in comics, was introduced in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #87 in 1971, created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams. Despite being a cornerstone of DC's mythology and the Green Lantern most fans of a certain generation grew up with thanks to Justice League: Unlimited, John Stewart has never appeared in a live-action DC movie.

He came close. A scene with Wayne T. Carr as Stewart was filmed for Zack Snyder's Justice League but was cut before release. He was also slated to appear in the cancelled Justice League: Mortal and Green Lantern Corps projects, neither of which reached production. Each time, the character was sidelined by circumstances outside anyone's control.

Pierre will first bring the character to life in Lanterns, the upcoming HBO series in which Stewart trains alongside veteran Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, while investigating a murder mystery in the American heartland. That show is set to premiere on HBO in August 2026, making his arrival in Man of Tomorrow later in 2027 a natural extension of the character's arc. Given that Brainiac operates on a cosmic scale, a Green Lantern's involvement makes complete sense within the story's logic.