Superman 2's Story Update Makes Its 2028 Spinoff Even More Important

Man of Tomorrow is still more than a year from theaters, yet a new story update already changes how one upcoming spinoff fits into the bigger Superman saga. James Gunn returns to write and direct the next Superman film, with David Corenswet back under the cape and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor forced into a shaky alliance against the alien threat Brainiac. While that movie takes shape, DC Studios keeps expanding the world around it, including a television project pulled straight from Metropolis’ busiest newsroom.

Mikaela Hoover, who plays Daily Planet gossip columnist Cat Grant in Superman, recently signaled that the paper’s reporters will be back for Man of Tomorrow. The actress would not give a hard confirmation, though she left little doubt that the newsroom returns in some form. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen already hold confirmed spots in the cast, and Hoover’s comments suggest their colleagues could fill out the room again. 

Pressed on whether Cat Grant and the wider newsroom would return, Hoover stayed loose but upbeat, telling Collider that "I think that we can maybe expect to see some of the Daily Planet."

She leaned on simple logic to back up the hunch, joking that another Superman without the newsroom "would be impossible":

"I think we can probably assume. I mean, it would be hard to do another ‘Superman’ without the Daily Planet, right? It would be impossible. Let’s say that so that we keep on the good side with DC. It would be hard." 

Gunn himself teased the return of the Daily Planet a few months ago, sharing shots from Macon, Georgia's historic Terminal Station, which serves as the famous newsroom. 

In a social media post, he captioned the images saying, "Back home at the Daily Planet for a tech scout," adding, "It will look like itself soon enough." This is a big indication that the newsroom will feature in Man of Tomorrow.

The significance of these details extends far beyond the Superman sequel, as this newsroom and its reporters will anchor a separate DC series that just received a major new update.

The series in question is a Superman spinoff led by Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen following the paper’s reporters as they chase stories tied to dangerous villains from the DC Universe. Safran recently revealed that the project, which is expected to release in 2028, starts filming this year, calling it the "Gorilla Grodd show." News of the Daily Planet returning in Man of Tomorrow makes this series even more important than fans anticipated.

Man of Tomorrow Could Set Up the Jimmy Olsen Spinoff

The Daily Planet's reporters did real work in Superman, well beyond just sitting in the office and reporting the news. Lois Lane chipped away at Luthor’s secret deal to arm the nation of Boravia, then hit a wall, until Jimmy Olsen turned a string of flirty messages from Eve Teschmacher into the evidence that cracked the case. The newsroom raced to publish the truth as the climax played out, and that reporting helped turn the public against Luthor. 

This track record is why Hoover’s tease has implications beyond Man of Tomorrow. The Jimmy Olsen series will see the Daily Planet’s reporters carry a whole show on their own, with Gorilla Grodd lined up as the first season’s big threat and no Superman swooping in to save them. Audiences will buy that premise far more easily if the films keep these journalists active and capable, rather than parking them at their desks. Every scene-stealing move the newsroom pulls off in Man of Tomorrow doubles as a trailer for the show that follows.

There is also room for the film to include important plot points that the series can pick up later. A face glimpsed in Metropolis during the movie could resurface as a case file once Olsen and his colleagues start digging when their series premieres. The more Gunn invests in the Daily Planet now, the more the spinoff has waiting for it when cameras roll later this year.