After a successful run this summer, David Corenswet‘s Superman is coming back to theaters sooner than you expected. Director James Gunn has announced that the sequel to the smash-hit big-screen launch of his new DC Comics cinematic universe will arrive on July 9, 2027. Not only that, but Gunn also announced the film’s title: Man of Tomorrow. “The Man of Tomorrow,” like “The Man of Steel,” is one of the character’s long-standing sobriquets.
In his post on social media, Gunn included a Jim Lee drawing of Corenswet‘s Superman with Nicholas Hoult‘s Lex Luthor; however, unlike the business suits he wears throughout Superman, Luthor is clad in purple and green battle armor. The high-tech battlesuit, which allows the otherwise-powerless Luthor to stand toe-to-toe with his archfoe, has been a mainstay of Luthor’s comics appearances since 1983, when it was created by writer Cary Bates and artist Curt Swan. And although Luthor has appeared in six of the Man of Steel’s live-action big-screen outings, he has yet to don this Iron Man-esque contraption. Will we finally see Luthor physically duke it out with Superman in Man of Tomorrow? Only time, and James Gunn, will tell.
What Does Lex Luthor Do in ‘Superman’?
Taking place several years after Superman emerged as the world’s greatest hero, the film sees Luthor’s campaign against the Man of Steel intensify. In addition to attacking the Kryptonian physically with his lackeys the cyborg Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Ultraman, a remote-controlled Superman clone, he invades his icy Fortress of Solitude. That allows him to smear Superman’s reputation, broadcasting a heretofore-unseen message from his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan), exhorting him to use his powers to conquer humanity. Combined with Superman’s recent intervention Boravia’s unlawful invasion of Jarhanpur, that gives Luthor the chance to imprison Superman in his extra-dimensional prison. With Superman sidelined, the invasion of Jarhanpur (with an arsenal of Luthor-supplied weapons) commences. However, Superman escapes, defeats the Engineer and Ultraman, and saves Metropolis before Luthor’s unstable dimensional rift can tear it asunder; meanwhile, his allies in the Justice Gang rout the Boravians. Daily Planet reporters Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) help expose Luthor’s crimes to the world, and he ends the film utterly defeated.
Superman was a hit with critics and audiences this summer. In his review, Collider‘s Ross Bonaime called it “one of the most optimistic, playful, ludicrous, and downright fun Superman films in decades, maybe ever.” Meanwhile, it earned $612 million USD at the global box office.
Man of Tomorrow will soar into theaters on July 9, 2027.
via Collider