Look up, because Superman is coming back with James Gunn’s new movie, Man of Tomorrow. 2025’s Superman not only brought the Man of Steel back to the big screen, but kicked off the theatrical side of the new DC Universe in style. The movie was well received (83% with critics and 90% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes), and did enough at the box office, having earned over $600 million, to earn a sequel. The follow-up was announced just two months after the film released, showing just how happy DC Studios chiefs Gunn and Peter Safran, along with the higher-ups at Warner Bros., are with its performance.
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Superman was just the beginning, both for David Corenswet’s Clark Kent and the DCU as a whole. There’s a lot more to come from the latter, with plans across movies and TV, and other media expected to be explored as well. The same is now true for the former, with Corenswet returning to lead the Superman sequel. That means that, as of today, the future for the Man of Tomorrow is looking brighter than it has in a long time, and here’s a rundown of what to know about Gunn’s super-sequel.
Man of Tomorrow Release Date
Man of Tomorrow will be flying into theaters on July 9th, 2027, almost exactly two years to the day after Superman was released. That’s a big sign of faith in the franchise, and a return that bucks the trend of most modern superhero movies. There’ll have been over five years between The Batman and Part II by the time it releases in October 2027; four-and-a-half years will have passed between Spider-Man: No Way Home and Brand New Day when it arrives in July 2026. Two years is rapid by current standards, and shows that Gunn has a clear vision, a plan to execute it, and really wants to build momentum for the DCU.
It makes sense for Man of Tomorrow‘s release date to mimic Superman‘s, given it was a solid box office performer, even in a crowded summer. As it stands, the sequel doesn’t have too much competition: Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently slated to arrive a few weeks earlier, on June 25th, with Shrek 5 on June 30th, but they’re perhaps more competition for each other with families than they are a Superman movie.
Man of Tomorrow will open the same day as A Quiet Place Part III, but again, they should be different enough in appeal. There is an unconfirmed Marvel Studios movie dated for July 23rd, but it remains to be seen what that is and if it sticks, but as we saw with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it could be worse for the MCU than it is for DC. This release date also gives us a clearer idea of the DCU’s future, with its current confirmed line-up looking like this:
- Supergirl: June 26th, 2026
- Clayface: September 11th, 2026
- Man of Tomorrow: July 9th, 2027.
Superman: Man of Tomorrow Cast – Who Is Back & Which DC Characters Could Appear?
James Gunn’s announcement of Man of Tomorrow included artwork of Superman and Lex Luthor, with variations also shared by David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult, confirming both actors will be reprising their roles. It also seems a sure thing that Rachel Brosnahan will be back as Lois Lane. We’ll presumably also see several supporting cast members return, such as the many Daily Planet staff members (e.g. Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant), and Ma and Pa Kent (Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince, respectively).
Isabela Merced, who played Hawkgirl, seemingly confirmed her involvement in the movie, sharing Gunn’s post to Instagram stories and writing “see you soon” alongside it. With that, it wouldn’t be a surprise if fellow Justice Gang members Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) are also involved. It’s also possible we’ll see more of Milly Alcock’s Supergirl, who will have had her solo movie by then, and perhaps more Green Lanterns, as HBO’s Lanterns show will also have debuted, introducing Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart and Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan.
Man of Tomorrow Story – What To Expect From The Superman Sequel
The most notable aspect of the Man of Tomorrow announcement was that it teased Superman and Lex Luthor as co-main characters of the movie, and the suggestion that Hoult won’t just be playing a villain this time around. Some of the artwork showed them teaming up, while another piece had them fighting. That likely means we’ll get a bit of both in the sequel, where the two have to learn to work together, likely to take on a greater threat, but that they’ll still view the world differently.
Based on the title, that could also mean each has very different views on how to make the world better, and who is truly the “man of tomorrow.” The artwork also confirms we’re going to be seeing Lex Luthor’s warsuit, which gives him a serious power upgrade and allows him to compete with the Man of Steel.
The title is a common nickname for Superman, and has been used a few times across various media, including a comic run in the 1990s and a 2020 animated movie. The latter was a new take on his origin story, based on the 2003 comic Superman: Birthright, but it did include a few things worth noting: Superman has to team-up with an imprisoned Lex Luthor after losing his powers, and those two and Lobo (who’ll be debuting in the DCU in Supergirl, and will be played by Jason Momoa) work together to take on DC villain Parasite. Those are ideas Gunn could be playing around with in the sequel, but it’ll more likely be taking inspiration from various sources and using his own unique ideas.
Gunn has previously said this isn’t “Superman 2,” though that seems more likely to be in title than in story or spirit, as with Corenswet and Hoult back, it’s clearly building on their dynamic and arcs from the first movie. He’s also referred to it as the next movie in the “Superman saga,” which again speaks to the idea that we’ll be seeing more DC characters involved as the new universe continues to grow. We’ll no doubt learn more about Man of Tomorrow as things progress, but things are looking up.
Superman is currently available on VoD.
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Image courtesy of Prokino Filmverleih
