James Gunn Drops Man of Tomorrow Script Pic — Did He Just Reveal Brainiac as the Main Villain?

James Gunn is not easing into his next Superman movie. After announcing it in July, he has already flashed the second draft of the script and, yes, it looks like Brainiac might be the big bad. Release date is set, the hints are flying, and the whole thing seems to be moving unusually fast.

What Gunn just put on the table

• On Monday afternoon, Gunn posted a photo of the second draft of the 'Man of Tomorrow' script. The cover art strongly points to Brainiac as the main villain.
• According to Gunn, the film is dated for July 9, 2027.
• He also stressed that 'Man of Tomorrow' is not a straightforward sequel to this year's 'Superman.'
• When he first teased the project on social media, Gunn shared an image of Superman alongside Lex Luthor in that classic green-and-purple power suit.
• This is clearly a priority for the DCU right now, coming on the heels of 'Superman' crossing $615.1M worldwide.

About that Lex warsuit

The implication is that this picks up after Lex slips out of lockup and upgrades to the heavy armor he's famous for. Worth noting: in 'Superman,' Lex already sent a super-powered robot to sock Clark in the face. If round one was a mechanical proxy punch, round two might be Lex stepping in himself. Bold strategy, Lex. Let's see if it pays off.

Brainiac in play

If the cover is indeed tipping Brainiac, that's a swing at one of Superman's top-tier nemeses. Brainiac is an ultra-intelligent alien from Colu with serious mental firepower — think psychic control and the ability to puppeteer both robots and people. He's notorious for staying out of reach by operating through proxies, which is exactly the sort of inside-baseball villainy that can make a Superman story sprawl in interesting ways.

Here's where it gets fun: Lex rolling out in his warsuit doesn't automatically mean he's throwing hands with Superman the entire time. If Brainiac is the headline threat, I could absolutely see Superman and Lex forming a temporary alliance to stop him — with Lex, of course, working some angle only he knows about.

Where this sits in Gunn's bigger plan

Gunn has been calling this run of stories his 'Superman Saga,' and he's said the next chapter is already mapped out. At the 'Peacemaker' premiere last month, he told The Hollywood Reporter:

"I've already finished the treatment for the next story in what I'll call the 'Superman Saga,' I'm working on that and hopefully going into production on that not too far away from today."

So, to sum it up: the new movie has a date, the script is moving, Brainiac is all but teased, and Lex is suiting up. If Gunn really leans into Brainiac as the main event, expect big sci-fi stakes and at least one uneasy team-up that will almost certainly end with Lex being Lex.