What the Superman Ending Really Means: Nicholas Hoult Teases Lex Luthor’s Next Move in Man of Tomorrow

Superman just kickstarted the new DCU, and James Gunn wasted no time planting a flag for the sequel: it is called Man of Tomorrow. The interesting part isn’t just that it exists, it is where Gunn seems to be steering it.

So yes, Man of Tomorrow is happening

Gunn, now co-CEO of DC Studios, has been clear that this follow-up isn’t just more cape-and-fisticuffs. He wants the movie to track Superman and Lex Luthor side by side, and plug directly into the wider DCU story they are building.

Lex, of course, is Nicholas Hoult. He told GQ he expects a lot of the comics to feed into what comes next, but he is still waiting on the script.

"I haven’t read [the script] yet, but hopefully will soon, so I can’t say anything more than that. But just upon playing the character for the first time in that story, through my research and prep, I feel like there’s a lot more for me to explore and for us to explore. So I’m excited that we are getting the chance to go back and do that."

If Gunn is pulling from the books, this is the roadmap

Based on what Gunn has teased about the script, the sequel pairs Superman and Luthor on the same side. That has a very specific echo in DC Comics: the 'Forever Evil' event and the Justice League (Vol. 2) run that followed, especially issue #31. Quick refresher: with the Justice League taken off the board and Superman barely hanging on, Luthor helped take down an evil Justice League from another Earth, freed the real League, and literally brought Superman back. The public started seeing him as a hero, and he even talked his way onto the team. The League didn’t exactly roll out a red carpet, but most of them, Superman included to a point, accepted the logic.

If Man of Tomorrow is lining up anything like that, and the buzz is that Brainiac is the main villain, then a reluctant Superman-Lex alliance makes a lot of sense. On Brainiac scale, you need every genius you can get.

• Gunn has hinted enough to suggest Superman and Lex Luthor end up teaming up in the sequel.
• Comics precedent: after Forever Evil and into Justice League (Vol. 2) #31, Luthor helped save the day, rehabilitated his image, and strong-armed his way onto the League.
• Expectation on the movie side: Brainiac as the big bad, which sets up a battle of minds where Lex is uniquely useful.
• Theme to watch: Lex’s public repositioning from villain to necessary ally, and the League’s wary acceptance, Superman included.

The Salvation situation from Peacemaker Season 2

Over in Peacemaker Season 2, the show dropped a pretty wild setup that could bleed straight into Man of Tomorrow. The finale revealed an alternate reality called Salvation. Rick Flag Sr. and his crew labeled it a metahuman containment world. Translation: a place to stash powered people so they can’t mess up Earth.

Here’s where it gets spicy. Flag is working with Lex Luthor. If Lex is partnering with A.R.G.U.S. on a metahuman prison dimension, who do you think is target number one? Exactly. Meanwhile, John Cena’s Chris Smith is stuck on Salvation, which makes it feel inevitable that more metahumans get dumped there for simply existing. That sets the table for Lex to position himself as the guy keeping the world safe, even if it means making enemies disappear off-planet.

And then there’s the bigger swing: Salvation being used as a training ground for Apokolips’ New Gods. If that holds, Man of Tomorrow could be where a lot of Chapter One of the DCU, titled Gods and Monsters, actually gets paid off. It is a big connective play that vaults the sequel from a simple Brainiac story into something that ties threads from multiple corners of this universe.

Peacemaker Season 2 quick snapshot

James Gunn runs the show. The main cast includes John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, and Steve Agee. Rotten Tomatoes currently shows 95% and 78%. It streams on HBO Max.

Bottom line: Man of Tomorrow looks like a Lex-forward sequel with a probable Brainiac showdown, a reluctant Supes-Lex partnership, and ripple effects from Peacemaker’s Salvation arc that could push the DCU’s Gods and Monsters plan into the spotlight. Superman is streaming on HBO Max in the US if you want to catch up. What are you betting on for Man of Tomorrow?