James Gunn's 'Superman' Follow-Up Takes Flight With a Major Filming Update
Posted on July 1, 2025 at 9:11 AM
"I can't reveal anything, I'd get into a lot of trouble. But we start filming in April."
Man of Tomorrow was first announced back on September 10, 2025, two months after the theatrical release of Superman. The film teases a team-up between the Man of Steel and the villainous billionaire, putting aside their differences to face a new foe. Concept art for the feature has been released, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., and more are also expected to return. As of writing, no one has been cast to play Braniac.
What's James Gunn's 'Superman' About?
Superman was highly praised by fans and critics alike, generating a Certified Fresh critics score of 83% and a Verified Hot audience score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Additionally, the feature grossed over $616 million at the box office, making it the 8th-highest-grossing film of 2025. Due to Superman's success, Warner Bros plans to bring more follow-up films based on the "Super Family." The next DCU film set to enter theaters is Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, which will be released in 2026.
Man of Tomorrow is scheduled to hit theaters in 2027. In the meantime, you can stream the 2025 Superman film on HBO Max. Follow Collider to stay up to date with the latest updates.
Last June, Collider visited one of the sets of Superman in Cleveland, Ohio — the city in which Jerry Siegel created Superman back in 1932. While there, we spoke to many members of the cast and crew about taking on Superman, bringing this iconic character to life once more, the countless Easter eggs to the character’s past within the set, and the characters who are staples of the Superman films and new faces coming to these films for the first time. Even though this might be an overwhelming project on paper, from what we saw, it appears that with Gunn and this team, Superman is in the right hands.
'Superman' is Nostalgic, Colorful, and Hopeful
We visited the set at a point where the film was about two-thirds done, according to executive producer Chantal Nong. From everything we heard and saw, it seems like this Superman is going for a more timeless approach, with a lighter touch than we’ve seen recently. As production designer Beth Mickle told us, in regards to how this film differentiates itself from recent iterations: “I think what we really wanted to do was really brighten everything up and really lighten it up and make it hopeful, hopeful, hopeful. And so, that’s really what we’ve led with, with the visuals, and the tone, the lighting, the cast.” Mickle also continued, “some of the leading words we’ve used are 'nostalgia,' 'Americana,' 'timeliness,' 'bright,' 'colorful,' 'hopeful.'”
Of course, Superman is crucial in setting up this universe, but Nong talked about how each project within this new DCU will stand on its own. “The beauty of what James is envisioning is that he wants, and we want, every film and television show to be its own unique thing. We don’t want to do anything that negates what’s happening here, like they have to kind of flow. But we’re not handcuffed by it and everything is uniquely its own thing, and that’s really awesome.” Speaking of Gunn’s co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of DC Studios, Peter Safran, Nong said, “You’ll hear Peter say consistent but not connected.”
'Superman' Is Packed With References to the Superhero’s Past
While we were only able to visit one set, the street outside the Daily Planet, there’s an incredible amount of detail in every inch of this set. Speaking to how lovingly crafted every aspect of this film is, Mickle said, “We have a list of all of our Easter eggs that we have throughout the movie, there’s literally almost 100 of them.” From every store to street sign, Mickle states that “everything has a tie,” saying that pretty much every detail has a basis in the comics.
Speaking of the importance of the Fortress of Solitude in Superman, Mickle says of Gunn:
“He wanted it to be very much based on the Silver Age comics, where this is where Superman hangs out. It’s where he has his laboratory, it’s where he has a zoo, it’s where he has a supercomputer set up. It’s where he does his research. It’s where he hangs out. So we brought a lot of that into the design, where it feels like it’s kind of a man cave carved into stone, crystals coming through it, and a lot of the language for all of the Kryptonian technology is very Silver Age inspired and has kind of a mid-century width to it.”
On the other end, Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), has a much different look. “Lex’s lair is definitely rooted in ‘60s and ‘70s architecture, a little bit of brutalism, and very much about angles and geometry that all line up sharply, and really beautifully. He has a nice big lookout over the city looking out in all directions, but with very ’60s and ‘70s inspired colors.”
'Superman' Is as Grounded as It Possibly Can Be
Nong also discussed the first image released of Superman and what it means in the context of the world, as Superman gets ready, while a monster seemingly attacks Metropolis. Nong said, “I think it’s kind of like what Metropolis is like. 'Oh, sometimes there’s a giant jellyfish out in the back,' that just happens in our world.” Nong stated, “I think if anything, the image conveys more sensibility than a concrete story. There’s something so casual and lowkey about what he’s doing in it, and I think James’s approach this entire time is every piece; he wants to be relatable, and everything is as grounded as it could possibly be.”
Finally, speaking back to the Easter eggs, Mickle told us her favorite hidden detail in the film, in which Superman first lands in Metropolis in the middle of a battle, he lands in front of a building, and as Mickle says, “We decided to turn it into the Metropolis Modern Museum of Art…if you look really closely, 'Flight Machines' is the name of an exhibit,” and that, “if you look really closely on the left on [the banner] they’re all birds and the birds morph into planes,” a fun little nod to “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!”
Skyler Gisondo Thought He Was Auditioning for the Role of Superman, Not Jimmy Olsen
We then spoke with members of the cast, starting with Skyler Gisondo, who plays Daily Planet photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, and Sara Sampaio, who plays Eve Teschmacher, a character first introduced in Donner’s 1978 Superman. Speaking of how her iteration of Eve is different than what we saw in the Donner films, Sampaio said, “This version of Eve, even though it’s slightly different, is definitely a lot more modern, but she still has the same essence of wanting to be loved and liked.”
Gisondo’s superhero hopes quickly went away, though:
“We auditioned, I sent a tape in, and my reps called, and they were like, ‘They want you to come back in.’ I was like, ‘Oh, great! And just to clarify, I know it’s dummy sides. It’s for Superman, right?’ And the phone kind of went silent, and then one of them was just like, ‘No. They weren’t dummy sides. It said Jimmy.’ And I was like, ‘Right.’ Also they were like, ‘How’d you get a callback? You didn’t even know who you were auditioning for?’ I don’t know, but it worked out. James loved that.”
Sampaio says that at least she knew who she was auditioning for, and discussed what it was like acting alongside Hoult’s Lex Luthor. “Well, I got yelled at a lot,” and recalls, “There is this one particular scene that he’s yelling at me, and I was like, ‘Oh! Oh, okay. Calm down!’ But it was amazing.” She says of Hoult, “He’s such an incredible actor, and getting to even do a scene with him has just been my wildest dream. He’s just so incredible, he’s so bubbly, and then, as soon as he hears ‘action,’ he just becomes Lex Luthor, and it’s so cool. That was amazing.”
In talking about Gunn, both Sampaio and Gisondo were also glowing. Sampaio says, “I just trust him completely because he knows what he's doing and he knows every single little detail about the world. It's not just this movie that we're doing. He's already thinking about this and that, and it's fascinating. But he's such a normal, fun guy that even though he’s the big boss, he doesn't feel like that.” Gisondo agrees, stating, “James, for sure, there are a million things he's thinking about, but as a combination of him being so prepared and so excited and knowing the world so well, he just exudes this calm confidence, and it permeates throughout the whole production. Everything just feels easy.” Sampaio concludes the conversation by saying, “It almost feels like a small movie, even though it's obviously a big production, but it just feels very family."
Nicholas Hoult Tried Out for Superman, but He’s Glad He Was Cast as Lex Luthor
Next, we were able to talk to Lex Luthor himself, Nicholas Hoult, and the discussion immediately went to Hoult’s experience with trying out for other, less villainous superhero roles. “It’s no secret that I read for Matt Reeves’ movie [The Batman] and for this one with James. And I feel very fortunate the way things played out, to be honest with you.” Hoult continues, “I knew I was going in, technically, to read for Superman, but I had a funny little itch or inkling a couple of times, reading the script, where I looked at a scene and I was like, ‘Maybe you'd be good at Lex.’”
“So, when he called me to be like, ‘Hey, I think Lex is where I want you to be,’ I think I laughed — kind of in a villainous, maniacal way, to be honest with you. I was like, ‘Huh. Your instincts were kind of right and you should have listened to them,’ which is something that I guess I've got to work on in life, because sometimes you hear that little voice and you go, ‘No.’”
Hoult mentions that he loved how the script throws you into this world: “One of the things I loved most about the script the first time I read it is that you get thrown into the middle of a fully developed world and story already. So, these characters have already existed in this universe, and you're kind of playing catch-up a little bit as an audience member for what the lore is, in some ways.”
Hoult continues, “With Lex, he's already developed or devised all these plans of how to defeat Superman, and you're kind of playing catch-up in terms of what's at play and the plans unfurling in front of you, I suppose. So, that's kind of where you meet him.” But when he’s asked if Superman and Lex have ever fought before, he states, “They are aware of each other, but I don't think they have necessarily met in person.”
Hoult certainly isn’t new to playing villains, as we recently saw in The Order, and similarly, Hoult tries to find the heart of the character, even if its a villain as major as Lex: “It's his beliefs and almost his love of humanity and protection, and this idea that they should be masters of their own faith and destiny is important to him.” Hoult continues, “The rest of society has kind of fallen into this path of trusting Superman, believing in Superman, and giving him what Lex would view as all power and freedom. So, it's like, ‘Where does jurisdiction and law and protection of humanity come into that?’”
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While Hoult has gone back and revisited Gene Hackman’s work as Luthor, he also looked at Michael Rosenbaum’s take on the character. “That was what I grew up with, watching him in Smallville, so that was the first Lex that I was more aware of.” But Hoult’s Luthor also sounds like it’s more of a take on the character for our times: “He's more [of a] tech billionaire, so I think one of the things that he values, probably quite highly, and you see lost throughout the film, perhaps, is this public image of how people view him. He's managed to keep his more nefarious tactics and things at play kind of more hidden so that he does appear to be someone who's only there for good.”
But even though Superman was still filming, Hoult is very excited about returning to this character in the future, saying:
We also had the opportunity to talk with Gunn (which you can read more about here), about how his version of the film throws Superman right into the action, how it's different from anything he’s ever done before, and the DC projects that influenced his take on Superman.
Rachel Brosnahan Says 'Superman' Is “A Real Shot in the Arm of Hope”
Following Gunn was Brosnahan, who is taking on the classic role of Lois Lane. As we’ve seen in trailers, we find that Lois knows that her co-worker Clark Kent is Superman, and we’re meeting them already in the middle of their relationship. Brosnahan discussed how she thinks Lois feels about Superman:
In asking how Lois was different from playing Mrs. Maisel, Brosnahan said, “They're both confident, passionate, relentless women. Relentlessly ambitious women. But other than that, they're pretty different. I had to work to slow down my pace just a little bit after many years in Maiselland. But James likes it at a clip too, so that [worked].” Yet even after working on a show like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for so many years, Brosnahan is also excited about the possibility of playing Lois for several years:
Speaking of Corenswet’s take on Superman, Brosnahan was glowing about her co-star’s performance, saying, “he rides that impossible line between making something his own but also somehow being exactly what you always dreamed this person was, and could be. He's conscious of not wanting to do an impression of any of the brilliant men who played this role before. He's really made it his own.”
Finally, Brosnahan says that Gunn’s version of Superman is a hopeful film that we could absolutely need in our world:
Next, we had the opportunity to talk with some of Clark, Lois, and Jimmy’s co-workers at the Daily Planet: Wendell Pierce, taking on the role of the Daily Planet’s editor-in-chief, Perry White; Mikela Hoover, who plays gossip columnist Cat Grant; and Beck Bennett, portraying cocky sportscaster Steve Lombard.
Pierce says that while Perry is always trying to get the best headline, he’s a bit clueless about the world around him. “Perry’s always late to the game,” says Pierce, and that he's “always worried about the byline that {he] doesn’t realize the reality right in front of [him] every day.” Meanwhile, Bennett’s Steve Lombard is extremely cocky and, most importantly, mustachioed, saying, “When this thing is onscreen, I can't look at anything else. It really just represents my character's bravado and how he feels. I was going to say it’s his sense of security, but he doesn't have a lot of security.”
And even though Metropolis has Superman, that’s not the core of everything, as Hoover says, “There’s so much celebrity gossip going on in the world right now. The most important is Superman, but there are other things.” Bennett and Hoover also make it clear that there’s a romantic past between Steve and Cat. Bennett states, “I don't want to say ‘romantic,’ romance would be too generous for what happened,” with Hoover clarifying, “It was a moment of weakness.”
Mister Terrific Might Also Be a Hero, but Edi Gathegi Says He's Not Superman's BFF
We then spoke to Edi Gathegi, who was in complete costume as Mister Terrific, one of the many superheroes in Superman. Gathegi talks about the dynamic between Mister Terrific and Superman, saying, “Superman thinks that Mr. Terrific is his BFF. It's not true,” continuing, “They are brothers in fighting crime, they're brothers in being heroes, but they don't have a lot in common. You all know Superman — he's a Boy Scout. He's the embodiment of good. Our version of Mr. Terrific is a little bit more complex in the sense that he's battling other demons that pepper out. So, he's a little grumpy.”
It also sounds as though Mister Terrific is a major part of Superman, as Gathegi says, “I think I interact with all of the major characters in this film.” Gathegi also at first had issues with the mask his character has to wear, but soon warmed up to it:
'Superman' Starts With Our Hero in the Biggest Fight of His Life...So Far
Finally, we had the opportunity to talk to Superman himself (and spoiler alert, Clark Kent), David Corenswet. The actor talked with us about what it’s like to take on a character at the beginning of this journey, and the experience of taking on a role with so much weight behind it: “There's all this cool stuff with all the iterations of the comics, most of which I have not read yet, but I know how many there are, and how many different versions, and so that's fun in the same way that doing Shakespeare is fun. Where you're doing this iconic thing that everybody knows, but it's been done so many times that you really only have to do your little piece and maybe contribute one little new thing, or put a fun, interesting spin on it."
Corenswet discussed how Superman throws the audience right into the action from the beginning, and how that’s an incredible way to learn about these characters. “The way I think you learn about a character, or an iteration of a character in this case, is watching what strategies they employ to overcome whatever their big problem is to begin with, and how they react. How their spirit reacts. How they react when they fail, or when they fall short. When a strategy doesn't work."
Corenswet also says that not only are we starting things right in the middle of the action, but it's also a major moment for our hero:
Corenswet continues, "And so, as a moment to meet the character — and especially where he doesn't really overcome… he doesn't lose, but he doesn't win. To have that be the jumping off point for the rest of the story was really fun, because it leaves you everywhere to go, which is always great with character, to start strong and still have everywhere to go.”
"There's No Doubt": James Gunn Reveals How His 'Superman' Wouldn't Exist if Marvel Hadn't Fired Him on 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
"I don’t think that I would’ve written the Superman that I wrote."
Both Corenswet and Gunn know that this is a dual role, that the actor has to take on the powerful Superman, but maybe more importantly, the more grounded role of Clark Kent. And that duality is part of what got Corenswet so excited about this role:
But even though there's certainly inspiration from the past, Corenswet is certainly trying to do something different with the character. He continues, "So, for me, one of the reasons I dove into the comics, and specifically All-Star Superman, which was the one that James recommended first and foremost, was to read the Clark Kent scenes and look at the images, and try to hear his voice in a different way."
"He's got to feel different and have different relationships. But just finding a different point of reference to go to, away from a lot of directions, you can go away from Superman. Finding a new direction to go was a ton of fun.” Corenswet also later in our conversation said, “Playing Clark is more fun than playing Superman, as far as acting. You just get to do so much more and there's more… you always have a secret, which is always a fun thing to have as an actor.”
Corenswet Says All-Star Superman Was Helpful in Crafting His Superman
Gunn has also said that All-Star Superman was an important document in beginning the DCU, and it turns out it was incredibly important to Corenswet and finding the character of Superman;
This nerdiness and being able to open himself up to Lois in a way that he can't with other people also sounds like it will be key to Corenswet's Superman, as he says, "I love seeing when he goes into his Fortress of Solitude that he's got a man cave. Not in the way that…it's not a Bat Cave. He's got his technology and stuff, but it's mostly all of these relics and fun things that he's gotten to collect because he does what he does. And he wants to show them off to Lois, because he can't show them off to many people, because he's not supposed to. The gentle loneliness of that, but without any sense of dark brooding. Just really brimming with excitement about the things that he gets to do, and collect, and wanting to bring other people into that, and just not being able to."
But even though Superman is an iconic character, he's absolutely one that often struggles to work in a dramatic role, considering he's essentially a god come to Earth, but Corenwet seems up for that challenge, saying:
Corenswet Almost Had a Completely Different Lois to His Clark
Despite Corenswet and Brosnahan seemingly being the perfect Clark and Lois, it sounds as though Emma Mackey of Sex Education and Barbie was almost the Lois to Corenswet’s Clark:
Apparently, when Brosnahan came to read, she took a red eye to L.A. while on Broadway, but the test with her and Corenswet must’ve been just what Gunn was looking for:
Finally, even though this is a huge first tentpole for this DCU, Corenswet isn’t entirely aware of where this universe is going from here. When asked how much he knows about the future plans of this universe, he says he knows, “essentially nothing." Corenswet continues:
From what we learned on the set Cleveland set of Superman, it sounds like Gunn's latest will absolutely be worth rewatching, and a strong introduction to a whole new DC universe.