James Gunn has explained why Superman and Braniac don't get along, and it could be setting up a pretty interesting premise for Supes sequel Man of Tomorrow.
Braniac will be the bad guy in the DC film, which will also see Supes and his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor forced to team up.
"Brainiac is what happens when intelligence loses ALL connection to humanity. And Superman is as human as anyone, so… I get why they have beef," Gunn wrote on Twitter. "Brainiac made his comic debut on this day in ACTION COMICS #242."
Superman makes a big speech about his own humanity to Lex Luthor during the Superman ending, so it looks like this will be a theme that carries into the quasi-sequel. Whether Lex acknowledges his foe's humanity or not remains to be seen, however…
Gunn has also previously teased that he has drawn heavily from the comics to bring Braniac to the screen. "Fun story but not really, no," he said when asked if Panic in the Sky, which features Braniac as the main villain, would be adapted in Man of Tomorrow. "More specifically: I read almost every Brainiac story to put Brainiac in MoT together and used bits and pieces I thought worked best. But PitS wasn't a key influence on the story."
David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult will return as Superman and Lex Luthor respectively, while Lars Eidinger is Braniac. The rest of the cast includes Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, Aaron Pierre as Jon Stewart, and Matthew Lillard as a mystery character.
Man of Tomorrow arrives on July 9, 2027. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows for everything else that's on the way, including Supergirl and Lanterns.
