James Gunn has all but confirmed the villain of Superman 2, and it's exactly who we all expected

Superman coming face to face with an eerie, inhuman version of Brainiac — (Image credit: DC)

Superman 2 writer/director James Gunn has offered up the first look at the script for Man of Tomorrow. Only the cover page has been shown; it features an anatomical illustration of a cross-section of a human head, including, of course, the brain.

Here's the post:

😈🤝😇 #MoT 7.9.27 pic.twitter.com/aIKSFpaHffSeptember 22, 2025

It's that image of a human brain that may actually confirm some important aspects of the plot of Man of Tomorrow, in particular, the villain who will be so deadly, he forces Superman and Lex Luthor to team up. The obvious implication is that, as many fans have predicted, the villain will be none other than Brainiac, the most important Superman enemy who has yet to appear on the big screen.

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Brainiac has had several incarnations since his debut in 1958's Action Comics #242 by Otter Binder and Al Plastino. In most versions of the character, he's an alien AI who travels from world to world conquering civilizations and adding them to his twisted collection.

Several details have been added to Brainiac's canon over the years, notably the idea that the AI is of Kryptonian origin, or at least has a connection to Krypton, and that he's often teamed up with Lex Luthor – only to betray him again and again.

Most relevant for Man of Tomorrow is Brainiac's backstory in My Adventures with Superman season 2, in which the sinister AI carries out Krypton's conquest of the galaxy, manipulating Supergirl into razing the worlds he targets to the ground. The biggest twist is that the MAwS Brainiac is actually responsible for destroying Krypton when the planet considered ending its warlike ways.

Given that James Gunn's Superman film included the revelation that Kal-El's parents sent him to Earth with the intent that he conquer the planet, it seems entirely possible that the MAwS Brainiac could lend some significant influence to the movie version.

Man of Tomorrow is scheduled for release on July 9, 2027. For more, check out our list of all the upcoming DC movies and shows on the horizon.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)