A small portion of DC Universe fans have seemingly become investigative journalists, apparently uncovering enough evidence to suggest that James Gunn will be casting a familiar face for the role of the DCU’s Brainiac, who has been heavily teased as the main antagonist of Man of Tomorrow.
As the second most well-known Superman villain after Lex Luthor, Brainiac has been rumored to be the main villain of Man of Tomorrow for a while now. Recently, Gunn added fuel to the rumor fire by sharing a photo of the cover page of the Man of Tomorrow script, which featured a non-human brain. Fans took that to mean that Brainiac would be the main antagonist who would force Superman to join forces with Lex Luthor.
Now it’s one of the actors who liked Gunn’s social media post of the Man of Tomorrow script that’s got the DCU fandom thinking that the filmmaker may have already cast the supervillain.
Why do DCU fans believe Chukwudi Iwuji will be cast as Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow?
Among the actors who liked Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow script post on Instagram was Chukwudi Iwuji, who previously collaborated with Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Peacemaker Season 1, playing The High Evolutionary and Clemson Murn/Ik Nobe Lok, respectively. With the rest of the likes on the post coming from actors already in the DCU, like Aaron Pierre (John Stewart/Green Lantern) and Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), or expected to return, like Xolo Mariduena, fans believed there was more to Iwuji’s like than met the eye.
After one fan on X theorized that Iwuji could be playing Brainiac, another X user backed up this casting possibility by sharing that Gunn did state on the official Peacemaker podcast that he wasn’t making Murn’s physical appearance canon to the DCU so that he could cast Iwuji as a different character, possibly one that doesn’t look human.
“I think Clemson Murn is canon,” Gunn said on the Season 1, Episode 5 rewatch episode of the Peacemaker podcast (via Polygon). “Maybe his face might not be canon if we want to cast [Chukwudi Iwuji] as something else in the DCU. But also, Chuk could end up being some other character, maybe that isn’t so humanoid.”
Of course, until DC Studios or Gunn officially confirms Brainiac for Man of Tomorrow and announces an actor for the role, the rest of the fandom should take all of this speculation with a grain of salt. As it stands, the only actors officially on board for Man of Tomorrow are David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult.
Man of Tomorrow is scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2027.
