James Gunn’s Superman was a great comic-book movie unburdened by much of the multi-billion-dollar franchise machine powering it, and a sequel isn’t far away. Because even though this summer’s DC blockbuster didn’t feel like just another marketing beat on a pitch deck, it very much is that, too. Gunn’s announcement on Wednesday that Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters in 2027 shows his rebooted DCU is about to be in full swing.
“Man of Tomorrow. In theatres July 9, 2027,” the director posted on social media today alongside comic book artist Jim Lee’s rendering of Superman and Lex Luthor standing next to each other, the latter appearing in his green and purple Warsuit. This “Lexorian armor” is what the billionaire genius uses to even the playing field with his himbo Kryptonian rival, and suggests at the very least the next movie will give us another showdown between the two. Or maybe they’ll end up working together to face an even deadlier, extinction-level event like, say, a visit from Brainiac?
July 2027 will be just two years after Superman arrived in theaters, bringing the box office success back in record time. But it’s far from the only upcoming DCU movie currently on the calendar. Here’s a brief look at the shows and movies in development that currently have dates attached to them:
- Lanterns TV Series: Early 2026
- Supergirl: June 26, 2026
- Clayface: September 11, 2026
- Man of Tomorrow: July 9, 2027
- Dynamic Duo: June 30, 2028
Matt Reeves’ follow-up to The Batman is also in the mix with a slated release date of October 1st, 2027, further powering DC’s presence at the multiplex, though the Robert Pattinson-led films are not, strictly speaking, part of James Gunn’s DCU.
You may be detecting a pattern here: we’re getting at least one Superman-related movie and one Batman-related movie annually for the next two years. There’s also Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, and Deathstroke movies in development, alongside a bunch of other projects. Gunn has previously promised that the scripts will come first in these productions, preventing messy reshoots and other expensive holdups until the stories have been locked down. That at least sounds like it’s in contrast to the recent Marvel process of letting the needs of franchise development run the show.
The proof, of course, will be in this new DCU’s track record once it actually takes shape. For now it’s just one good movie and some cool ideas. We’ll see how the next two years pan out. In the meantime, Peacemaker season 2 just kicked off on HBO streaming for everyone looking for clues about where Gunn’s interconnected superhero universe will go next.
