News Man of Tomorrow Lars Eidinger Cast as Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow, But Which Version of the Villain Will the Superman Movie Use? There are many Brainiacs, and not all are created equally By Matthew Byrd | Published on December 22, 2025 Photo: DC Comics Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: DC Comics In a statement on Twitter (or X, or whatever), James Gunn confirmed that Lars Eidinger will play Brainiac in the upcoming sequel to his 2025 Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow. James Gunn has strongly hinted (to say the least) that Brainiac will be the villain in Man of Tomorrow and that his arrival will force Superman and Lex Luthor to form an unlikely alliance. So far as that goes, this announcement does not come as a surprise. The decision to cast Lars Eidinger is a bit more surprising. It’s not fair to call Lars Eidinger an unknown (he’s made quite a name for himself on-stage and in the films of director Olivier Assayas), but this is certainly not the big splashy casting announcement that some suspected Gunn might prioritize for such a major villainous role. The casting is potentially quite good, and it will certainly be nice to see a Superman movie villain that isn’t General Zod or Lex Luthor. Actually, those who really only casually follow Superman via the movies probably have little idea who Brainiac is. He was reportedly considered for the villain role in Superman III way back in the day, but he rarely makes multimedia appearances despite being a major player in the comics. In fact, Brainiac has appeared in so many Superman comics in so many different forms that it’s tough to say which version of Brainiac we’ll see in Man of Tomorrow. While aspects of the character often remain the same (most notably, he’s incredibly intelligent, which allows him to create incredible devices and wield mental powers), Brainiac has been remarkably inconsistent for such a major character in the Superman mythos. Will we get the Silver Age Brainiac who was depicted as a green alien from the planet Colu who largely did his evil bidding through incredible devices such as a shrink ray? It’s…not likely. There is a charm to that character’s looks and methods that do fit into Gunn’s visual and directorial style, but Brainiac didn’t really come into his own until later. Still, there are elements of this version of the character (such as his love of shrinking and the more alien aspects of his appearance) that could be used in Man of Tomorrow. Will we get the Brainiac that uploaded his consciousness into a metal skeleton exoframe to achieve a more Terminator-like look? Probably not. That version of the character boasts an incredible design and was featured in some memorable storylines, but he’s pretty far removed from the more iconic elements of the Brainiac concept. It would be another big swing to bring that version of the character to the big screen first. Will we see the version of Brainiac that was actually an advanced AI program used by Jor-El (and other Kryptonians) like the Brainiac featured in Superman: The Animated Series? That is far more likely. Not only would such a villain allow Man of Tomorrow to comment on the evils of AI (a popular film villain trend at the moment), but tying Brainiac into the destruction of Krypton would make his rivalry with Superman (and possibly Supergirl) pleasantly personal. However, it’s far more likely that the Man of Tomorrow Brainiac will be closer to modern, rebooted versions of the character in the comics, which are really an amalgamation of previous Brainiac concepts. Specifically, all eyes are currently on the “House of Brainiac” version of the character. In that story, Brainiac is really the representative of a collective of networked iterations spread across the universe. He uses his galactic powers to launch an assault on Earth. Not only does that arc include Lex Luthor and Superman teaming up to fight Brainiac (something we know will happen in Man of Tomorrow), but it features Supergirl villain/antihero Lobo in a starring role. I doubt that Man of Tomorrow will be a straight adaptation of “House of Brainiac” or that version of the Brainiac character (the latter, in particular, will probably be presented in a slightly more iconic physical form), but that storyline certainly seems to have the most elements that fit into what Gunn is currently doing with Superman and the greater DC mythos. Ultimately, we’re going to have to wait a while to see more of Lars Eidinger’s Brainiac. Man of Tomorrow isn’t scheduled to be released until July 9, 2027, so unless Brainiac appears in Supergirl or unless we get a surprise sneak peek at the character elsewhere, we’ll all just have to wonder which of the nearly infinite Brainiacs in the universe we’ll ultimately get. [end-mark] The post Lars Eidinger Cast as Brainiac in <i>Man of Tomorrow</i>, But Which Version of the Villain Will the <i>Superman</i> Movie Use? appeared first on Reactor.