James Gunn Might’ve Just Teased Story Details for His Superman Sequel
James Gunn’s Superman has given DC Studios the fresh start it desperately needed. The film not only soared to become 2025’s highest-grossing superhero movie, but it also introduced fans to David Corenswet’s charming, hopeful, and fun take on the Man of Steel.
Naturally, a sequel is in the works. But if you’ve been paying attention, Warner Bros. Discovery has been carefully sidestepping the term Superman 2. Instead, David Zaslav referred to the next chapter as a “Superman family” movie. Gunn previously echoed that idea revealing he’s already completed a treatment for the next “Superman saga” film.
That’s where things get interesting.
The next big DCU project on the release slate is Supergirl, which will expand on Milly Alcock’s surprise appearance as Kara Zor-El in Superman. Based on what we know, the sequel we’re getting won’t be just about Superman. In fact, it might be a full-blown team-up featuring Superman, Supergirl, and Krypto.
A now private behind the scenes video called Adventures in the Making of Superman briefly showcased Gunn’s rough storyboards at the 2:18 mark. In them, Superman, Supergirl, and Krypto are seen flying together.
Below them? A panel featuring a bald head covered in lightbulb-like nodes, a not-so-subtle tease that longtime fans will recognize as Brainiac.
Even if that image wasn’t meant to spoil anything, or if they were early storyboards, it’s clear Gunn has been thinking about Brainiac for a while. He even admitted he considered using the iconic villain in Superman before deciding on Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult.
For those unfamiliar, Brainiac is one of Superman’s most formidable foes. Created in 1958 by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, he’s evolved over the decades, sometimes depicted as a green alien, other times as a highly advanced AI or cyborg. No matter the version, Brainiac is all about acquiring knowledge, usually by shrinking cities from across the universe and bottling them like cosmic souvenirs. One of those cities is the Kryptonian capital, Kandor.
If Superman gave us Lex Luthor, Brainiac is the logical next step. The villain’s never made it to live-action film, which is wild considering his status. That’s like The Riddler not showing up in any Batman movie until now.
But Brainiac’s debut might come with emotional weight. In the 2008 Superman: Brainiac comic by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, Superman and Supergirl manage to defeat Brainiac, but not before Jonathan Kent suffers a fatal heart attack while Clark is off saving the world. If Gunn is pulling from this story, we could be headed toward a tearjerker moment.
Superman is now available on home release, and Supergirl will hit theaters on June 26, 2026. As for the sequel? We’ll just have to wait and see what Gunn has got planned.