Daily Planet Redux: Man of Tomorrow News and Speculation Thread

[Herolee10]

Imagine if Gunn later reveals that the bigger threat for this film is either Zod or Mongul...

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I think keeping Brainiac's alien origin is a better fit for the sequel.

 

[FrankenCastle]

I'd like them to make Brainiac a kryptonian AI that gone rogue, so we can explore Superman's home world and culture in the sequel.

 

[flickchick85]

Imagine if Gunn later reveals that the bigger threat for this film is either Zod or Mongul...

I would never be mad about Mongul.

 

[Deck Rickard]

But we would ALL be mad about Zod lol.

Honestly I hope I NEVER see Zod again as long as I live.

 

[Lily Adler]

But we would ALL be mad about Zod lol.

Honestly I hope I NEVER see Zod again as long as I live.

 

[Deck Rickard]

My hope is that we get Superman, Lex and Supergirl teaming up to save Earth from Brainiac here (ending it in a similar way like Superman/Brainiac and Superman Unbound

Spoiler

with Superman exploring and saving Kandor and beating the crap out of Brainy on Earth while Supergirl stops the solar flare from destroying earth and works through her trauma of not being able to save Krypton. And in the end, when everything feels like it’s all good, Lex steals some Brainiac tech and adds it to his suit and tries to kills Superman and they have their big fight.

And for the third film? Then we get Mongul and War World and it’s all epic as hell. It could be the perfect trilogy.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I kinda hope you are right. I wouldn’t mind a fresh take on Brainiac. Making the character a earth based creation would make for a good story.

I have to push back on that a bit; I know there are versions of Brainiac that are earth-based but given the implications of Brainiac (whether Coluan or a Kryptonian AI or both) having a hand in destroying Krypton and capturing Kandor are so rich for character growth with both Kal and Kara that avoiding all of that would be such a missed opportunity. There’s so much potentially great material there with Kal learning more about why his parents sent him to (apparently) conquer worlds and interacting with other Kryptonians in Kandor, as well as Kara dealing with and overcoming her trauma around Brainiac. Plus some stunning visuals of Brainiac’s skull ship invasion, his green-skinned appearance and his robot army. You could lose so much of that if you make him an earth-based AI.

 

[DCDAVE]

I have to push back on that a bit; I know there are versions of Brainiac that are earth-based but given the implications of Brainiac (whether Coluan or a Kryptonian AI or both) having a hand in destroying Krypton and capturing Kandor are so rich for character growth with both Kal and Kara that avoiding all of that would be such a missed opportunity. There’s so much potentially great material there with Kal learning more about why his parents sent him to (apparently) conquer worlds and interacting with other Kryptonians in Kandor, as well as Kara dealing with and overcoming her trauma around Brainiac. Plus some stunning visuals of Brainiac’s skull ship invasion, his green-skinned appearance and his robot army. You could lose so much of that if you make him an earth-based AI.

Remember there are multiple Brainiacs in the Superman lore. There is even a Brainiac that became a Superhero. Save the big bad skull ship version for Kal and Kara. Make this Brainiac an original earth based creation that is formed through Luther, Kryptonian technology, and the government. When this version is defeated it sends a beacon to the galactic skull ship version. Then game on….

 

[solidsnake86]

But we would ALL be mad about Zod lol.

Honestly I hope I NEVER see Zod again as long as I live.

I wouldn't mind seeing him again as I do think he is a great villain. But I do want to finally see some others such as parasite, metallo, bloodsport again, bizzaro. I just don't know how you include them when your second film may be brainiac which is a huge threat. Those villains to me lend themselves to a smaller story.

I do think superman has a great rogues gallery so it would be great to see other threats. A reimagining of conduit would be cool too.

 

[FrankenCastle]

Zod already had two great adaptations (even those who dislike MoS agree that Micheal Shanon kills it). So I wouldn't mind not seeing Zod again for a very long time, especially after The Flash.




Whoever thought that Zod should be the main villain of The Flash should be banned from working on CBMs forever.

 

[Babillygunn]

I would be fine with Zod again sometime down the road, but only if they do something different with him. I loved Terrance Stamp’s take on him as an egomaniacal, homicidal aristocrat. And while Smallville had tons of flaws, I actually enjoyed Callum Blue’s Zod in that show because it leaned into him as a soldier who had enough charisma that he could manipulate others. But I really disliked Michael Shannon’s Zod. I never saw the allure that people had with it. He just came off as an unintelligent hotheaded fool. I know I am in the minority, but his emotional outbursts just came off as childish tantrums to me.

That said, I don’t want Zod for a while. In the meantime, I want Mongul and Braniac movies. And for Braniac, I totally want him to come from Colu. I don’t want him being Kryptonian and I certainly don’t want him from Earth. I also want Kara to play a big part in that movie, as she would have experienced Braniac’s shrinking of Kandor and she should have a healthy mix of fear and anger toward him as a result. The shrinking of Kandor should be a watershed moment in Kryptonian history and Kara would have experienced it as a Kryptonian child.
I don’t think that Braniac being the product of Kryptonian hubris works the same way as it does if he is a threat from another planet.

 

[DCDAVE]

Zod was big in the DCEU so it would be hard to bring him back in. Gunn can go the animated series route with Jax-Ur with Mala as his muscle.

 

[solidsnake86]

I would be fine with Zod again sometime down the road, but only if they do something different with him. I loved Terrance Stamp’s take on him as an egomaniacal, homicidal aristocrat. And while Smallville had tons of flaws, I actually enjoyed Callum Blue’s Zod in that show because it leaned into him as a soldier who had enough charisma that he could manipulate others. But I really disliked Michael Shannon’s Zod. I never saw the allure that people had with it. He just came off as an unintelligent hotheaded fool. I know I am in the minority, but his emotional outbursts just came off as childish tantrums to me.

That said, I don’t want Zod for a while. In the meantime, I want Mongul and Braniac movies. And for Braniac, I totally want him to come from Colu. I don’t want him being Kryptonian and I certainly don’t want him from Earth. I also want Kara to play a big part in that movie, as she would have experienced Braniac’s shrinking of Kandor and she should have a healthy mix of fear and anger toward him as a result. The shrinking of Kandor should be a watershed moment in Kryptonian history and Kara would have experienced it as a Kryptonian child.
I don’t think that Braniac being the product of Kryptonian hubris works the same way as it does if he is a threat from another planet.

Agreed and I do see Gunn going with the Colu version of brainiac, as it would make sense for Lex's character who hates superman, because he is an alien. Brainiac is an alien with the intelligence of Lex so that would probably upset him. If they go the AI route it would take that angle away. Also agreed on Kandor, something like that, with Supergirl showing genuine fear over brainiac would make him a threat that you would generally be scared for the people of earth.

 

[Lily Adler]

Agreed and I do see Gunn going with the Colu version of brainiac, as it would make sense for Lex's character who hates superman, because he is an alien. Brainiac is an alien with the intelligence of Lex so that would probably upset him. If they go the AI route it would take that angle away. Also agreed on Kandor, something like that, with Supergirl showing genuine fear over brainiac would make him a threat that you would generally be scared for the people of earth.

Only a 12th level intellect can survive The Source and solve the Anti-Life Equation.

 

[SupermansPal]

Bring Koko the Space Monkey to the big screen you cowards.

 

[BobJM]

For Mongul, I’ve read For the Man Who Has Everything & seen the entirety of the DCAU—any good recs for brushing up?

Is it just the Superman Authority book by Morrison that has everyone gagging over Mongul? I’m a bit surprised tbh, I can’t think of the character in any of the JLA run or Superman trades I have, but I’d love to hear why people are so into the character.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I would be fine with Zod again sometime down the road, but only if they do something different with him. I loved Terrance Stamp’s take on him as an egomaniacal, homicidal aristocrat. And while Smallville had tons of flaws, I actually enjoyed Callum Blue’s Zod in that show because it leaned into him as a soldier who had enough charisma that he could manipulate others. But I really disliked Michael Shannon’s Zod. I never saw the allure that people had with it. He just came off as an unintelligent hotheaded fool. I know I am in the minority, but his emotional outbursts just came off as childish tantrums to me.

That said, I don’t want Zod for a while. In the meantime, I want Mongul and Braniac movies. And for Braniac, I totally want him to come from Colu. I don’t want him being Kryptonian and I certainly don’t want him from Earth. I also want Kara to play a big part in that movie, as she would have experienced Braniac’s shrinking of Kandor and she should have a healthy mix of fear and anger toward him as a result. The shrinking of Kandor should be a watershed moment in Kryptonian history and Kara would have experienced it as a Kryptonian child.
I don’t think that Braniac being the product of Kryptonian hubris works the same way as it does if he is a threat from another planet.

You’re speaking my language here. I never warmed to Michael Shannon’s Zod either. He’s a great actor but his performance in that movie always felt pretty hollow to me and he came off like a moron.

As for Brianiac, I’m fine with him being Coluan or a Kryptonian AI or an amalgam of both. But yeah, I don’t want him being from earth and some creation of Lex’s. His intellect should be vastly superior to Lex’s. And the bottle cities and all of that fits so well with alien QUC tech that Gunn has already established and they can lean into all of that really easily with Kara’s backstory.

 

[BobJM]

My hope is that we get Superman, Lex and Supergirl teaming up to save Earth from Brainiac here (ending it in a similar way like Superman/Brainiac and Superman Unbound

Spoiler

with Superman exploring and saving Kandor and beating the crap out of Brainy on Earth while Supergirl stops the solar flare from destroying earth and works through her trauma of not being able to save Krypton. And in the end, when everything feels like it’s all good, Lex steals some Brainiac tech and adds it to his suit and tries to kills Superman and they have their big fight.

And for the third film? Then we get Mongul and War World and it’s all epic as hell. It could be the perfect trilogy.

I still remember Gunn & DC highlighting Superman: Brainiac early on in the development when it was still called Legacy but that faded away & the focus was all on All-Star.

DC Reveals Which Comics Inspired Superman: Legacy - IMDb

DC Universe Infinite recently revealed that four titles that inspired James Gunn's forthcoming film reboot, Superman: Legacy: Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan's Superman: Birthright (2003-04), Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman (2005-06), Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Superman: Brainiac (2008) and Johns, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Mark Schultz's Superman: Ending Battle (2002).

Now, we know Gunn isn’t one for direct adaptations, but I’m sure we’ll see some recognizable beats/elements from that storyline present in Man of Tomorrow if we’re indeed getting Brainiac.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I still remember Gunn & DC highlighting Superman: Brainiac early on in the development when it was still called Legacy but that faded away & the focus was all on All-Star.

DC Reveals Which Comics Inspired Superman: Legacy - IMDb

DC Universe Infinite recently revealed that four titles that inspired James Gunn's forthcoming film reboot, Superman: Legacy: Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan's Superman: Birthright (2003-04), Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman (2005-06), Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Superman: Brainiac (2008) and Johns, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Mark Schultz's Superman: Ending Battle (2002).

Now, we know Gunn isn’t one for direct adaptations, but I’m sure we’ll see some recognizable beats/elements from that storyline present in Man of Tomorrow if we’re indeed getting Brainiac.

Yeah and I wouldn’t want Gunn to try and do a direct adaptation but I hope he pulls a lot from Superman/Brainiac. There is so much good stuff in that story. House of Brainiac is cool too and I can see him using elements from that one too, since Lex and Lobo have key roles.

 

[Superchan]

For Mongul, I’ve read For the Man Who Has Everything & seen the entirety of the DCAU—any good recs for brushing up?

Is it just the Superman Authority book by Morrison that has everyone gagging over Mongul? I’m a bit surprised tbh, I can’t think of the character in any of the JLA run or Superman trades I have, but I’d love to hear why people are so into the character.

Actually that book didn't have Mongul in it but rather the likes of Brainiac, Eclipso, Ultrahumanite and the Elite. It's an excellent book worth checking out.
What you're thinking about is warworld rising by P.Kennedy Johnson:


It's a remake of the original war-world saga/exile in space during the triangle era. It's quite excellent, in- fact it's far superior to the original IMO. Give it a look.

I still remember Gunn & DC highlighting Superman: Brainiac early on in the development when it was still called Legacy but that faded away & the focus was all on All-Star.

DC Reveals Which Comics Inspired Superman: Legacy - IMDb

DC Universe Infinite recently revealed that four titles that inspired James Gunn's forthcoming film reboot, Superman: Legacy: Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan's Superman: Birthright (2003-04), Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman (2005-06), Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Superman: Brainiac (2008) and Johns, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Mark Schultz's Superman: Ending Battle (2002).

Now, we know Gunn isn’t one for direct adaptations, but I’m sure we’ll see some recognizable beats/elements from that storyline present in Man of Tomorrow if we’re indeed getting Brainiac.

I would love to see Ending battle adapted in some way, it was a lot of fun albeit too long and Manchester Black is one of my favourite Superman villains in recent times so I would love to see him get the film treatment.

 

[BobJM]

Ooh tbh, I was confusing it with the Future State / Warworld Saga

They’ve got the same Kingdom Come “S”…

 

[flickchick85]

Ooh tbh, I was confusing it with the Future State / Warworld Saga

They’ve got the same Kingdom Come “S”…

The Warworld Saga is the most magnificent main continuity arc Superman has had in two decades (rivaled only by Tomasi/Gleason's Rebirth imo), so yes, that is absolutely it for me. It's like if the original Mongul arc was actually awesome.

BUT ALSO, more people should read Peter Tomasi's two-part Mongul solo story from Showcase '95 called "Exit to Eden." Seriously under-appreciated little gem, imo. Even though that was technically current Mongul's predecessor, they all represent the same ideas really.

Mongul's extremely compelling to me because he basically represents the nightmare scenario of where everyone worshiping Superman for all the wrong reasons (his powers and ability to win every fight) could lead, and how terrifying that can be as a predominant worldview, beyond what we've seen on Earth. Mongul's power fantasy is literally a religion to the people of Warworld, and PKJ does a great job fleshing out what kind of society that could really create. Watching Superman choose to give up his power, be willing to lose and even die repeatedly just to show these people one-by-one where their real value lies is one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen the character do.

Also, Warworld Saga's \S/ wasn't just the Kingdom Come/Authority \S/...

 

[Babillygunn]

For Mongul, I’ve read For the Man Who Has Everything & seen the entirety of the DCAU—any good recs for brushing up?

Is it just the Superman Authority book by Morrison that has everyone gagging over Mongul? I’m a bit surprised tbh, I can’t think of the character in any of the JLA run or Superman trades I have, but I’d love to hear why people are so into the character.

For the Man Who Has Everything is such a classic and one of the top 3 greatest single issues.

For other Mongul stories, you HAVE to check out PKJ’s Warworld Saga. I strongly recommend it as maybe the best Superman story of the past 5 years. It’s and instant classic.

 

[Babillygunn]

The Warworld Saga is the most magnificent main continuity arc Superman has had in two decades (rivaled only by Tomasi/Gleason's Rebirth imo), so yes, that is absolutely it for me. It's like if the original Mongul arc was actually awesome.

BUT ALSO, more people should read Peter Tomasi's two-part Mongul solo story from Showcase '95 called "Exit to Eden." Seriously under-appreciated little gem, imo. Even though that was technically current Mongul's predecessor, they all represent the same ideas really.

Mongul's extremely compelling to me because he basically represents the nightmare scenario of where everyone worshiping Superman for all the wrong reasons (his powers and ability to win every fight) could lead, and how terrifying that can be as a predominant worldview, beyond what we've seen on Earth. Mongul's power fantasy is literally a religion to the people of Warworld, and PKJ does a great job fleshing out what kind of society that could really create. Watching Superman choose to give up his power, be willing to lose and even die repeatedly just to show these people one-by-one where their real value lies is one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen the character do.

Also, Warworld Saga's \S/ wasn't just the Kingdom Come/Authority \S/...

You beat me to it!
And great call on the Tomasi story and Rebirth run.
(Good heavens I love Tomasi. He’s a top 5 all time Superman writer. And his Nightwing and Detective runs were solid as well.)