Folks, over the weekend James Gunn confirmed the Brainiac casting for his Man of Tomorrow sequel. Plus, the director and co-head of DC Studios also took to social media to talk about some of his comic book Brainiac inspirations. Gunn also details his casting process and why he did not go for a ‘big name’ for the role.

First off, you’ve probably never heard of him as he’s a German actor that’s mostly done German TV and film. However, the Brainiac role goes to…

In our worldwide search for Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow, Lars Eidinger rose to the top. Welcome to the DCU, Lars. pic.twitter.com/atkWZpG1CT

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 20, 2025

Lars Eidinger! See, told you you’ve probably never heard of him. This is also the first official confirmation that Brainiac is indeed the villain for Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.

Post-this announcement Gunn took to Threads to say a little more on this casting. Check it out. Gunn began by explain this is his casting process and why all of his casting choices have been who is right for the role after the audition/screen test process.

“I wouldn’t leave Chris Pratt, David Corenswet, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Milly Alcock, or Daniela Melchior, etc, out of that mix! All of them were people who came in and auditioned and weren’t thought of as ‘movie stars.'”

“I’m always interested in casting the best person for the role, no matter what route that takes – and often the best route is through auditions.”

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Asked what convinced Gunn on Eidinger, the director simply replied,

“His audition.”

Gunn also had some words about those casting rumors he had debunked before announcing Eidinger. Essentially, Gunn says none of those names screen tested and he doesn’t even think they auditioned. Those names were Claes Bang, Matt Smith, Dave Bautista and Sam Rockwell.

“None of them even screen tested. I’m not even sure any of them auditioned. Total made-up stuff.”

Finally, Gunn also had some words on his inspirations for this version of Brainiac. The character has never appeared yet in a live-action film. However, his comic book origins have seen the character adapted for animation in the past.

“I love aspects of many versions of the characters, from the 1950’s Binder stuff to the surprisingly scary Wolfman stuff to the animated versions and up through the truly creepy and wonderful, current Absolute Brainiac.”

So what do you think of Lars Eidinger confirmed as Brainiac by James Gunn for Man of Tomorrow? Thoughts below.

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