James Gunn's Superman Sequel Will Feature Another Major DC Superhero (And You'll Meet Him Soon)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Lanterns" actor Aaron Pierre will be in James Gunn's upcoming "Superman" sequel, "Man of Tomorrow." The upcoming film isn't due in theaters until July 9, 2027, however, so fans have a while to wait. As many DC Comics fans will be able to tell you, Gunn's film will actually be the fourth feature in a new, expansive interconnected superhero universe called the DC Universe, or DCU. "Superman" was the first, and "Supergirl" (out on June 26, 2026) will be the second. The third, "Clayface," is based on a lesser-known "Batman" villain and is intended to hit theaters this October. 

"Man of Tomorrow" will follow up with Superman (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and will see evil shenanigans from the ultra-intelligent supervillain Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). The film will also see the return of Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skylar Gisondo), and the best character from the first movie, Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio). 

Pierre will be playing John Stewart, known to DC fans as one of the many Green Lanterns. The character was introduced in comics back in 1971, and he has played a prominent part of DC Comics and other ancillary media ever since; John Stewart has been seen in animated form plenty of times. Aaron Pierre, the tough-as-nails star of "Rebel Ridge," is a great choice to play the hero. 

Pierre will debut his iteration of the character in Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King's upcoming TV series "Lanterns," slated to hit HBO in August of 2026, proving that, yes, the TV shows in the DCU will directly interact with its movies. One can watch the trailer for "Lanterns" on /Film.

According to DC Comics lore, the Green Lantern Corps operates out of deep space and essentially serves as a police service for many, many planets. There are thousands of members of this Corps, and they're each in possession of a magical ring that imbues them with superpowers; they can fly, and wield the ring to create just about anything they can imagine. James Gunn's "Superman" already featured a member of the Green Lantern Corps, a character named Guy Gardner, played by Nathan Fillion. The new "Lanterns" TV series will feature some better-known Green Lantern characters. In addition to Aaron Pierre's John Stewart, the series will also star Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. 

Jordan was previously seen on the big screen in Martin Campbell's maligned 2011 feature "Green Lantern," a bomb that audiences and critics both hated. Ryan Reynolds played the role, a fact he made fun of in later "Deadpool" movies. The DCU, it should be noted, has nothing to do with Campbell's movie.

Indeed, the new "Lanterns" show seems to have more in common with something like the 1980s TV show "Renegade" than "Green Lantern." The trailer features very few superpowered scenes, and seems to be about Hal Jordan, a grizzled older teacher, and John Stewart, his student, wandering into a small, dusty, Western town to do battle with some local gangsters. The "space cops" angle is not being leaned into in the marketing (yet). 

The size and function of John Stewart's role in "Man of Tomorrow" is currently only a matter of speculation. In fact, the plot itself is largely still a matter of speculation (although that hasn't stopped us from speculating). But fans of the Green Lantern can rest assured that one of the Corps' most famous members will be interacting with the Man of Steel soon enough.