James Gunn is setting the record straight about certain casting rumors circling Man of Tomorrow.
The DC Studios co-head and director of the upcoming Superman (2025) sequel was frustrated Wednesday (April 8) when Deadline reported actresses Ella Purnell (Fallout), Adria Arjona (Andor), and Marisa Abela (Highlander) are testing for a role in the superhero film, believed to be Maxima.
Gunn swiftly issued a statement via his Threads social media account debunking the report in no uncertain terms.
“...Deadline’s reporting is shoddy & incorrect. I've always thought Deadline was pretty thorough in their journalism but that's not the case here so I’m frankly disappointed,” Gunn began.
The filmmaker clarified that he would have denied the rumors sooner had he been reached for comment.
“If someone would have run these names by us we would have said it's bulls–t. I've been friends with Adria a long time since I cast her in The Belko Experiment. I'm a fan of both Marisa and Ella but I’ve never met either of them. Crazy,” he added.
READ MORE: Superman 2025 Villain Will Return in Man of Tomorrow
Gunn also addressed the rumor that Maxima — the villainous (and later anti-hero, in the comics) warrior queen of planet Almerac — will appear in Man of Tomorrow, responding to a fan’s question on Threads by saying he is “absolutely not confirming” she’ll be a character in the movie, and that production only has one more role left to fill.
However, we do know of a few characters definitely set to appear in the forthcoming follow-up, due out in theaters on July 9, 2027.
In December, it was revealed that German actor Lars Eidinger had joined the cast as Superman’s hyperintelligent nemesis Brainiac.
Played by Aaron Pierre on the HBO Max Series DCU Lanterns, John Stewart, AKA the Green Lantern, is expected to reprise his role in the Superman sequel as well.
María Gabriela de Faría’s Engineer will also return, as will Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, with Superman and Lex teaming up to take on a much bigger adversary.
“It's a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat,” Gunn revealed last year.
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