James Gunn Adds Another Important DC Character to ‘Superman’ Sequel

One of the biggest complaints I heard from friends about Superman parentheses 2025 is that there were too many characters that they were expected to know a lot about, and yet learned very little. It’s hard for me to be objective on this because I am a big ole’ honkin’ nerd who has been reading DC comics for decades. I knew exactly who Harkgirl, Mr. Terrific, and Guy Gardner were. That said, I get that their motivations in the movie were (at times) unclear.

But, look, it wasn’t about them. They were supporting characters in Superman’s story. We know what motivated him, and while we didn’t hear them say directly that Superman motivates them in the third act, it’s all there in the story. It also gives the movie a distinct comic book feel, as characters who could easily have their own books often show up in the paneled pages of others. Then, some of them even showed up on Peacemaker (who had a cameo in the film), continuing to fill out Gunn’s interconnected universe.

And that is kind of the point of all of this. Yes, a character may show up in a film, have a handful of lines, and seem underdeveloped for how important they are presented, but then they may go on to star in their own film or show and get to expand their world. Or, we’ll see characters developed in their own property, only to see them show up elsewhere. We’ve seen that with Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. (though he feels like a… somewhat different character in Peacemaker season 2 than in Superman). We’re also about to see it with Aaron Pierre’s Green Lantern.

Pierre will make his debut in Lanterns later this year, which is insanely exciting. The trailer was excellent and provides yet another tonal shift in James Gunn’s DCU, just like you’d see on a comic book shelf. Pierre will play John Stewart and is teaming up with Kyle Chandler, who plays an older and grizzled Hal Jordan. After that, Pierre will appear in Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to Superman, as reported by THR. The movie will see the return of stars David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult.

We’ll likely be very familiar with Pierre’s take on the Green Lantern by the time the film rolls around in 2027. That said, I understand people’s resistance to having “homework” before a movie. Perhaps people will leave the film wanting to know more about him and have 8-10 episodes of a television show to watch to do just that, but we’ll have to wait and see. No matter what, Pierre is an absolute star, and having him involved with anything is going to make it better.

Given Gunn’s want to have this be a big old connected universe, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another Green Lantern (maybe even the one Pierre gets his ring from) in Supergirl before Lanterns drops. They may have to mess with how the rings pass on to other users, but we could even see a Lantern perish only for their ring to go seek another in the cosmos and happen upon Pierre. And, in keeping the theories going, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chandler doesn’t make it out of Lanterns alive, or else he may have been a part of this announcement (though I’d love to be wrong).