No, James Gunn Didn’t Steal Zack Snyder’s Superman Ideas
You want the truth here? Well here it is… there’s no clandestine “idea heist” going on here.
Snyder and Gunn operate in entirely separate eras of the DC Studios / DCEU narrative chain and the so called “stealing” claims by certain fans fall apart once you dig into the facts.
Snyder’s Brainiac plans: talk, not execution
Snyder has publicly confirmed that when he was considering a follow up to Man of Steel (2013), one major villain in discussion was Brainiac.
“We talked about a Brainiac movie. But I do think that the Kryptonians that are in the Phantom Zone are probably still around…” ComicBookMovie.com
And screenrant reported Justice League director Zack Snyder says “he wanted to use Brainiac as the main villain for Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel 2.”
However, and this is key, there was no finalized script, no green lit production schedule, no official story breakdown released.
Snyder’s statements are in the speculative realm of
“we talked about,” “we discussed,” “if we did” it was not “we are doing.”
That means Brainiac was never locked in for Snyder’s Superman sequel… it remained a concept, never seriously considered or executed.
Snyder did not announce the title “Man of Tomorrow”
Here’s where the “stealing” claims collapse.
I found no credible instances of Snyder publicly stating that his intended sequel would carry the title Man of Tomorrow (or “Superman: Man of Tomorrow”).
Meanwhile, James Gunn earlier this year revealed that the title for his Superman “sequel” would be ‘Man of Tomorrow’
That would mean that the naming convention of Man of Tomorrow belongs to Gunn’s era, not Snyder’s. As far as public record goes, Snyder never used it.
Brainiac is a decades old Superman villain
Before we accuse anyone of theft, let’s remember that Brainiac isn’t Snyder’s invention.
He first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July 1958) in the comics, created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
Over the years
Brainiac was once planned for Superman III in the 1980s before that project pivoted.
He was considered for Superman Lives (Tim Burton’s un-made 90s effort).
Later still, he was floated in the unrealised follow up to Superman Returns
So the idea of Brainiac as a Superman big screen antagonist is literally decades old, not exclusive to Snyder or Gunn.
The “Man of Tomorrow” moniker is historic
The title Man of Tomorrow is likewise not new.
The phrase has been associated with Superman for years… even appearing in early comics as a descriptor of the character’s hopeful, future-facing ideal.
Therefore, Gunn adopting it for his 2027 sequel is taking a historic term, not a stolen Snyder only one.
Gunn’s right to use the characters and terms
As co-head of DC Studios, James Gunn’s free to draw from the vast archives of DC Comics.
Characters like Brainiac, titles like Man of Tomorrow, the “Superman vs Kryptonians” theme… they all exist in the domain of DC lore.
This logic is pretty simple… if you, or in this case DC, have the rights (which DC Studios does), you can build your films around them.
There’s no rule saying “just because Snyder talked about it first, nobody else can ever touch it.”
So what’s the real takeaway?
Snyder may have talked about Brainiac for a sequel… but it remained in the “talked about” stage.
Snyder did not announce Man of Tomorrow as a title.
Brainiac and Man of Tomorrow are part of long standing Superman mythos.
Gunn using them doesn’t equal theft. It equals drawing from the same source material.
Fans seeing overlap (Brainiac, title) are misinterpreting. Gunn didn’t steal Snyder’s vision…. Gunn just operates in the same lore sandbox as those things.
