James Gunn has dropped a Superman sequel bombshell with the official reveal of Lex Luthor’s iconic Warsuit. The first look at the new armor, which Nicholas Hoult will be wearing in Man of Tomorrow – presumably to help take down new villain Brainiac – reveals a comics-accurate upgrade for the DC supervillain. Impressively, the suggestion seems to be that Luthor’s Warsuit is going to be practical (at least in some sequences), rather than just CGI.
In the comics, Luthor used Warsuits to level the playing field with Superman, which were developed by LexCorp. The first look at the armor seems to suggest a different origin, however, as the logo on Lex’s chestplate is not the LuthorCorp logo from the first movie. Here’s the excellent first look of Hoult in costume from Gunn’s Instagram. Talk about aura…
Whatever the story behind it, if it follows the lore of the comics, the Warsuit will grant Lex superhuman strength, durability, flight, and energy projection. Logically, that’s the only way Luthor could step up to actively fight against Brainiac without being instantly killed. It’s also a smart expansion of Luthor’s personal mission to prove himself superior to Superman. Superman was all about his ego, and Man of Tomorrow is effectively going to give him the tools to match Clark in power. It’s certainly an intriguing proposition, and so too is the suggestion that Lex will find himself playing the hero, given his envy of Superman came down to his disdain for how easily the Kryptonian earned universal adoration. Could this really be the key to Lex getting all he wants?
Whether Lex remains heroic, or if his alliance with Superman will be one of convenience only until they take down Lars Eidinger’s iconic DC villain, Brainiac. All we know of the story so far is that their team-up is billed as “reluctant,” so a long-term face turn still seems unlikely. And it would rob the DCU of one of the greatest villains of all time after only one appearance. So maybe don’t count on that too much.
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