Matthew Lillard teases original Man of Tomorrow character, calls it a ‘very James Gunn’ moment
Matthew Lillard is playing coy about his Man of Tomorrow role, but the clue he drops screams James Gunn and points to a curveball character choice.
Pressed on whether comic readers would recognize his role, Matthew Lillard hinted that his character in James Gunn ’s Man of Tomorrow isn’t pulled from DC ’s pages. In a chat with The Direct while promoting Prime Video ’s Carrie, he framed the part as something born straight out of Gunn’s playbook rather than a deep-cut adaptation.
“It ’s a very James Gunn moment,” Lillard said. “So, I wouldn’t worry too much about finding him in the comics.”
Lillard and Gunn go back: Gunn wrote the live-action Scooby-Doo movies where Lillard played Shaggy Rogers, so the reunion brings an easy shorthand. Gunn has already shot down one fan theory, publicly dismissing the idea that Lillard is playing Barry Allen/The Flash, which narrows the guessing game even further.
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Daily Planet chatter
One unconfirmed rumor from the fan account Atlanta DC Fans claims Lillard’s character has a biracial family and appears alongside familiar Metropolis newsroom faces. Treat this as speculation for now, but the names floated were:
- Jimmy Olsen
- Cat Grant
- Perry White
If that report pans out, it would point to a Daily Planet–adjacent role tied to Clark Kent’s world by relationships rather than superpowers — very much in line with Gunn’s habit of weaving offbeat, human-scale characters into big superhero stories.
Beyond that, the production is keeping Lillard’s part under wraps. No additional character details or official confirmations were announced.
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