James Gunn’s MAN OF TOMORROW Is for the Clex Shippers

Come on, admit it. You know it, I know it. Maybe James Gunn knows it, but Lex Luthor was basically in love with Superman in the DCU’s hit summer movie. I mean, he studied every one of his movements so that he could emulate them precisely with a click of a button… through the mechanism of his very own obedient Superman clone. The line between love and hate is thin. And the line between obsession and infatuation is even thinner. It’s what we like to call around these fandom parts, Clex. After all, where did Lex put Superman when he captured him, yes, in the interdimensional prison where he keeps his exs. Hrm. If that weren’t enough, Lex’s official DCU Superman playlist is, and I say this as a queer person, so, with love, pretty gay. There’s Prince, and Bowie, and Queen—bona fide queer icons. And, if that weren’t enough, Perfume Genius. Yeah, there’s a song about inducing gay panic in Lex’s playlist. So, you know. Although, of course, Lois and Clark were the chief romantic interlude of Superman, the movie left a lot of room for Clex shippers to rejoice. But nothing, and I mean nothing, was as triumphant to Clex-kind as the announcement for the next Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow.

I admit it, I flailed when I saw it. Three pieces of new DC art to celebrate Man of Tomorrow and in all three Lex and Superman are all up in one other’s space? I’m pretty sure that they’re downright flirty in the one where Superman is holding…wait for it… a screwdriver. I’ll let that sink in, but since this is a family show, I won’t go too far into all the implications the screw…driver has to offer. I’ll suffice to say again. Screwdriver. And add to that how both of them seem kind of pleased to be in one another’s company, maybe even fighting together, and bam! Clex nirvana.

And we all know who would support Clex if it happened. (Yes, it’s Nicholas Hoult, 100%) Then, of course, there’s the canon possibility that Lex and Clark will have a child together sometime in the DCU. So the odds are really stacking up in our favor here.

Okay, so the likelihood that Clark and Lex Luthor are going to fall in love in the next Superman movie is pretty slim. Although I again point you to Lex listening to Perfume Genius, which, maybe you’ve heard of if you’re not a queer person, but the odds seem slim. But James Gunn has confirmed that Man of Tomorrow is all about Lex and Clark’s relationship, and, in fact, the Superman film will see them team up against a much greater threat. (Something I totally called for Clex by the way.)

Gunn shares that Man of Tomorrow is “A story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat. It’s more complicated than that but that’s a big part of it. It’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I loved working with Nicholas Hoult. I relate to the character of Lex, sadly. I really wanted to create something extraordinary with the two of them. I just love the script so much.”

Please, James Gunn, create something extraordinary between the two of them. Give us the Clex we need and deserve. After all, wasn’t Superman’s epic monologue at the end of the movie, really just about telling Lex that he believed in him and hoped he would do better eventually? And Nicholas Hoult brought such an extraordinary fragility to the terrible character of Lex; we can’t let that go to waste. In any other hands, he would have been absolutely wretched. But here, there’s something more to him. Even if it’s not fully Clex, we just want to see these two be frenemies instead of total enemies. The rest we have on lock in the fanfic universe. And it sounds like we are about to get our wish.

Superman‘s sequel, Man of Tomorrow, releases on July 9, 2027.