Is Panic In The Sky the secret handbook to the DC Universe? James Gunn speaks on the recent rumor about the key inspiration for Man of Tomorrow.
Ever since James Gunn debunked that Wonder Woman would be making her DC Universe debut in Man of Tomorrow, the most prominent rumor for the upcoming film was that Maxima would appear in the project as a secondary villain. Piggybacking off that, many speculated that Panic In The Sky, a comic focused on Maxima and Brainiac, would be a key inspiration for Man of Tomorrow.
When laid out like that, it’s easy for one to see the holes that weren’t so obvious in the moment-to-moment hype. The rumor that Maxima was going to debut in Man of Tomorrow only came out AFTER James Gunn debunked the rumor that Wonder Woman would appear. The idea that Panic In The Sky would be a founding pillar of the DC Universe sequel only came about based on a rumor that, in itself, is tenuously true.
James Gunn Speaks Out On Panic In The Sky
And now, as with all things DC Universe speculation, James Gunn has come to put an end to the fun. The director recently responded to a number of questions about Man of Tomorrow on his Threads account. In one of those responses, he confirms that, while he did read basically every comic featuring Brainiac for the sequel, Panic In The Sky was not a particular influence on the story.
“Fun story but not really, no. More specifically: I read almost every Brainiac story to put Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow together and used bits and pieces I thought worked best. But Panic In The Sky wasn’t a key influence on the story.”
With the confirmation that James Gunn isn’t using Panic In The Sky as inspiration for Man of Tomorrow, the idea that Maxima will make her debut in the film has also become all the more tenuous. It’s also possible that the original report of Gunn casting an athletic woman for the DC Universe was, itself, bad information, meaning nobody would be cast.
Man of Tomorrow flies into theaters July 9th, 2027. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe!
