UPDATE: 11/19/2025 – Something both good and disappointing about James Gunn being so active and responsive on social media is rumors never get a chance to germinate. On the one hand, great! We love having our expectations tempered or confirmed so we can move along accordingly. On the other, we don’t even get a chance to be halfway excited about various prospects before Gunn shoots ’em down. At any rate, that has happened again.
Gunn took to Threads to give a trademark quick pew-pew to the very recent report (below) that Pierce Brosnan has heard Dr. Fate would appear in Man of Tomorrow.
Oh well! It was fun while it lasted.
Original reporting below—-
One of the more interesting aspects of the DCU so far is that it hasn’t fully and totally thrown the baby out with the DCEU bathwater. The biggest example of this is James Gunn’s baby, Peacemaker, but there’s no saying other elements and characters won’t pop up in the future as well. Arguably the worst movie in the DCEU, 2022’s Black Adam, did have something of a bright spot in the form of Doctor Fate, as played by Pierce Brosnan. While nothing else in that movie worked, Brosnan kinda ruled. Which is why Brosnan himself saying he heard Doctor Fate will appear in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow…and that he’d be happy to return has us so intrigued.
In an interview with GQ (h/t IGN), Brosnan explained that the initial plan was for his character—the mystically powered elder statesmen of the Justice Society—to be a mainstay of the franchise going forward. That was, of course, until Black Adam came out and failed to meet any expectations and effectively tanked Dwayne Johnson’s takeover attempt of DC Studios. Anyway. Here’s what Brosnan had to say:
“I’ve heard that Doctor Fate was going to have his own show, or his own movie. I’ve heard that he’s going to be in the next Superman. I enjoyed that, the philosophy of that character, very much, and I would definitely be open to it.”
Now, people hear things all the time. Actors definitely hear lots of things. Does that mean it’s true? Who can say? I suppose James Gunn can, and likely will, meaning this article will need to be rewritten. But for now, the concept that more superheroes will show up in Man of Tomorrow is definitely not that far-fetched. Superman obviously had loads more characters than just the titular caped one. If we know one thing about the DCU so far, it’s that supporting heroes show up all the time. And with Mister Terrific a going concern, why not other members of the JSA?
Now, does that mean Brosnan’s version of Dr. Kent Nelson will be back? Unclear, and even the actor himself seems not to know that much. But as I said before, he was perhaps the lone true highlight of that otherwise abysmal movie, so I wouldn’t be mad to see the former James Bond tempt Fate once again.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
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