The Matthew Lillard Renaissance is officially hitting the DCU. According to Deadline, horror icon and fan-favorite Matthew Lillard has joined the cast of Man of Tomorrow.
While his role is being kept under a fortress-level” secrecy by DC Studios, the casting marks a major 20-year reunion for Lillard and James Gunn, who famously collaborated on the live-action Scooby-Doo films written by Gunn in the early 2000s.
Lillard is currently on one of the most impressive runs of his career, and joining the DCU is the cherry on top. Fans just finished seeing Lillard as the enigmatic Mr. Charles in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, where he played a manipulative political fixer working against Kingpin.
Gunn is known for alumni casting, and Lillard—the definitive live-action Shaggy—is a perfect fit for Gunn’s quirky but high-stakes world-building. Between returning for Scream 7, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and the upcoming Carrie series, Lillard is officially the hardest-working man in genre film right now.
As usual, the internet is already rife with theories for the undisclosed role. Some believe he could be playing a character like Snapper Carr or a high-ranking government official (perhaps a DC version of his Born Again role) who serves as a liaison between Superman and the U.N. With Brainiac (Lars Eidinger) as the main threat, some theorists are looking at Lillard to play a more eccentric, tech-based villain like Winslow Schott, aka Toyman.
Filming is already well underway in Atlanta under the working title “Exodus.” Lillard joining the cast now suggests he may have a significant role in the film’s second act. Man of Tomorrow is locked in for a July 9, 2027 theatrical release, serving as the first true sequel in Gunn’s new DC Universe.
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