In December came the news that German actor Lars Eidinger (“Babylon Berlin,” “All the Light We Cannot See”) had been cast as the villain Brainiac in James Gunn’s “Superman” follow-up “Man of Tomorrow”.
Gunn writes and directs the film, which will see the return of David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr.
Bigger names were rumoured for the part, but the 50-year-old actor came out of left field wth an impressive audition that reportedly helped him win the role.
In a new interview with Missverstehen Sie Mich Richtig, Eidinger spoke about the audition process and confirmed he had to spend two hours in the makeup chair before he could test for the role. He says (translated by CBM):
“I actually thought that at 50, Hollywood wasn’t going to happen for me anymore. And then, suddenly, this Zoom call with James Gunn came along. I was sitting in my living room, totally nervous, trying to be present somehow. I had no idea how I was coming across or whether anything would come of it.
Afterwards, they told me to do a self-tape. I recorded it 15 times in my living room – over and over again until it somehow felt right. And suddenly they were completely obsessed with it.
Then it continued: I flew to Atlanta. On the plane, I watched the new Superman movie to get in the mood. There, they did a body scan first, 3D modelling, and so on. And then I got this Brainiac – that’s the name of the character – a Brainiac mask.
The whole time, I didn’t really know whether there were others there or if I was the only one. I thought maybe after the makeup, I’d still have a moment to concentrate or be by myself.
But on the way out of the makeup room, I was escorted with an umbrella so that no one from outside could take photos of what Brainiac looks like. It was a ghost town, just a studio lot with no other people around. But I was properly shielded.
Then I entered the room – an enormous studio, really the size of five halls. There was a team in the middle, and director James Gunn sat a bit off to the side with the other producers on a typical director’s chair behind a molton wall.
For me, they had taped off about one square meter with gaffer tape. That was my range of movement. They said: ‘Stand in there.’ Then James Gunn came over and said: ‘Hey Lars, great that you’re here. Any questions?’ And I was like: ‘No, no.’
‘Okay, then let’s do a take. One, two, three – action.’ I was shaking like crazy, the adrenaline was insane. But it was also really collaborative. James Gunn said he’s looking forward to designing the role together with me. And now I’m training four times a week because I need to be fit for the shoot, which is supposed to start in April.”
Further to that, it’s indicated that rehearsals for the film are what begin this month, with Eidinger to be filming his scenes on the film from May through to August.
The film reportedly has Superman forced to team up with Lex Luthor to battle Brainiac, a threat not just to Metropolis but the entire world. It will hit cinemas on July 9th 2027.
