Pierce Brosnan Hears Doctor Fate Returning In ‘Man Of Tomorrow’ – But Could He Be Talking About A New Issue Of ‘Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum’?
While many presumed that Black Adam would be the one-and-only appearance of his cinematic take on Doctor Fate given the now-defunct nature of the DCEU, Pierce Brosnan has apparently heard tell that the mystic hero is due to return in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.
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Brosnan, who many know best as the fifth man to don the tuxedo of James Bond, spoke to these supposed Nabu-enchanted rumors during a recent interview with GQ UK.
Asked by his host Cam Wolf if he was “banging down the door to work” on more superhero films, either in Warner Bros.’ DCU or Disney’s rival MCU, after his appearance in Black Adam, the actor bluntly denied, “No, I’m not.”
“I’ve never banged down anyone’s door,” he added. “I mean, they know where to find me. 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 [currently titled Man of Tomorrow].”
Further pressed as whether or not he would be open to once more donning the Helmet of Fate, Brosnan asserted, “I enjoyed that, the philosophy of that character, very much, and I would definitely be open to it.”
Curiously enough, while it’s not out of the question that Doctor Fate may soon be due for a team-up with the Man of Steel – after all, characters like Peacemaker, his former Suicide Squad teammates, and Blue Beetle (tentatively) were all brought forward from the DCEU into the new DCU – the nature and timing of this rumor raises an interesting possibility:
Did someone, somewhere along the long-game of supposed telephone that Brosnan eventually found himself a part of, mix-up the plot for the next Superman film with that of a then-upcoming issue of DC’s currently ongoing Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum Vol. 1?
Coming to readers from the creative team behind Image’s Ice Cream Man, as composed of writer W. Maxwell Prince, artist Martín Morazzo, and colorist Chris O’Halloran, the limited series follows Superman’s attempt to test and subsequently catalog the effects four new shades of Kryptonite – Purple, Cobalt, Speckled, and Rainbow – will have upon his physiology.
Fast forward to Issue #4, whereupon after realizing that the Rainbow Kryptonite is actually a crystalized piece of the Fifth Dimension sent to his world as an ‘S.O.S’, Superman’s body suddenly collapses as his mind is transported to the extra-dimensional home of DC’s Magical Imps, most notably Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite.
While Superman’s mind loses itself as it attempts to make sense of his current predicament, Batman finds himself at a loss as to even how to diagnose the problem, let alone solve it.
As such, Batman calls in a very specific “specialist” for a second opinion – That being, of course, none other than Doctor Fate, who arrives to Superman’s bedside and proceeds to accurately read his symptoms with little more than a passing glance.
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Admittedly, character cameos in and of themselves, no matter how obscure or popular the guest may be, are par for the course with Western superhero comics; Hell, one could argue it’s currently the course for Western superhero movies as well.
As such, the odds of a given actor hearing a rumor about their character showing up as a supporting cast member in a new project, while said character also teams up in the comics with the project’s title hero, are admittedly really, really good.
However, there are two other factors that raise an eyebrow in this particular situation.
The first is the fact that Doctor Fate stopped by to help out Superman, as outside of vaguely crossing paths as part of their shared membership in the recently-united Justice League Unlimited, neither the Kent Nelson nor Khalid Nassour incarnations of Nabu’s champion have had any dedicated ‘team-up time’ since the 2019 conclusion to Doomsday Clock, meaning the two heroes wouldn’t necessarily have any reason to come up in casual conversation.
The second is that Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum Vol. 1 #4 just hit shelves on November 12th, and thus while Brosnan’s interview GQ UK was just published on November 17th, that it was undoubtedly conducted sometime in the months prior leaves a non-zero possibility that someone, not necessarily the actor, may have misheard some off-hand bit of DC comics-related news and, with the hype of Superman still fresh on the public consciousness, crossed-up their wires.
Now, let’s be clear: Given that Brosnan is talking about a rumor, there’s really no way to prove one way or the other just what piece of Superman media the rumor mill was working over by the time it got to him – or honestly, if it’s even a rumor at all, as history has shown that not only do actors regularly use such public profiles to ‘throw their names’ into the ring for big roles, but studios will sometimes intentionally leak their potential plans in order to gauge audience interest in them.
And it’s not like Man of Tomorrow‘s director, DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn, is looking to let anything slip, especially as in response to Brosnan’s comments, he only offered a playful “My opinion is I’ve never heard a Dr Fate rumor!” via his personal Threads account.
However, it’s at least a fun bit of speculation that, devoid of any outright confirmation from either Gunn, his DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran, or Brosnan, is just as plausible as Doctor Fate appearing in Man of Tomorrow (Plus, it allows a chance for this article’s author to recommend Ice Cream Man.)
