This awesome wink that no one saw in the first Man of Tomorrow photo
James Gunn confirmed having slipped this astonishing clue, which only real chess players would have been able to detect.
Earlier this week, James Gunn began production on Superman: Man of Tomorrow by sharing a photo from the set on Instagram. A seemingly innocuous image… but full of Easter eggs. And among them, one detail immediately struck a chord with gaming and chess fans. In the photo, we can see several elements: a film clapboard with the symbols of Superman and Brainiac merged, an open bag of Ruffles chips, a prison card of Lex Luthor… and above all, a red and black chessboard placed in the background.
It was the latter which triggered the fans’ investigation. By carefully observing the arrangement of the pieces, some quickly made the connection with a historic moment: game 6 of the rematch between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov in 1997, when for the first time a machine outperformed a world chess champion. A reference loaded with meaning, noted in particular by ScreenRantand which did not take long to be confirmed.
Questioned indirectly via Threads, James Gunn simply responded to a link evoking this theory: “It’s true !”
Official confirmation: the chessboard is not there by chance. Behind this wink, several readings are possible. The most obvious: Superman would be Kasparov, facing Brainiac embodying the cold and implacable machine, like Deep Blue. But some fans see another, even more interesting read: Lex Luthor himself could play the role of Kasparov, forced to confront a superior alien intelligence. A situation where human logic is no longer enough, forcing an improbable alliance with Superman – which will be the central axis of the film.
This simple chessboard ultimately sums up the whole issue of Man of Tomorrow. Release scheduled for July 9, 2027 in cinemas.
