Matthew Lillard is having a moment right now. Fresh off popular turns in Five Nights at Freddy's, Daredevil: Born Again and a surprising Scream return, the one-time Scooby-Doo actor is reuniting with James Gunn in the DCU for Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.
Little is known about Lillard's role, with Gunn's first look at the actor on set – in a checkered shirt and tie – giving nothing away.
But Lillard and Gunn go back a long way – and it's here where a theory about who Lillard is playing in the DCU has been sparked.
Previously in 2023, Gunn (who wrote 2002's Scooby-Doo, in which Lillard memorably starred as Shaggy) shared a pitch that could prove prescient.
"Matt and I sat in a trailer with the head of Warner Bros, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, on the set of Scooby-Doo in 2000 (!!!) and told him we wanted [to] do Plastic Man," Gunn once tweeted.
So, is there any chance Gunn is pulling out an idea that's a quarter of a century old for Man of Tomorrow? It's certainly what fans are thinking, with many taking to social media to declare that Plastic Man is on the cards.
"The DCU was just a laundering scheme by gun to make a Plastic Man movie starring Matthew Lillard. Everything else was secondary to get to this point," one wrote in tongue-in-cheek fashion.
Another said, "If Lillard is Plastic Man, I'm there opening weekend."
For the unaware, Plastic Man is one of DC's most outlandish and silly superheroes.
First debuting in Quality Comics in the 1940s before the company was acquired by DC, the character – real name Patrick O'Brian – is best known for his elasticity and rubber-band limbs, allowing him to shapeshift and mold himself at will. Maybe he'll squeeze his way into the DCU thanks to Gunn and Lillard's long-time friendship?
Lillard joins David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Adria Arjona, Lars Eidinger, and Aaron Pierre in Man of Tomorrow, which flies into cinemas on July 9, 2027.
For more, check out our guides to DCU Chapter One and upcoming DC movies.
