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Is there a ‘Brightburn 2’? Here’s what we know as James Gunn’s forgotten ‘evil Superman’ movie hits Netflix

A chilling, alternate take on Superman’s origin has resurfaced on Netflix and it’s far darker than anything in the new DCU

Long before James Gunn reintroduced the Man of Steel to mainstream audiences with his blockbuster 2025 ‘Superman’ reboot, he had already explored a radically different version of the character. And it traded heroism for pure horror. That movie, the often-overlooked ‘Brightburn,’ has officially landed on Netflix as part of the streamer’s December lineup, as reported by ComicBook. This gives subscribers a fresh chance to revisit (or discover) one of the most unsettling “what if Superman was evil?” stories put to screen. Released in 2019, ‘Brightburn’ was produced by Gunn and written by his brothers Brian and Mark Gunn, with David Yarovesky in the director’s chair.

Operating on a modest $6 million budget, the film went on to earn $33 million worldwide. It is a fraction of the staggering $616 million earned by Gunn’s DCU-launching ‘Superman’ this year. Critically, the film received a mixed response, landing a 57% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but its cult following has only grown over the years. The comparisons to ‘Superman’ are impossible to miss. Much like Clark Kent, the film’s central figure, Brandon Breyer, is an alien child who crash-lands in rural America and is taken in by a loving couple desperate to be parents. The setup mirrors the classic ‘Superman’ origin beat-for-beat, until it takes a violently sharp turn.

As Brandon approaches adolescence, a dark force inside him awakens. Instead of developing into a beacon of hope, he becomes a terror. Gifted with super strength, flight, and heat vision, this young alien chooses domination over compassion, unleashing his powers with zero remorse. Jackson A. Dunn’s chilling performance as Brandon transforms the familiar ‘Superman’ innocence into something sinister and predatory, anchoring a film that gleefully leans into its R rating. The horror is relentless. ‘Brightburn’ doesn’t just hint at the consequences of unchecked power.

It confronts them directly, crafting grisly, high-stakes sequences that push the “evil Superman” trope to its extreme. From its slasher-like intensity to its bleak, escalating tension, the movie operates as both a deconstruction of superhero mythology and a vicious genre exercise, turning iconic ‘Superman’ parallels into nightmare fuel. Fans often refer to ‘Brightburn’ as Gunn’s unofficial dark-side ‘Superman’ movie, though the filmmaker has distanced himself from the idea of continuing that universe. When asked last year on Threads about a potential sequel, Gunn candidly admitted that a ‘Brightburn 2’ is “unlikely to ever happen.” 

Instead, Gunn has devoted his attention to rebuilding DC’s cinematic future: first with ‘Superman’ and next with its recently announced follow-up, ‘Man of Tomorrow,’ scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2027. While his new DCU films embrace hope, legacy, and heroism, ‘Brightburn’ stands as a stark reminder of the darker pathways superhero stories can take. Now back in the spotlight on Netflix, the film is once again igniting discussion. It is also offering viewers a terrifying glimpse of what might have happened if the world’s greatest hero had taken a very different path.