{"id":388419,"date":"2026-04-08T17:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388419\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:12:08","slug":"superman-2-testing-ella-purnell-adria-arjona-more-for-maxima","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388419\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman 2′ Testing Ella Purnell, Adria Arjona, More For Maxima"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: James Gunn is zeroing in on his choice for another key role in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow<\/a>, with Marisa Abela<\/a>, Adria Arjona<\/a> and Ella Purnell<\/a> beginning to test last week, multiple sources tell Deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\tReps for DC<\/a> declined comment, while reps for the actresses couldn\u2019t be reached.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re told the character is Maxima<\/a>, the warrior queen from the planet Almerac, first introduced in Action Comics #645 in 1990, who arrives on Earth in search of a suitable mate and quickly sets her sights on Superman. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist George P\u00e9rez, the character is depicted at various times in DC\u2019s comics as an antagonist, ally and would-be love interest to Superman.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn live action, Maxima has been depicted in the series Smallville and Supergirl by Charlotte Sullivan and Eve Torres Gracie, respectively. The character has also featured in Superman: The Animated Series and other animated fare, though she\u2019s never been depicted in a live-action DC film.<\/p>\n

\n\tOf the three actresses we identified as contenders for Maxima, two have comic book experience. Arjona played Martine Bancroft, the love interest to Jared Leto\u2019s antihero Morbius, in the film of the same name from Sony, and had been rumored for the role of Wonder Woman in the DCU. Addressing her in relation to the character in an interview with Extra, Gunn said<\/a> \u201cshe\u2019d be a great Wonder Woman,\u201d while noting that fans were perhaps reading too much into his following of the actress on social media.<\/p>\n

\n\tPurnell, meanwhile, was previously seen in both Universal\u2019s Kick-Ass 2 and an episode of Prime Video\u2019s Invincible.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhoever lands the role of Maxima will join a cast led by the returning David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult, who play Clark Kent\/Superman and Lex Luthor, respectively. The antagonists join forces in the sequel to combat the technological alien threat known as Brainiac (new cast member Lars Eidinger<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n\tRachel Brosnahan, Skyler Gisondo and Sara Sampaio are also expected to reprise their respective roles as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Eve Teschmacher. Alongside Eidinger, Aaron Pierre is another newcomer<\/a>, presumably reprising his role of John Stewart\/Green Lantern from HBO\u2019s upcoming Lanterns.<\/p>\n

\n\tMan of Tomorrow marks DC chief Gunn\u2019s follow-up to Superman, the launchpad for the studio\u2019s new cinematic universe, which he wrote and directed. The film released last summer and grossed over $618 million worldwide. Gunn is back directing from his own script on the sequel, with production to kick off in April in Atlanta and continue through the summer. The film is locked in for release on July 9, 2027.<\/p>\n

\n\tA BAFTA winner best known for HBO\/BBC\u2019s Industry and her portrayal of Amy Winehouse in the film Back to Black, Abela will next be seen starring alongside Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe in Amazon MGM\u2019s reboot of Highlander. <\/p>\n

\n\tPurnell leads Amazon\u2019s Emmy-winning video game adaptation Fallout, heading into its third season, and is also known for her work in shows like Yellowjackets, Sweetpea and the animated Arcane.<\/p>\n

\n\tArjona plays Bix Caleen in the Star Wars series Andor and is otherwise best known for her work in films like Hit Man, Splitsville, Blink Twice and Los Frikis. Upcoming, she\u2019ll be seen in Prime Video\u2019s Criminal, Adam Wingard\u2019s A24 film Onslaught, the Zellner Brothers\u2019 Alpha Gang, the erotic thriller Scorn, and a reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affair directed by and starring Michael B. Jordan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: James Gunn is zeroing in on his choice for another key role in the Superman sequel Man…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[172543,2224,27378,93,61,60,4209,88752,172544,270,65640,2031],"class_list":{"0":"post-388419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-adria-arjona","9":"tag-dc","10":"tag-ella-purnell","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-man-of-tomorrow","15":"tag-marisa-abela","16":"tag-maxima","17":"tag-movies","18":"tag-the-dish","19":"tag-warner-bros"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}