It Was Superman’s Movie, But Mister Terrific Stole The Show

[Warning: Mild spoilers for Superman (2025) below]

As one of my friends put it, this is what it felt like to be a longtime DC Comics fan this weekend:

I walked out of my IMAX screening of Superman last Sunday feeling two things: immense satisfaction that DC finally, finally, made a modern Superman movie that actually understands Superman, and that I immediately need a movie, TV show, animated series, and video game all about Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific. Judging by audience reactions and newly revealed plans for the character, I’m far from alone in that feeling.

A report from the Wall Street Journal reveals Superman director and DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn is considering spin-offs for Superman characters Jimmy Olsen and Mister Terrific. Superman acts as a reboot for DC’s long beleaguered cinematic universe. The film sets up a new status quo where Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern are the inaugural members of the “Justice Gang,” which is clearly being set up to become the iconic Justice League down the line.

This news of a potential Mister Terrific spin-off makes sense to anyone who’s seen the movie and enjoyed it. Mister Terrific steals almost every scene he’s in, with one of the main highlights being a one-shot action sequence with him single-handedly taking down a platoon of Lex Luthor’s armored goons using only his T-Spheres and fists. Me and my best friend, both avid DC Comics fans, were giggling and nudging each other like we were comics-obsessed teenagers all over again every time Mister Terrific lived up to his name.

For those who haven’t spent their childhood, 20s, and now early 30s avidly consuming DC Comics like myself, you might not be immediately familiar with Mister Terrific. He’s a master martial artist, engineer, and his genius-level intellect makes him one of, if not the smartest person in the DC Universe.

Gathegi brings Mister Terrific to life in a performance striking the perfect balance of confidence and intelligence. He epitomizes Black cool, and as soon as you see him, you just want to be him. Will I be walking around this fall rocking a Mister Terrific jacket? Probably!

Gathegi is no stranger to comic book movies, having starred as Darwin in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. I remember being 19 years old and so happy seeing a Black man as one of the formative members of the X-Men. Fast forward an hour into the movie, and I was left with a stank face after Darwin was unceremoniously killed. (Spoiler alert for a 14-year-old movie, I guess?)

Making his death more egregious was the fact that his whole mutant power was that he couldn’t die.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gathegi explained how he called out the optics of the only Black member of the X-Men dying during production. “I called my agents to say, ‘Hey, listen, I have a problem with the fact that this character is the only Black character in the film aside from Zoë Kravitz’s character. I am also the only mutant who meets an untimely demise halfway through the film,’” Gathegi told THR.

“It was 2009 at the time, and I was like, ‘Killing the Black guy first is so played out. I can’t do this.’”

Gathegi says the film’s producers reassured him that his character wasn’t permanently dying (this is comic books after all, no one ever really dies) and that he would return for future sequels. When the series got to 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and Gathegi never got the call to suit up, that’s when he knew for certain his time among the mutants was over.

Gathegi’s fate in X-Men: First Class had me worried that Mister Terrific would be treated the same way. While I’ve long loved the character from his appearances in shows like Justice League Unlimited, Arrow, and his fantastic characterization in 2021’s Strange Adventures comic, he is by no means an A-list hero.

Hollywood can’t even get a Blade movie off the ground, so I had no reason to think there were plans for Mister Terrific beyond this movie.

I was incredibly relieved to see Mister Terrific not only make it to the end, but be essential in stopping Lex Luthor’s plot. When he showed up in the film’s climax, mushed a white man in the face and declared “I’m goddamn Mister Terrific,” I was fighting the impulse to stand up, clap and salute my superpowered Black king.

While Gathegi’s hopes of being a recurring mutant were dashed, he told THR he sees Mister Terrific as a pendulum swing “in the opposite direction.”

“With X-Men: First Class, the message that I received as an actor and as a man of color in this world is you can be the most powerful mutant in the world and they’ll never let you reach your full potential,” Gathegi told THR. “Whereas with Mister Terrific in Superman, the message that I’m receiving is you can be one of the most intelligent characters in the universe, and you can make a difference. You can help save the world. It’s a different level of conversation.”

The potential impact of Mister Terrific is clearly not lost on Gathegi. “I’m so excited to inspire a whole generation of Black kids with this new superhero,” he said in an interview with the DC Studios Showcase podcast.

Since Mister Terrific made his silver screen debut last weekend, the internet has been abuzz about his scene-stealing turn. Across all social media, there have been memes, fan edits, and explainers about why Mister Terrific is so cool, and why he’s resonated so much with Black men in particular.

This video from user Americandemonslayer, speaks on how Mister Terrific worked as a fantastic representation of a Black superhero, in addition to being incredibly comics accurate.

TikTok user Shmittysmovies speaks on Gathegi’s previous role as Darwin before praising Director James Gunn for making Mister Terrific the second coolest character in Superman behind the title character himself.

This is one of many, many Tweets calling for a Mister Terrific spin-off.

This reel simply had me dying because Mister Terrific was really moving like peak Lebron during his action scene.

It’s Superman’s movie, but fans cannot get enough of Mister Terrific. It’s honestly quite heartwarming seeing Gathegi finally get the showcase he deserves in a genre that historically did him dirty. With plans in the works for a spin-off and fans clearly loving the character, the future for Mister Terrific is looking, well, terrific.

Coke Rap: A Soundtrack Of Survival For Middle-Aged Black Men

SEE ALSO

It Was Superman’s Movie, But Mister Terrific Stole The Show was originally published on newsone.com