How Does Lex Luthor Create [Spoiler] in Superman?

In James Gunn’s new Superman movie, the Man of Steel comes across numerous villains during the course of the story, but none are quite as powerful as Ultraman, a genetically engineered clone who possesses the same powers as Kal-El. The first DCU movie made some big deviations from the comics, and Ultraman was one of them.

So, who was this villainous character? Here is how the DCU’s Ultraman came to be.

Here’s how Lex Luthor created Superman’s clone, Ultraman

In the comics, Ultraman originates as a variant of Superman from another universe called Earth-3. Notably, while Superman rejects the idea that he should conquer Earth in the new movie, this is precisely what Ultraman does in the comics.

In the movie, it’s revealed that Lex Luthor created Ultraman using a strand of Superman’s hair. Essentially, Ultraman is a clone of Superman, created through cutting-edge genetic engineering and stolen Kryptonian DNA.

Luthor controls this powerful being with command codes, and Ultraman displays almost no free will. The character closely resembles Bizarro from the comics. He also resembles Connor Kent, who had a similar origin story. However, it seems that the DCU has given a completely new backstory and set of characteristics to this new supervillain.

The exact method by which Lex Luthor created Ultraman was never depicted, but Lex raised him solely to be a weapon. The resentment and abuse that Luthor shows toward Ultraman reflect the supervillain’s feelings of envy, obsession, and hatred toward Superman.

Interestingly, the movie does not outright kill off Ultraman. Instead, the black hole in the pocket universe sucks him in, leaving open the possibility that he may survive and return for something bigger in the future. There is no concrete clarity about his fate yet.

Superman was released on July 11, 2025, and is now playing in theaters.