I enjoyed the new Superman movie a lot, but I can’t say I’m too surprised that I was drawn to the secondary characters more. Nicholas Hoult stole the show as Lex Luthor, Metamorpho made me a believer, Jimmy Olsen proved to be a real journalist, several characters showed amazing chemistry together, and there was a little too much main character in dog form for my taste. I’ve just always had trouble getting into Superman, mostly for the typical reasons, but also, like Batman, sometimes he’s the least interesting character in his own story. The guy playing the lead did fine – he felt more human, reasonable – even if I couldn’t get into his struggle, and no, it has nothing to do with me having trouble pronouncing the actor’s name, I swear. It’s just, for the heroes, Mister Terrific was the only one I wanted to get to know better.
Mister Terrific is one of the best parts of Gunn’s Superman
In a world where the gods feel like they’re trying to find their grounding on the same level as humans, it’s amazing to see a normal person raise themselves up to look as if they have the abilities of a god. That’s how it felt when I saw Mister Terrific leave a stunned and impressed Lois in that protective bubble, initially thinking he’d stay in there as well and let his T-Spheres do all the heavy lifting, but then we saw why no one should ever say, “It’s just the smart one.” Dude walked in like a badass, as if he owned the place, not sweating the armored henchman around him, focused on the task and treating these fools like a formality.
Sure, a lot of it is about the tech, and having the foresight to LoJack (track) his teammates. Still, we are quickly reminded that this man is also an amazing athlete who maintains his peak physical condition, as well as being a practitioner of multiple martial arts styles. Everything seems so effortless. He’s doing an elegant ballet in coordination with his robotic dance partners while the people fighting him struggle and flail, being hit from all sides. He even floats up on one of his little friends to reposition, but also perhaps to show off, too. No one is that smart without a small sense of arrogance, and I like how that bleeds through with the character’s sense of cold, calculating distance.
The man is dripping with attitude. He has a sense of honor, morals, and he’s full of reasoning, but he is also abrupt, bluntly getting to the point, keeping him task-oriented. We watch him shoot the T-Spheres inside a monster and then use them to detonate its internal organs. Terrific is also the only one willing to get off his ass and help Lois, while absolutely not wanting to deal with anyone’s emotions or relationship problems. Now, if he could just get that garage door fixed.
The only part that bummed me a bit was how he was seemingly taken out of the last big fight against Engineer and Ultraman. I thought Terrific would have more to do there, especially considering that nanites were primarily being used against Superman. He still had a great moment right at the end. The whole time, he hasn’t really ‘freaked out,’ but shows appropriate levels of acknowledging how legitimately screwed up these situations are, mostly through raising his voice and cursing (also my preferred form of communication). When things look bad for the city, someone tells Terrific he can help, whose face he promptly palms and pushes away in an ultimate power play. This is his time to shine. Now that is some heroic confidence. Also, I enjoyed his reaction in that post-credits scene where Superman is complaining that the buildings weren’t put back together perfectly.
Why a Mister Terrific HBO Max show would be a great move for the new DCU
With how awesome he was in the movie, and my desire to get more Terrific, I wasn’t too shocked to hear it looks like this hero is being considered for his own show on HBO Max alongside Metropolis’ greatest newsman and master of the CMS, Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo). I’d like to think everyone feels the same way, but if anyone needs more convincing, Mister Terrific is almost perfect, just look at the man who plays the character. Edi Gathegi saw this role in Superman as making up for the lackluster involvement he had in X-Men: First Class, having been promised there’d be more for his character in later films with no payoff. In his new role, the actor feels like he can save the world, and he went through a lot of training to make it look believable that he could pull that off. He’s also encouraging kids to embrace their intellects and nerdier natures, reminding viewers that brains can be a superpower too.
Gathegi wants to use this opportunity and the character to do some good, and he’s eager to step back into the shoes of the hero for years to come. There are a lot of stories to tell with Mister Terrific, whether that involves seeing him as a guest star, as a part of a team, or finding adventures on his own, it feels like there isn’t much this man can’t handle. It’s a great character, with an array of abilities (not to mention multiple doctorates) and the motivation to make a difference. If the goal of this Superman film was to show me how wonderful the DC Universe could be, especially through some of these other characters, I’m sold. Now they just have to do the right thing and give us more Mister Terrific.
Terrific didn’t like the dog much either, I’m just saying.
