Superman may be the Man of Steel, but Lex Luthor is a man of science. James Gunn has described Nicholas Hoult’s Superman villain as a “sorcerer of science” whose obsession with his alien archnemesis — Metropolis’ favorite son, Superman (David Corenswet) — is the reason he’s behind a plot that involves everything from a giant city-attacking kaiju and an interdimensional rift to metahuman enforcers like the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Ultraman.
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Once unmasked, Ultraman is revealed to be an imperfect Superman clone that Luthor was able to create from Superman’s DNA — a strand of hair that Luthor obtained by combing the aftermath of the hero’s battles. But it turns out that Ultraman wasn’t Luthor’s first time creating life.
Gunn’s favorite Superman character “just might be Mr. Handsome,” the writer-director shared on X, referring to the creepy-looking chauffeur who operates the platform in Luthor’s pocket universe where Superman is imprisoned midway through the film.
“Lex created Mr. Handsome in a Petri dish when he was 12 — he was trying to make a human,” Gunn revealed. “He didn’t come out so well, but he just might be the only one in the world Lex has any true sentiment for, as evidenced by the photo on his desk.”
Gunn also shouted out Mr. Handsome actor Trevor Newlin — who previously played the Xenomorph in Alien: Romulus and the Monstrosity in Smile 2 — with new behind-the-scenes photos of Newlin in costume on the Superman set. You can see those below.
“One of the things I loved most about the script the first time I read it is that you get thrown into the middle of a fully-developed world and story, so these characters have already existed in this universe,” Hoult previously told ComicBook of the movie, which takes place three years after Superman introduced himself to the world. “You’re kind of playing catch-up a little bit as an audience member for what the lore is, and what you’re dealing with.”
Hoult went on to note how Gunn’s version of Luthor is driven by envy and resentment, which Luthor called “the sole hope for humanity, because it is what has driven me to annihilate you.”
“What he’s wary of with what Superman represents is something that could be a real danger and threat to humanity,” he explained. “That was something that I really liked in terms of first trying to get into the psyche of the character. When you’re playing a villain, it’s easy to be like, ‘I’m the bad guy,’ but actually, if you stand back and look at this, it’s his beliefs and almost his love of humanity, and protection, and this idea that they should be masters of their own fate and destiny. The rest of society has kind of fallen into this path of trusting Superman, believing in Superman, and giving him what Lex would view as all power and freedom. So [the question is], ‘Where does jurisdiction and law and protection of humanity come into that?’”
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Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
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