Could Superman: Legacy's Mister Terrific Casting Lead to The Terrifics?
While the DC Universe has had a long and winding tenure on the big screen, the recent appointing of James Gunn and Peter Safran as DC Studios co-CEOs has fans excited for the future. The duo's plans for the universe are set to begin as early as next year, before properly kicking off with Gunn's Superman: Legacy film. On Tuesday, we got a pretty surprising indication of what to expect in Legacy, with news that Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, and Nathan Fillion have all been cast in major superhero roles. Gathegi, who starred in the Twilight films and in X-Men: First Class, will be make an appearance as Michael Holt / Mister Terrific.
Rumors had swirled for weeks that Mister Terrific could be a part of Legacy, after Gunn took to social media multiple times to share art involving the character. Now that Gathegi's casting is confirmed, another fan theory has gotten to the front of fans' minds — could a The Terrifics project possibly be in the cards?
Who Is DC's Mr. Terrific?
The Mister Terrific mantle was originally held by Terry Sloane, a millionaire-turned-superhero who becomes a member of the Justice Society of America. He was subsequently succeeded by Michael, who was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake in 1997's Spectre #54. Michael is a genius Olympian who took up Terry's mantle, joined the modern-day JSA, and impacted the DC Universe with his super-skilled technology, including the T-Spheres.
This will be the second time that Mister Terrific is portrayed in live-action, after Echo Kellum played a version (named Curtis Holt instead of Michael) in The CW's Arrowverse of shows.
Who Are DC's The Terrifics?
Created by Jeff Lemire and Ivan Reis in 2018's The Terrifics #1, The Terrifics are an allaince between Mister Terrific, Phantom Girl, Metamorpho, and Plastic Man. Originally a sendup to Marvel's Fantastic Four, the four previously-solo heroes accidentally meet and are cosmically bonded together in the Dark Multiverse.
As a group, they fought an electronic version of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, stopped a time-traveling Bizarro from ruining the past and future, went through a literal choose-your-own adventure story, and other madcap adventures. The Terrifics book also became a second home for oft-forgotten characters like Tom Strong, Man-Bat, and Blue Beetle.
How Could The Terrifics Appear in the DCU?
Gunn, as well as these new casting announcements, have confirmed that Legacy's Clark Kent / Superman (David Corenswet) will be in an age where other superheroes already exist. While the quartet of The Terrifics might not necessarily be a fully-formed group by the time the events of Legacy happen, it stands to reason that Mister Terrific will presumably be a somewhat-established superhero. This means that his appearance in Legacy could help introduce him and his concept to mainstream audiences, before fully diving into introducing Plastic Man (another character Gunn has acknowledged on social media), Phantom Girl, and Metamorpho.
And if that list of The Terrifics' comic-accurate adventures are any indication, the group is certainly scrappy and unconventional enough to fold into Gunn and Safran's new universe. If we eventually got to an adaptation of The Terrifics, their escapades could easily be self-contained enough to help further flesh out the DCU, and particularly its science-driven corners, without having to always be a pivotal part of the saga's overall "Gods and Monsters" storyline. As Safran put it in the article announcing these new castings, the goal with the new DCU is to be as accessible as possible — and The Terrifics spinning off of Mister Terrific's appearance in Superman: Legacy could end up being one example of it.
What do you think of the newest casting choices for Superman: Legacy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Superman: Legacy is set to debut exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025.