Superman: Who Is the Movie’s Main Villain (And Is There A Secret One)?

Superman‘s official trailer has the world looking, and there are plenty of new questions that have come with the latest footage from James Gunn’s DC Universe reboot film. Oddly enough, one of the biggest questions that Superman still hasn’t clearly answered is who the main villain is of the film? It’s not that Gunn is aping the approach of other superhero filmmakers and holding back any hint of his big bad in the marketing – quite the opposite, in fact. Gunn has thrown so many potential enemies at his Superman (David Corenswet) that it’s hard to know for sure which one is the main threat.

Who is the Main Villain of Superman?

The full trailer for Superman does some significant work of conveying the kind of story that Gunn is telling in his film, and ergo, we now have a better sense of how various nefarious elements fit in. It’s no surprise that Superman’s rivalry with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is alive and well, and that in the macro sense, that rivalry between an egomanical genius who doesn’t want to feel inferior to a god-like (but very “human”) being will be the core of the film. So, where does that leave the variety of giant monsters and other superpowered beings we see Superman and his allies battling, not to mention geopolitical and military factions?

The latest footage from Superman gives a first taste of Angela Spica, aka “The Engineer” (María Gabriela de Faría), a member of the DC team “The Authority” who wields nanotech powers; other shots from the trailer show her clearly working with Lex, as well as Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) from the Creature Commandos animated series, and the mysterious brute in the black suit and masked helmet, who seems to share Superman’s powers. While Flag is a wild card, we see the Engineer and the brute (and various goons in Lexcorp armor) engaged in throwdown swith Superman, as well as the heroes working for Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), like Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). Clearly the “Superman vs. Lex” dynamic we know from previous movies will take on a much bigger form, as both men see factions form around them.

The monsters we see in the film (namely a giant, colorful Kaiju and the giant energy-based eye-in-the-sky Superman heads out to battle) seem like they will be more minor or side-quest threats that Superman has to face – possibly part of a running motif in the film about how the hero spends his days solving a range of problems both minor (saving cats from trees, shielding a shield from falling debris) and major (averting entire wars, defeating giant monsters). In fact, the more we see of the film, the more it seems like the giant energy eye monster could be the sort of second act battle that leaves Superman gravely injured; thereby seeking healing in the Fortress of Solitude (as seen in the first teaser), and inadvertently leading Luthor and his forces to that secret location. In other words, whereas many superhero movies try to make a giant monster their third act climax, it’ll be just another ‘day in the life’ sequence for Superman. Which may low-key be a statement from Gunn, in and of itself.

Does Superman Have A Secret Villain?

Who is the guy in the black suit? There are plenty of theories going around the Internet, the most popular being it’s Gunn’s version of a Superman clone like Bizarro (or a proper take on something like “Nuclear Man” from Superman IV). The brute’s ability to go toe-to-toe with Superman is surprising, and at some point, you have to figure that suit is getting peeled off for some kind of reveal.

Later on in the Superman trailer, we get the story reveal that some kind of dimensional portal device will be involved, leading to Superman doing battle (and possibly a Lois rescue) within a strange realm that looks like the remains of a different reality of the DC Multiverse, following an incursion. The figure Superman is flying towards is purposefully obscured, but he is definitely firing some kind of eye beam back at the Man of Steel. Theories will run rampant as to what’s happening here (is this the DCU Phantom Zone? Is that Zod? Would Gunn go so far as teasing Darkseid? Is this Superman banishing that aforementioned clone?); however, it’s clear at this point that the conflict in Superman is going to be much wider and wide-ranging than we may have initially thought.

Superman hits theaters on July 11th.