The tech-centric Mister Terrific will make his first live-action big screen appearance in James Gunn's "Superman," which swoops into theaters with tremendous buzz on Friday, July 11, 2025.
In typical comic book-loving fashion, Gunn is bringing some new faces to his "Superman" reboot, much like what he did with the "Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy" and "Creature Commandos," DC Studios' recent animated teamup series on HBO Max that kicked off the studio's shared cinematic universe. This intellectual superhero, whose real name is Michael Holt, holds a staggering 14 PhDs. He won't just be a quick cameo in Superman either, as Gunn has confirmed that Mister Terrific will be a potent force in the film’s narrative.
If you're not familiar with the character, here's our rapid-fire guide on everything you need to know about Mister Terrific ahead of James Gunn's Superman.
Who is Mister Terrific?
Mister Terrific, with his ultra-cool T-Craft hover vehicle and floating AI weapons called T-Spheres, has already been seen in "Superman" trailers, and while relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, the legacy character has a deep DC Comics history.
The original Golden Age version was the genius athlete, vigilante, and inventor Terry Sloane, and was created by Charles Reizenstein and Everett E. Hibbard for DC’s anthology "Sensation Comics #1" (1942).
As mentioned, this modern iteration of the brilliant character who's good at everything is Michael Holt, CEO of Holt Industries and a card-carrying member of Maxwell Lord's corporate-run Justice Gang alongside Hawkgirl and Green Lantern Guy Gardner.
Holt's Mister Terrific was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake, and his first page appearance was in "The Spectre #54" (1997). He's been a past member and chairman of the Justice Society of America (JSA) and is an ongoing ally of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
What are Mister Terrific's powers?
Mister Terrific technically possesses no true superhuman powers other than being extraordinarily smart.
In practice, he uses his multi-use T-Spheres to project holograms, discharge electrical bolts, hack computers, act as GPS devices, tactical bombs, and provide cloaking protection.
What is Mister Terrific's role in James Gunn's Superman?
Actor Edi Gathegi will don the black nanotech mask in Superman and, as we've pieced together, will team up with Lois Lane to provide some investigative detection action in the T-Craft.
"I love Mister Terrific," Gunn said in an on-set roundtable interview back in 2024. "These characters all get their moment in the sun. They all have their moments. They're not just cameos, these are the characters. They're supporting cast, but Mister Terrific is the main character of those characters. He actually has a big part of the plot. And so that was fun."
DC Studios' "Superman" flies into theaters on July 1.
