Mr. Terrific Actor Edi Gathegi Is In The DCU For The Long Haul, Confirms Multi-Project Deal That May Include A Solo Series
It may be a spoiler, but Edi Gathegi stole the show as Mr. Terrific in Superman, and that won’t be the last time we see him in the DCU, if all goes according to plan. Gathegi confirms he has a deal in place for multiple appearances that, moreover, could mean big things for the brainy hero.
RELATED: ‘Superman’ (2025) Review – A Hopelessly Hopeful Superhero Film
“I know that I have a multi-project deal, but the specifics of that are unknown to me,” he said to Variety, adding there is a caveat in director James Gunn’s meticulous patience. “What James is driving home is the idea that they’re never going to rush into production with scripts that aren’t ready, so even whatever they do have planned for my characters is irrelevant until the draft comes in and it’s shootable.”
He continued, “So I don’t count my chickens before they hatch. I want to be involved in this universe in a major way, and whether or not that comes to fruition is just a matter of time and faith and other people’s hard work.” A solo series, possibly for HBO Max or television, could be a potentiality, though that has yet to be confirmed fully.
In a piece about Superman and DC Studios’ future, The Wall Street Journal claimed that a series starring Mr. Terrific is being considered. This doesn’t mean anything is really in development despite the information coming from a mainstream source (not that “mainstream” equates to ‘reliable’ anymore, if it ever did).
However, given Gunn’s tendency to spin off a popular film character into a TV series as he did with Peacemaker, and with Lanterns returning Guy Gardner to the fray, further adventures of Mr. Terrific are not out of the question. Therefore, Gathegi is likely to do better with DC than he did with 20th Century Fox when they had the X-Men.
Gathegi’s original foray into comic book movies was as Darwin in X-Men: First Class, which he was “assured” would lead to more. “… I thought that I would be returning to that franchise over and over again,” the actor said in The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought that there was potential for a bigger future. It was actually a surprise to never get the call to suit up again.”
“So there were conversations that happened, and then they assured us that it was essential for the storytelling in order to motivate the mutants to avenge my [character’s] death,” he added. “They also fully intended to bring my character back as they do in the comics. [Darwin] can’t die; he regenerates. So we held onto the hope that they would honor their word.”
Despite his hope, albeit fleeting, Gathegi had stirring reservations. “So I read it [the script], and I called my agents to say, ‘Hey, listen, I have a problem with the fact that this character is the only Black character in the film aside from Zoë Kravitz’s character. I am also the only mutant who meets an untimely demise halfway through the film.’ It was 2009 at the time, and I was like, ‘Killing the Black guy first is so played out. I can’t do this.’”
He did, never returned, and it would be another 15 years before Gathegi got the Terrific opportunity, but his patience is finally paying off. Meanwhile, the X-Men are back with Marvel, where, outside Deadpool & Wolverine, there isn’t a lot of movement from the mutants lately, unlike the Metahumans at DC.
