‘Superman’ Star Maria Gabriela De Faria Believes The Engineer Is A Hero: “She Teams With The Wrong Person, But For The Right Reason”
It’s natural for an actor to find layers in their character, and sometimes, as they figure out who that character is supposed to be in the given story, the actor reaches some interesting, and perhaps polarizing, conclusions. Engineer actress Maria Gabriela De Faria did just that for her portrayal in Superman, and may spark debate among fans.
In the comics, The Engineer and The Authority are considered heroes although their methods aren’t very nice, and often put them at odds with others of the cloth. In James Gunn’s movie, however, the former serves Lex Luthor and tries to kill the Man of Steel. She’s a villain by most measures, and few would think otherwise.
De Faria, on the other hand, feels differently about The Engineer and thinks of her as a hero. She states in an interview with Cinema Blend that the character goes to the lengths of sacrificing her humanity because she is doing what she believes is right. This means, of course, “by any means necessary” is on the table.
“It’s just who she is in this story,” De Faria said. “She just happens to be teaming up with the wrong person, but for the right reasons. She does want to change the world and make it better. She’s deeply affected by the path the world has taken, has been hurt so much. Her parents were killed in a violent accident, and she needs to change. So she’s using Lex as the tool to make that happen.”
She continued, “And at the beginning, she does believe in him. He has, you know, very good reasons to do what he does. And she starts to realize he’s not the best person to do that, and to team up with. But she’s too deep into it now, and she can’t back out.”
There wasn’t a great deal of moral conflict on the part of The Engineer when she did everything she could to help capture, expose, and kill Superman. Still, De Faria thinks the cyborg is going to flip, and we will see her be the hero she is meant to be the next time she appears.
However, that might take a while. Development on The Authority has likely stalled, and if the film does emerge from that rut and into production, the team will probably be up to the same kind of antiheroism we saw in Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, and from The Engineer this year.
