One of the key superhero supporting characters in James Gunn’s Superman is a relatively obscure DC Comics hero named Mister Terrific. In the film, and presumably future DCU projects, X-Men: First Class actor Edi Gathegi plays him. And unlike other heroic characters in the film like Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, or Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Mister Terrific has only been around for a relatively short time. But who is this hero with a giant “T” mask on his face? And what makes him so darn cool? Before we get into his DCU future, let’s unpack his comic book history.

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The current Mister Terrific, Michael Holt, is actually a legacy hero in the comics. The original Mister Terrific was a “Mystery Man” hero from the Golden Age of Comics named Terry Sloane. There was nothing very original about him at all, and his stories were few. Terry Sloan first appeared in Sensation Comics #1 in 1942, as a backup feature for what was Wonder Woman’s premiere series. He had no powers to speak of, but was someone who was just great at everything. You didn’t need much more than that back in the ’40s.

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Sloane graduated college at 13, was adept in every form of fighting, and one day just decided to take up crime fighting. Sure, why not? At the time, everyone else was putting on a costume and fighting crooks. His costume was famously corny, as it had the words “Fair Play” written on the front. (Not quite as intimidating as a bat.) He joined fellow Mystery Men in the Justice Society of America for a couple of issues, then went away for decades. DC brought him back simply to kill him off in an annual Justice League/Justice Society crossover in 1979.

In 1997, DC decided to resurrect the name Mister Terrific with an all-new character. In an issue of The Spectre, creators John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake introduce readers to millionaire genius Michael Holt. Like Terry Sloane, he was born with a genius-level intellect that made him literally great at everything. He had 14 PhDs, he was a gold-medal-winning athlete, and was a self-made millionaire with a thriving tech company. (A tech company that he eventually sold to Bruce Wayne.) He literally had it all…until one day, he didn’t. 

After he made his pregnant wife Paula late for church one day after arguing with her about the value of religion (Holt was an atheist), she died in a car crash. Holt blamed himself for her death, and contemplated taking his own life as a result. It was then that the Spectre, a ghostly being who is an actual agent of God, appeared. He told him about the original Mister Terrific, Terry Sloane, and this inspired Holt to take up the superhero life. As an homage to the original Mister Terrific, Holt’s black leather jacket has the words “Fair Play” written in bold letters.

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The new Mister Terrific soon joined the Justice Society of America, quickly becoming its chairman. He also received the designation “Third Smartest Man in the World,” with the top two being Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. (Who is one and who is two is up for debate, but we’re Team Batman here.) Mister Terrific became a fixture of the DC universe, partaking in many crossover events during the 2000s. DC prominently featured him in series like Infinite Crisis and Blackest Night. During the New 52 reboot of 2011, they gave him his own short-lived solo series.

In more recent years, Mr. Terrific became the leader of a team of heroic cosmic adventurers called The Terrifics, including Metamorpho, Plastic Man, and Phantom Girl. Explorers of the Dark Multiverse, the team was DC’s homage to Marvel’s Fantastic Four (and to a certain extent, Pixar’s The Incredibles). Their series was short-lived, lasting 30 issues from 2018-2020. However the series was critically acclaimed, and the team is still active in the DC Comics multiverse. 

Mister Terrific doesn’t have any superpowers to speak of, but like Batman, he’s a human character who is pretty much good at everything. Every fighting style, he’s a master of. And his intellect is almost unmatched. In fact, many see him as the JSA’s counterpart to the JLA’s Dark Knight. His main weapons are his T-spheres, floating automated spheres that can project energy blasts, hack into any computer system, create holograms, and much more.

Warner Bros. Animation

For a relatively recent DC hero, Mister Terrific has had quite a few outside-comics media appearances. He was a member of the Justice League Unlimited cast, popping up several times on that series. He then made appearances on Beware the Batman, Justice League Action, and several DTV animated movies. In live-action, a variation of Mister Terrific appeared on Arrow, named Curtis Holt. An LGBTQ hero, his backstory was different. Nevertheless, he had several of his comic book counterpart’s attributes and a similar costume. But Superman will see the live-action debut of the Michael Holt version.

According to James Gunn, Mister Terrific won’t be just a cameo in Superman. He’s a key supporting player. Of the other heroes we’ll see in Superman, Gunn says that Mister Terrific is “the main character of those characters,” adding “he actually has a big part of the plot.” The trailer shows us one scene where Mister Terrific is fending off an attack with what looks like a force field. And while Gunn insists that Superman isn’t designed to set up bigger things, the fact that Mister Terrific is in a movie with Metamorpho, his Terrifics teammate, suggests to us a Terrifics project might be in the planning stages. Regardless, it’s clear Mister Terrific has a bright future in the new DCU.