The new DC Universe franchise won’t waste anytime show audiences how this is a universe where superheroes are already plentiful on Earth. Case in point, among the characters joining David Corenswet’s Clark Kent in the Superman cast are Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl, Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho and Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific. Regarding that last hero, who’s also known as Michael Holt, he recently celebrated his 27th anniversary, and writer/director James Gunn celebrated the occasion on the set of the upcoming DC movie with a special visitor.
While the original Mr. Terrific, Terry Sloane, was introduced back in 1942’s Sensation Comics #1 by writer Charles Reizenstein and artist Hal Sharp, it was writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake who came up with Michael for 1997’s Spectre #54. Well, the 27-year anniversary coincidentally ended up coinciding with Ostrander stopped by the set of the new Superman movie, as Gunn revealed in the below Instagram post, and don’t forget to click over to the second picture.
John Ostrander appropriately wore a Superman shirt during this visit, but it was nice of James Gunn to highlight how it’s been nearly three decades since the Michael Holt incarnation of Mr. Terrific was created. Gunn also pointed how that he and Ostrander are friends, which stems from the filmmaker having previously made The Suicide Squad. Ostrander came up with the incarnation of the team the public now knows best, i.e. Task Force X, and Gunn had him cameo in the 2021 DC movie as Dr. Fitzgibbon, who injects Michael Rooker’s Savant with the micro bomb that was detonated when he tried to flee during the opening Corto Maltese battle.
In the comics, Michael Holt became Mr. Terrific after learning about Terry Sloane from The Spectre while he was contemplating suicide due to having lost his wife and unborn child. Inspired by Terry’s time as Mr. Terrific, Michael adopted the superhero moniker for himself, and like Terry, he soon became a member of the Justice Society of America. As the third smartest man in the world, Michael fights crime using the unique technology he’s created, most notably his T-spheres. However, he’s also no slouch when it comes to physically combatting opponents, having been an Olympic Gold Medalist decathlete and knowing multiple types of martial arts.
While no details have been shared yet for how Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific factors into the plot of James Gunn’s Superman movie, the For All Mankind actor got pretty jacked for the role, and he admitted in March that his workout was partially motivated by him carrying “a lot of grief.” This will technically be Michael Holt’s live-action debut, as the Mr. Terrific whom Echo Kellum played in Arrow was named Curtis Holt. Michael’s animated appearances include Justice League Unlimited, Beware the Batman, Justice League Action, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five and the two Crisis on Infinite Earths movie released so far in the Tomorrowverse timeline.
Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025. Ahead of its release, the DC Universe will officially get underway later this year when the animated series Creature Commandos is released to Max subscribers.
