Edi Gathegi Signed Multi-Project DC Deal as Mister Terrific: “I Want To Be Involved With This Universe in a Major Way”

Edi Gathegi didn’t know much about Mister Terrific until James Gunn posted a picture of the DC superhero on social media. This happened back in 2023 when Gunn became the co-boss of DC Studios.

Fans immediately started guessing who might play the role, and Gathegi was one of the first names people suggested. He remembered, “So my thought was, ‘Let me look him up.’” Once he read about the character, he liked what he found.

Mister Terrific, also known as Michael Holt, is not a simple superhero. Gathegi said, “Fourteen PhDs, polyglot, polymath, auto-didactic, natural aptitude for natural aptitudes, Olympic athlete — all of these characteristics.” But what really got his attention was the character’s pain. Mister Terrific lost his wife and nearly took his own life before being inspired to become a hero.

Gathegi compared him to famous characters, saying, “I thought, this is a character who’s equal parts d’Artagnan and Sherlock Holmes.”

Even though people fan-cast him early on, Gathegi didn’t think much of it. He said fans soon shifted to their usual picks like John Boyega, Daniel Kaluuya, and Michael B. Jordan. Gathegi admitted, “I just let it go and forgot about it.”

Years before this, Gathegi had played Darwin in “X-Men: First Class” but wasn’t happy with how that role turned out. His character died early in the film, long before making any real impact. So when James Gunn chose him to play Mister Terrific in the upcoming “Superman” movie, he was excited to get a chance to play a superhero with a bigger role.

In Gunn’s new movie, Mister Terrific joins the Justice Gang, working alongside Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (played by Isabela Merced). When Lex Luthor captures Superman, Mister Terrific steps in to help Lois Lane rescue him. The character even gets a big action scene, using his T-Spheres to fight Lex’s goons while Lois watches.

There’s also a surprise for fans. Mister Terrific appears next to Superman during the film’s end credits scene. Gathegi didn’t even know about that until the premiere night. Talking to Variety, he explained why that moment meant so much to him.

However, the film doesn’t explain much about Mister Terrific’s sad past. When Variety asked if there were scenes that were cut, Gathegi said no. “This is the beginning of the new DC Universe, and the focal point is Superman. There wasn’t a lot of room to delve into Mister Terrific’s backstory. If we’re lucky, we’re going to have a lot more opportunities to dig into what Mister Terrific is and who he is. I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface.”

Gathegi also confirmed to Variety that he signed a multi-project deal with DC, but he doesn’t know what’s next. He explained, “I know that I have a multi-project deal, but the specifics of that are unknown to me.” He said James Gunn wants every project to start with a ready script, so nothing is locked in until then.

Gathegi added, “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.”

When asked if he would appear in the upcoming HBO Max show “Lanterns” with Nathan Fillion, Gathegi answered simply, “Oh, no, I can tell you that I’m not.”

Even though nothing official has been announced, someone close to the project said that Gunn is thinking about creating TV spinoffs for characters from the movie. Mister Terrific and Jimmy Olsen are two names being discussed.

Meanwhile, comic writer Al Letson shared an interesting story a few weeks ago. He said that before Gunn even picked Mister Terrific for the movie, he himself had written a TV pilot centered on the character. He explained, “This was before James Gunn putting him [Mr. Terrific] in Superman. I thought, you know, people know him but they don’t KNOW him. And I could take him and do something with it.”

Letson said the writers’ strike stopped him from pitching the pilot. Instead, his story became a comic book series called “Mister Terrific: Year One.”

Letson told the press that after Gunn posted the image of Mister Terrific, he reached out to DC again and offered them a comic telling the hero’s origin story. So, even if the TV show is still just a rumor, there’s a clear push to give Mister Terrific more attention, especially with Gunn building him up in the new DC movies.

This all connects to a bigger plan by James Gunn and Peter Safran. DC’s film universe has been messy for years, with disconnected movies and shows.

But now Gunn and Safran are in charge of the entire DC world, including movies, TV, animation, and even video games. They’re starting fresh, canceling many older projects and focusing on building one connected universe.

Now, Gunn wants everything to fit together, with one big story tying all the characters. Whether Mister Terrific gets a solo movie, a series, or both, it’s clear that Gathegi’s superhero is here to stay.

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