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James Gunn recently addressed fan speculation regarding Ultra Man, a mysterious figure seen in the trailer for his new Superman movie. Gunn revealed the character’s ties to Lex Luthor.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn talked about Team Lex’s Ultra Man, who can be seen in a black suit in the official Superman trailer. The character has abilities similar to the Man of Steel’s, including laser vision, superhuman strength and even flight, and fans have speculated that Ultra Man could be Luthor’s attempt to create his own version of the Kryptonian superhero. «I think that’s close,» Gunn shared. «Ultra Man is sort of Lex’s thug, and is pretty powerful.«
In DC Comics continuity, Ultraman is often portrayed as an evil alternate-universe counterpart of Superman, possessing the same superpowers as his main-world counterpart. What sets Ultraman apart is his weaknesses, with the character often crippled by yellow sunlight or empowered by green or blue kryptonite. Ultraman was shown in the tenth season of Smallville, portrayed by Tom Welling, as well as two animated DC films — Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and Crisis on Infinite Earths.
When creating characters for the new DC Universe, Gunn wanted the entire cast to have depth, rather than it being a story of good versus evil. «There are some characters that are really almost saintly, like Superman,» Gunn said. «There are some characters who are almost pretty terrible, like Lex Luthor. But I don’t think Lex is all bad, and I don’t think Superman is all good. All those people in between, the Guy Gardners and the Jimmy Olsens of the world, are even more complex in their moralities and what they think is okay.»
Gunn’s Superman is scheduled to hit theaters on July 11, 2025, as the first film of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. It sees David Corenswet taking on the mantle of the Man of Steel, with Rachel Brosnahan starring as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The film’s story shows Superman’s journey to learn more about his alien heritage while living with his adoptive family in Smallville, Kansas.
James Gunn Talks About New Characters in Upcoming Superman Film
Gunn’s new DCU will provide a soft-reboot of the popular DCEU, which starred actors like Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck. With the DCU’s desire to be more cohesive and tell a unified story across its various films and television series, the Superman movie will introduce other DC Comics characters not usually seen in Superman stories, like Guy Gardner, Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).Gunn shared with EW his approach to integrating these new heroes into the mix.
«I approached it like Clark Kent has his work friends and his play friends,» Gunn said. «I tend to think his work friends are the Justice Gang and his play friends are the Daily Planet gang. It was about telling the story of this person’s life and all the ways different people would be connected to him.»
James Gunn’s Superman will be released theatrically on July 11, 2025.
