James Gunn Spills New Details on Ultraman, Metamorpho, and the Engineer in SUPERMAN
James Gunn’s Superman is shaping up to be a character-packed, morally complex, and slightly chaotic reintroduction to the Man of Steel's world.
While Lex Luthor remains the film’s central antagonist, Gunn recently shared new details on how characters like Ultraman, Metamorpho, the Engineer, and even Eve Teschmacher fit into the mix.
Let’s start with Ultraman. Fans have been scratching their heads over this one. Some have speculated he’s a clone of Superman, others guessed a reimagined Parasite or even a proto-Bizarro.
When Entertainment Weekly asked if Ultraman is Lex’s own twisted version of Superman, Gunn said:
“I think that’s close. Ultraman is sort of Lex’s thug, and is pretty powerful.”
He expanded on the moral gray areas the movie explores:
“There are some characters that are really almost saintly, like Superman. 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.”
It sounds like this complexity will extend to Metamorpho, played by Anthony Carrigan. In the film, Rex Mason can transmute his body into any natural element, including Kryptonite. That’s a power Lex Luthor clearly wants to exploit, even if it means bending Metamorpho’s will.
Carrigan described the struggle his character faces:
“You're in a situation where it's having to hurt someone, having to be an agent of the bad guy. And at the same time, there's this struggle to want to be good.
“What the film does brilliantly is it puts you in this situation of, ‘Oh! He has no choice.’ He has to be doing this, and you see how painful it is.”
Baby Joey might have something to do with that, a mysterious figure yet to be revealed, may be at the heart of how Lex manipulates Metamorpho. As Gunn bluntly put it:
“Lex is connected to everything. There’s nothing bad happening in Metropolis during this movie that doesn’t have some connection to Lex Luthor.”
Then there’s Angela Spica, a.k.a. The Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría. A character known for her nanotech-enhanced body, Angela has a strangely intimate dynamic with Lex. While it’s not overtly romantic in the movie, de Faría shared her thoughts on what’s simmering under the surface:
“I imagined that Lex and Angie had this work relationship where they respect each other so much. Angela highly believes in Lex’s idea of making the world a better place. She’s practically given her life to Lex for this greater good.
“But at the same time, I feel like there’s an element of an underlying relationship going on between the two of them. It’s not in the movie… I feel like these guys f***!”
Enter Eve Teschmacher, Lex’s actual girlfriend, played by Sara Sampaio. But don’t expect a supervillain as Teschmacher is more of a selfie-snapping influencer than a mastermind. Sampaio said:
“She’s just very for herself and her content. She’s sometimes out of notion with what’s happening or what’s appropriate, but she does have a heart. At the end of the day, everything is just so exciting for her. She’s just in a whole different world.”
Gunn seems to be building a Superman world where even the side characters have internal conflict, rich dynamics, and layered motivations. Metamorpho may eventually lean toward heroism. The Engineer’s fate remains uncertain, especially with The Authority movie now off the immediate DC slate. As for Ultraman… Whether he sticks around will likely depend on who’s under that mask.
Superman flies into theaters July 11, 2025.