Summary
Superman: Legacyrecently cast María Gabriela De Faría as The Engineer. While the character is reportedly the film’s villain, James Gunn suggested there’s more to her than that.
There has been a lot of speculation about theSuperman: Legacyplot and the film’s villain. It was recently revealed thatGiancarlo Esposito had talked with Gunnabout a role in the DCU, and some fans believe he would make a great Superman villain like Lex Luthor or Brainiac. However, that is unlikely, as he said he would prefer to play a hero, and no news about his casting has been announced yet. NowSuperman: Legacy’s villain may have finally been revealed.
Deadlinefirst broke the news that De Faría will play The Engineer as a villain. Gunn and De Faría confirmed this news on social media but may have added some clarification or confusion. On threads, Gunn started his post that welcomed De Faría to the DCU by saying, “‘Villain’ is such a disparaging term!” Additionally, De Faría’s post on her Instagram said that Gunn made her a" Super Hero." Both posts also showed a picture of the Deadline article that said De Faría was playing a villain. These posts suggest there’s more to De Faría’s role than being a mere villain.
The Engineer is a member of the brutal superhero team The Authority, who are also getting their own movie in the DCU. Although they are considered a superhero team, they are much closer to anti-heroes with methods Superman would disapprove of. This could lead toSuperman: Legacyadapting an iconic comic book storyline, Superman vs The Elite, by making The Authority, or at least some of its members, the film’s antagonists. This would make sense, as the story doesn’t have The Elite as the villains, but instead a superhero team with opposing ideals to Superman.
They could also go with a more recent storyline where Superman leads The Authority because his powers are weakened, and he needs help defeating a powerful threat. This could be a way for De Faría to play a hero instead of a traditional villain role. This could lead toa moral conflict with Supermanrather than a conflict with a villain. It would be unlikely and probably not well received for Superman’s first DCU film to be about him leading a team of superheroes that most of the audience has never heard of.
Superman: Legacyis scheduled to be released in theaters on Jul 24, 2025.
