Summary
One of the weirdest things about superhero movies likeSuperman: Legacyis that some of its biggest leaks come from the toys that tend to be revealed before the film ever hits theaters. In the case of the new DCU’s first entry dealing with the Man of Steel, the “leak” came before the first trailer. But it looks like one of those toy leaks has confirmed one of the villains in next summer’s blockbuster, even though James Gunn tried to debunk earlier rumors.
In hindsight, Gunn’s denial of the villain’s presence inSuperman: Legacyused some language that could be seen as a way of skirting the rumor rather than actually dispelling it. That would of course, be the right play if the DCU chief knew that sooner or later, people would realize that the rumors were true.
Superman: Legacy Villain Outed
The listing of toys,posted to Xby Daniel Richtman a person known for being an insider in the superhero movie genre,included an entry referring to Ultraman. Alongside the tweet, Richtman posted, “Ultraman confirmed via a new toy listing for the Superman film. So it’s confirmed it’s Ultraman and not Ulysses.” The post was a reference to previous attempts to narrow down who was going to be the “main” villain in the nextSupermanmovie. Internet sleuths had narrowed it down to Ultraman before but that’s where Gunn stepped in and offered a denial that makes a lot more sense in this context.
When the Ultraman rumorsas the “main” villain first popped up, Gunn did what he’s well known for doing. He went on social media to directly address them. In his denial, he claimed that the “main” villain inSuperman: Legacywas Lex Luthor, much like Superman was the “main” protagonist. However, not long after he tried to shoot down the talk of Ultraman being in the film set photos started circulating online that made it look like the baddie was in action, specifically in a scene that also involved Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr and David Corenswet’s titular character.
While the toy list seems to show that Ultraman (while alsoconfirming characters like Krypto, Megafig,Guy Gardner, and Metamorpho) is indeed in the film, Gunn still isn’t willing to specifically confirm his existence inLegacy. When asked on the social media site Threads if he was finally willing to concede the villain would be in the movie, he said that he “has to okay” all the toys and that he doesn’t believe the list being out there spoils anything. It would appear he was pointing back to the qualifier of “main” when talking about antagonists.
For those not familiar with the backstory of Ultraman, in most of the DC comics stories, he’s an evil version of Superman from Earth 3. One of the most famous depictions in previous animated movies cast him as a kind of mob boss who worked in tandem with an evil version of Wonder Woman and Batman (who was Owl Man in that universe). It appears that Fans ofSuperman: Legacywill get to see James Gunn’s version of Ultraman when the film hits theaters on July 16, 2025.
Superman
Cast
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the first movie in Warner Bros.' rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”
