Lex Luthor, Ultraman, The Engineer and More

Superman features an impressive collection of villains that the DC Universe’s Man of Steel faced off against. As the first official installment of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, Superman had a lot to set up. Not only did it have to establish the franchise’s main hero, but also its villains and supporting characters who will appear in upcoming DCU movies.

In the trailers for Superman, several of the threats to the titular character were highlighted. Some of these villains are expected to return in the Superman sequel: Man of Tomorrow. Concerning the first movie, though, Superman was arrested, beaten, and knocked out of the sky more than once by a variety of adversaries.

Here are all of Superman’s villains explained, from the roles they played in the movie and their dynamics with one another to their various powers and the movies and shows Superman set up where these characters could appear next.

The Engineer

Played by María Gabriela de Faría, The Engineer/Angela Spica utilized nanotechnology as her primary method of attack.Connected to the team known as The Authority in the comics, the DCU’s Engineer worked for Lex Luthor in Superman, due to their shared distrust of the titular hero.

Angela was part of Lex’s Planet Watch team after having her blood infused with nanites, allowing her to create any construct she could imagine. This saw The Engineer mow down Superman’s robot assistants with buzz-saws, subdue Krypto the Superdog with a never-ending swarm of bots, and almost squeeze the air from Superman’s lungs.

However, The Engineer was eventually defeated by Superman and ended the movie incapacitated. With a DCU film about The Authority still reportedly in development, albeit more slowly than other upcoming DC movies, The Engineer could appear again in the DCU’s future, if not in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow.

Ultraman

Initially introduced wearing a black suit with a full mask and goggles, Ultraman was eventually revealed as a clone of Superman in the final act of the film. In Superman‘s first act, Ultraman also wore the Hammer of Boravia suit, pretending to be a superhero from the eponymous country and furthering Lex’s political schemes.

As Superman’s clone, though, Ultraman had enough strength and power to go toe-to-toe with Superman, as well as allowing Lex Luthor to enter the Fortress of Solitude, which was keyed to Kal-El’s DNA.

Ultraman was created by a strand of Superman’s hair found by Lex’s team, resulting in a clone that was as strong, if not stronger, than the original hero, yet lacking in the IQ department. Therefore, Ultraman was used solely as Lex’s muscle until he was defeated by Superman.

Ultraman was eventually pushed into a black hole caused by Lex’s dimensional rift, prompting theories that he will become Bizarro in the DCU’s future. In several iterations of DC Comics, Bizarro is an evil clone of Superman. With Ultraman being exactly that and now having a vendetta against the Man of Steel, Superman could have turned one DC villain into another.

LuthorCorp

Throughout Superman, Lex Luthor has many henchmen enabling his plans against the Man of Steel to come to fruition. These henchmen come in the form of LuthorCorp employees. These employees are shown helping Ultraman fight Superman, releasing kaiju babies into Metropolis, and simply following Lex’s every order.

One of these characters is Otis Berg, a character known as Lex’s right-hand man in DC Comics. Eve Teschmacher, played by Sara Sampaio, also begins the film as an accomplice of Lex as she is his girlfriend. However, she transitions from villain to hero when she exposes Luthor’s plans to Jimmy Olsen.

Metamorpho sees his hands disintegrate inside a prison cell in James Gunn's Superman — Metamorpho sees his hands disintegrate inside a prison cell in James Gunn’s Superman

Although Metamorpho cannot be described as a villain by the time of Superman‘s ending, he is worth mentioning for his introduction in the movie. Metamorpho serves as Superman’s jailor, keeping the latter incarcerated and weakened by using his powers, which allow him to transmute his body into any known elemental compound, to create Kryptonite.

As alluded to, though, Metamorpho is not an outright villain. The character was being manipulated by Lex, who had kidnapped his child. Eventually, Kal-El saves the baby and Metamorpho, resulting in the latter joining Superman‘s Justice Gang in the final act of the story.

A Giant Kaiju

The Kaiju roars at the camera in Superman 2025

As a one-off antagonist in Superman, the Kaiju unleashed by Lex Luthor serves its purpose. Lex releases the Kaiju, only the size of a toddler at first, to distract Superman so that he and his team can enter the Fortress of Solitude. The Kaiju grows rapidly, wreaking havoc in Metropolis with its fire-breath and giant size.

Despite his best efforts to keep the Kaiju, who was another victim of Lex’s machinations, alive and transported to an intergalactic zoo, Superman could not stop the Justice Gang from killing the creature.

With Superman so perfectly conveying how its titular hero tries to protect all life, the Kaiju serves not only as a one-off villain in a film stacked with antagonists, but also somehow as a personification of the film’s themes.

Lex Luthor

Above anyone else, Lex Luthor is the main antagonist in James Gunn’s Superman, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult. This has been alluded to several times already, thanks to how Lex had his hands in every dark plot in Superman‘s story.

In essence, Lex was one of Superman’s biggest haters. In Superman, Luthor could not seem to fathom how the Man of Steel had received such widespread love and adoration when Lex himself viewed the Kryptonian as completely inhuman.

Lex’s entire vendetta against Superman was driven by envy, with the former himself labeling his envy as a calling that will lead to the latter’s demise. Lex’s main plot involved orchestrating a war between the fictional DC countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur, with the intention of Superman defending the latter, thus finally giving Lex an excuse to kill Superman.

Doing this while turning the world against the Kryptonian hero, Superman‘s ending resulted in Lex’s plans being exposed, his pocket dimensions being destroyed, and his incarceration in Belle Reve. This all sets Lex up for a somewhat heroic turn in Man of Tomorrow, Superman‘s impending sequel, which reportedly involves him and Superman having to begrudgingly team up against a bigger threat.