Superman: The enigmatic villain The Hammer of Boravia explained

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Does the Hammer of Boravia have a comic connection after all?

Superman fighting the Hammer of Boravia
(Image credit: DC Studios)

Since the latest action-packed trailer for James Gunn's Superman reboot movie landed, fans have been wondering about the identity of one of the film's villains, the heavily armored bruiser known as the Hammer of Boravia.

The thing is, the villain known as the Hammer of Boravia is actually a newly created character for Superman - a character who doesn't come from comics at all. There is a fictional nation known as Boravia in comics, but it doesn't have its own hero.

Rocket Red #4 launching into the sky

(Image credit: DC)

That character is Rocket Red, or in fact the Rocket Red Brigade, a team of armored supersoldiers who served as the heroes of the USSR in the '80s DC Universe, one of whom even went on to join the Justice League International - a team that also included Superman's Green Lantern, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), and which was organized by Maxwell Lord, who is played by Sean Gunn in Superman and in Peacemaker season 2.

If you look closely at the Hammer of Boravia's armor, it features a sash-like stripe across the torso flanked by a star - the same emblem of the Rocket Red Brigade, but with gold swapped in for red, since the USSR hasn't been a thing since the early '90s.

Is the Hammer of Boravia definitely a Rocket Red palette-swap? We'll never know unless James Gunn someday spills the beans on the character's official inspiration. But the connection isn't so far-fetched, given the aesthetic similarities and the fact that Gunn is already drawing heavily on the cast of Justice League International.

Superman flies into cinemas on July 11, 2025. For more, check out the new DC movies coming down the line, plus our guide on how to watch the DC movies in order.

George Marston
George Marston
Entertainment Writer

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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