Who is Mister Terrific and what are his powers?

James Gunn's Superman movie is drawing ever closer, with new snaps from the set of next year's most-anticipated superhero film giving us a closer look at David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.

Of those three characters, Mister Terrific - AKA Michael Holt - is probably the least well known to the general public. Arrowverse fans saw a version of the character played by Echo Kellum in seasons 4-8 of Arrow, and he has a long history in DC comic books. It's also clear that Gunn has been planning on including him in his and Peter Safran's new DC Universe for some time. 

The first hints that Gunn was making plans for the character came in late 2022, when he tweeted Alex Ross's JSA #76 (2005) cover featuring Mister Terrific and his T-Spheres. The newly-leaked photos of Edi Gathegi are a pitch perfect evocation of that cover showing the actor wearing a faithful rendition of Terrific's Fair Play leather jacket - he looks awesome.

It'll probably be a little while before we learn exactly what role the hero will play in the upcoming film, but in the meantime, here's everything that you need to know about Mister Terrific, his powers, and his comic book history.

Who is Mister Terrific?

The Golden Age Mister Terrific, Terry Sloane, was a genius and self-made millionaire with a photographic memory and a mastery of martial arts. He was created by Charles Reizenstein and Hal Sharp and first appeared in 1942's Sensation Comics #1.

Sloane was a founding member of the Justice Society of America and stayed with the team until the House Un-American Activities Committee ordered the team to reveal their civilian identities or disband. When the JSA dissolved, Sloane retired as Mister Terrific. Years later, he joined the newly-reformed JSA, but was eventually killed by the Spirit King after he possessed The Flash AKA Jay Garrick.

The current Mister Terrific, Michael Holt, took up the mantle in 1997. He was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake and made his first appearance in Spectre #54, when the title character visited him during a suicide attempt following the accidental death of his wife and unborn child. Spectre told Holt all about Sloane and his exploits as Mister Terrific, prompting Holt to take on the mantle himself. 

Like Sloane, Holt is super athletic and super smart: He won an Olympic decathlon and holds five black belts in martial arts, as well as multiple degrees and doctorates. Also like Sloane, Holt joined the JSA, and in 2001's JSA #27 he became the team's chairman.

Mister Terrific in the DC Universe

Although Terry Sloane is an integral Golden Age figure (and his retconned-into-being sidekick Quiz Kid is part of the upcoming New Golden Age of DC), we're going to focus on Michael Holt's existence in the DC Universe.

Although he doesn't have superpowers per se, Mister Terrific uses his genius to invent the T-Sphere, which is an AI device that can be controlled with his mask and earpieces. The T-Sphere flies, creates holograms, projects light, releases electrical charges, hacks computers and GPS satellites, and protects Holt from detection by cloaking him, which also prevents him from being recorded by any technology. This effectively makes Holt invisible unless he's seen by another human.

Both in his role as a leader of the JSA and in his use of technological gadgets to do his superhero work, Mister Terrific rivals Batman - and in the comics, the pair have a friendly rivalry borne of their similarities.

Holt became chairman of the Justice Society in JSA #27 (2001) after in-fighting between former chairman Hawkman and then-current chairman Sand came to a head and the team members elected Terrific as their new leader. He continued in this capacity until the JSA disbanded during Infinite Crisis, the 2005-2006 crossover event helmed by writer Geoff Johns and artist Phil Jimenez.

During Infinite Crisis, Mister Terrific worked on a Batman-assembled team and met and befriended Black Lightning. Following that, Holt became a member of the UN Security Council intelligence agency known as Checkmate - which led to him being trapped in the organization's ruined headquarters during the 2008 Final Crisis event helmed by writer Grant Morrison.

And before the New 52 rebooted DC Universe continuity in 2011, Mister Terrific was stabbed by the villain Kid Karnevil (disguised as a hero named All-American Kid) and died. Holt was resurrected by Doctor Fate and recovered slowly from his injuries, which for a time meant he used a wheelchair.

In the New 52 era - which relaunched the entire DC Comics line and rebooted everyone's stories - Holt was displaced to the parallel universe Earth-2. He returned to Earth-0/Prime in the 2016 Rebirth era - which rebooted the DC Universe continuity once again - and has since developed technology to travel around the DC Multiverse. 

More recently, Mister Terrific worked alongside Nightwing, Superman's son Jon Kent, and the rag-tag group of heroes they assembled to defend Earth-0/Prime against the villains Pariah, the Great Darkness, Deathstroke, and his Dark Army in the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event. He also starred in a standalone story in this year's DC Power anthology, written by Greg Burnham and drawn by Jahnoy Lindsay.

Mister Terrific in the Arrowverse

In The CW's Arrow, actor Echo Kellum plays a version of Mister Terrific whose civilian name is Curtis Holt. He appears in seasons 4-8 of the Arrowverse series as a bronze-medal-winning Olympian, inventor, and technological savant - much like his comics counterpart. One noticeable departure from the source material, aside from the name change, is that Curtis is an openly gay character whose relationships are a core part of his story on the TV series.

As for his superhero activities, Curtis alternates between working in the field with Oliver Queen's superhero team and doing remote tech support depending on where his skills would be most useful. He has a strict moral compass that sometimes leads to conflicts with Oliver or others, but at the end of the series, Curtis is alive and well, living in Washington D.C.

Mister Terrific in the DCU

Mister Terrific has yet to appear on the cinema screen and we don't have many details yet on what role the character will play in next year's Superman, but as mentioned above, James Gunn and Peter Safran clearly have big plans for the character that will almost certainly stretch beyond this film. Edi Gathegi is a great choice for the role and the shots that we've now seen of the very comics-faithful outfit feels like a promising hint at what's to come. 

Stay tuned for more on Gunn and Safran's plans, as well as what's to come for DC Comics.

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