Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for the Superman: Welcome to Metropolis prequel junior novel

A new DCU release reveals David Corenswet’s Kal El fought a famous Man of Steel villain before the events of Superman. James Gunn’s Superman takes place long after Clark Kent discovered his powers and moved to Metropolis. At this point in the DCU timeline, metahumans abound and are widely known by human society, and threats like fire-breathing kaijus and mysterious floating orbs are an everyday occurrence.

James Gunn’s Superman introduces several DCU heroes and a few DCU villains. Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor is Superman‘s main antagonist, and he’ll be accompanied by Maria Gabriela de Faría’s the Engineer, plus two villains who may not have a direct comic book counterpart: Ultraman and the Hammer of Boravia. Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. will also be a minor antagonist, stopping Superman from intervening in national and international conflicts freely. Aside from these antagonists, however, the DCU’s Superman has already fought at least one other powerful supervillain.

Superman’s Prequel Novel Reveals David Corenswet’s Man Of Steel Already Fought Metallo

Superman Apparently Fought Metallo Twice Before The DCU’s First Movie Begins

A little over a month before Superman‘s July 11 release date, Warner Bros. and DC Studios released an official Superman prequel junior novel тιтled Superman: Welcome to Metropolis. In it, Clark Kent is trying to get hired by the Daily Planet. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor unleashes Metallo on Metropolis to kill Superman, though the Justice Gang arrives just in time and Superman lands the final blow on Metallo. Luthor upgrades Metallo with Kryptonite, but Superman and the Justice Gang stop Metallo a second time. However, Lex Luthor starts to suspect that Kryptonite is his best weapon against the Man of Steel.

Superman: Welcome to Metropolis seems to be canon to James Gunn’s Superman, which means that David Corenswet’s Superman has already fought and defeated Metallo twice by the time he makes his on-screen debut. If Superman: Welcome to Metropolis is officially confirmed to be part of DCU lore, then it would be an unfortunate reveal for Metallo, as the robotic Superman villain has yet to appear on the big screen for the first time. The DCU could leave him behind or bring him back as a recurring villain; either way, Metallo’s DCU debut may always be linked to two humiliating battles now.

Metallo’s Big-Screen Debut Was Scrapped Before The DCU

The DCEU Overlooked Metallo After A Subtle Set-Up

In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Scoot McNairy’s Wallace Keefe is manipulated by Lex Luthor into blaming Superman for the injuries he sustained during Man of Steel‘s Black Zero event. Luthor placed a bomb inside Keefe’s wheelchair, hidden under lead, in order to destroy the capitol with everyone inside. While Keefe is a minor character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was extremely close to becoming a full-fledged Superman villain. According to DCEU concept art, Zack Snyder wanted Wallace Keefe to be transformed into Metallo at some point in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but the idea was scrapped.

After Zack Snyder scrapped his concept for the villain, Metallo joined the long list of Superman antagonists without a live-action movie adaptation. Characters like Brainiac, Bizarro, and Darkseid were considered to be major antagonists in Superman movies at some point in the hero’s cinematic history, but none of those plans ever materialized. Since Nicholas Hoult appears to be putting all his efforts into destroying Superman right from the get-go in the DCU, it makes sense for Metallo to be one of his earliest experiments, but Metallo’s off-screen defeat seems like a disservice to the cybernetic villain.

Metallo Still Has A Chance To Shine In The DCU After James Gunn’s Superman

Metallo Is A DC Character That’s Never Truly Defeated

David Corenswet’s Superman has beat up Metallo twice already, according to Superman: Welcome to Metropolis, but it doesn’t confirm whether Metallo is truly ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Given the character’s robotic nature, there’s always a chance that Metallo’s consciousness is stored somewhere in Lex Luthor’s database, even if Luthor isn’t aware of it.

Next time Metallo appears, he could be much more powerful than before, and he could become a much bigger threat to Superman with the knowledge that Kryptonite is Superman’s biggest weakness. Otherwise, Superman could reveal that not everything in Superman: Welcome to Metropolis is strict DCU canon, including Metallo’s debut.

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