Mister Terrific star Edi Gathegi explains why he was confused with his Superman character’s costume the first time he heard about the DC character. Edi Gathegi plays a big role in Superman‘s packed cast, as Mister Terrific is the brain of the Justice Gang. One of the smartest heroes in the DC Universe, Michael Holt a.k.a. Mister Terrific sports a unique look that James Gunn’s Superman adapts quite accurately.

During a Superman set visit that included ScreenRant and various media outlets, Mister Terrific actor Edi Gathegi recalled how he “struggled” to understand Mister Terrific’s mask. Gathegi explained that the mask “resembled blackface” to him at first, but it made sense to him once he read the source material and discovered why the hero wears it. Read Gathegi’s full comments below:

“Listen, the face mask was something that I struggled with the very first time that I saw it in the comics, not understanding who Mr. Terrific was. The face mask resembled blackface to me, so I saw it and I went, “What is that?” And it wasn’t until I dove into the comics and understood the technology and the purpose and the functionality of the mask that it became a cool mask–something that’s actually functional.

This is a nanotechnology that actually can appear on his face, but it protects his entire face. So this is not the area it protects. It protects the entire face. This is just a manifestation. And it is very comfortable because it’s been molded to my face. It’s pliable. If you touch it, you’d probably freak out because it’s not what you would expect. It looks kind of hard, but it’s [not] hard.”

Edi Gathegi also revealed that while Superman adapts Mister Terrific faithfully, it also takes a few creative liberties with the source material. According to Gathegi, DC Studios is building a unique Mister Terrific for the DCU. Gathegi continued:

“If you can’t tell, this is pretty comic accurate, which I think is so cool–that they decided to do that. Outside of that, we’ve taken some liberties about the character. [It’s] true to the source material to a degree. You don’t learn a lot of his backstory that you know in the comics in this film. You don’t see that.

We’re sort of building our own Mr. Terrific for the DCU cinematic universe and we’re taking liberties. So the T-Craft is what he’s driving outside of the cell, which is not in the comics. Actually, no. The T-Craft is in the comics, but maybe it’s called something else.”

What Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific Costume Comments Mean For Superman

Mister Terrific Is Quite Comic-Accurate In Superman

Mister Terrific’s clothes are relatively simple, but his mask presents a bigger challenge. In the comics, Michael Holt’s mask fits so тιԍнтly that it often appears painted onto his face. The mask also serves a wide range of advanced functions, from enhancing his vision across the electromagnetic spectrum to rendering him undetectable to technology.

Both live-action versions of Mister Terrific have remained impressively faithful to the source material. Echo Kellum’s Curtis Holt proved the design could work in the Arrowverse, and Edi Gathegi’s Michael Holt comes even closer to the comics in James Gunn’s Superman. Gathegi’s comments on the mask’s real material prove it was designed to resemble nanotechnology as close as possible, even without VFX.

Our Take On Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific Costume Comments

The DCU Doesn’t Hesitate To Adapt Extravagant Comic Book Elements Faithfully

Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific is one of the many comic-accurate character portrayals introduced in James Gunn’s Superman. Visual elements like Guy Gardner’s ridiculous bowl cut and Superman’s trunks could have easily been cut in order to make Superman more grounded, but the DCU isn’t afraid to lean on this kind of details. Future DCU installments might take a similar approach with other DC characters linked to Mister Terrific, like Plastic Man and Terry Sloane.