Superman (2025) director James Gunn teased his upcoming film with the first proper image of one of its non-Lex Luthor villains.
The long-awaited DCU kickoff movie is set to introduce audiences to not just its titular hero but several other super-powered beings already exciting in Gunn's new comic book world.
A part of this will include a bevy of DC Comics villains taking on the Man of Steel outside of the movie's primary big bad, Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor.
A First Look At Superman's The Engineer
Fans finally got a first look at one of Superman's big-screen villains outside of Lex Luthor, thanks to a new image from director and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn.
Gunn took to social media to honor the anniversary of the DC Comics big bad the Engineer with a sneak peek at the character's first-ever big-screen appearance in the 2025 movie.
The picture in question sees María Gabriela de Faría's take on the DC character (who was actually the first villain cast in the film) laying on the grass of a large stadium, in a black skin-tight battle suit, looking as though she just went toe-to-toe with the movie's titular Kryptonian.
In his post celebrating the Superman villain, Gunn wrote, "Happy Anniversary to the Engineer," saying fans can see the character "played to sinister perfection" in the July 2025 film:
"Happy Anniversary to the Engineer, created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, who you can see played to sinister perfection by puppy in human form Gaby de Faria in 'Superman' this July!"
Retroactively, this look of the character's outfit seemingly confirmed that fans had actually gotten a slight glimpse at the Engineer previously and just not known it.
In the movie's debut trailer, a brief sequence was shown with David Corenswet's Superman holding someone in a headlock who is wearing a battlesuit that looks similar to the one Faría's character is in Gunn's new social post.
However, the person's face in that trailer fight scene was completely obstructed by Superman's torso. This image seems to be taken in the direct aftermath of that shot, offering fans the first full look at the character from head-to-toe.
What To Expect from Superman's The Engineer Villain
While the Engineer may not be a DC villain with the level of notoriety of Lex Luthor, she will almost surely be a formidable force in July's Superman film.
What is most interesting about this first look at María Gabriela de Faría's big-screen take on the DC character is that she is seemingly missing one of the big bad's most distinguishable traits, her liquid metal exterior.
In the comics, the Engineer/Angela Spica is essentially a cybernetic woman with metallic nanties flowing through her bloodstream. This gives her this almost robotic appearance on the outside.
The image shared from Gunn looks to be from the set of the movie. This means it could be from before any final VFX work was done on the character that would give her the steel-skinned body she is seen with in the comics.
It may also just be how she is going to look most of the time in the movie, taking on a more human-like appearance. If that were the case, it would not be too much of a departure for the character, seeing as the nanites in her blood allow the cybernetic villain to shapeshift.
Perhaps, for much of the movie, the Engineer takes on a more human form to not stand out, with her appearing in her full metal-bodied glory only a few times during its runtime.
In everything fans have seen of the character (mostly set photos at this point), she has donned this specific look, so that shape-shifting theory is likely the case.
Superman soars into theaters on July 11.
