A new behind-the-scenes photo from James Gunn's Superman revealed a creepy secret hiding in Lex Luthor's Metropolis office. Nicholas Hoult's comic book villain debuted in Gunn's DCU opener, as he took on David Corenswet's Man of Steel in an effort to snuff out the Metahumans of Earth. Part of this plan included a creepy out-of-reality prison, tended by the terrifying Mr. Handsome (a monster-esque being created by Lex), hidden away in a pocket dimension.
Mr. Handsome is seen transporting prisoners to and from their cells in Lex's extra-dimensional prison, popping up several times as Hoult's comes and goes from his pocket dimension penetentary. However, he appears elsewhere in the new DC Studios movie, adding a skin-crawling wrinkle to Lex Luthor's villainous personality.
A new photo from the Superman set revealed a creepy detail in Lex Luthor's Luthorcorp office, pertaining to one, Mr. Handsome.
The new image, which director James Gunn posted in celebration of Eve Teschmacher actress Sara Sampaio's birthday, shows a never-before-seen angle of Lex's office. In it, one can see that Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor has a bone-chilling momento on his desk, a photo of Mr. Handsome.
This keepsake sits in the same way that so many photos of families, kids, or spouses sit on office desks around the globe, adding a creepy new layer to the Luthor/Mr. Handsome relationship.
James Gunn recently stated that Mr. Handsome was his favorite character in Superman, and it seems that Lex shares that same sentiment.
The photo of Lex's grotesque freak of nature can be seen in the movie in a split-second shot during one of the villain's conversations with the Man of Steel, but actually getting to focus on it for a second will almost surely send shivers down fans' spines.
Another angle of Mr. Handsome was shared by Gunn on Threads, showcasing a closer look at the portrait alongside Lex Luthor's book, "A Better World."
Lex Luthor and Mr. Handsome are just two small parts of Superman's sprawling cast, which includes David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner.
Directed by Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn, Superman follows its titular DC hero three years into his journey as the Man of Steel, as he comes to blows with the villainous Lex Luthor for the first time following a smear campaign led by the maniacal supergenius.
Who Is Mr. Handsome?
While Mr. Handsome may have felt like a small, yet particularly creepy, part of Superman, the character has a history in DC Comics, and could tease a potential future in the DCU for the character.
Gunn described Mr. Handsome in Superman as "Lex’s creature that he created in a petri dish that drives around on this flying platform that is the ugliest, grossest creature in the world." (via Fandango).
The Superman director has elaborated on Mr. Handsome's DCU lore since then, revealing that the creature was created by a 12-year-old Lex Luthor when he was attempting to make a human.
However, in DC Comics, he is significantly different. In DC lore, Mr. Handsome is a Gotham City crime boss who faced off with Catwoman in the 1992 comic series Catwoman: Defiant.
The two characters do not seem to share too much connective tissue other than being antagonistic figures in DC properties.
But if someone were to make these two become one, Gunn would be the one to do it, setting Superman's Mr. Handsome up as a potential Batman-related villain in a future DCU project.
