Superman (2025) may have already spoiled a redemption arc for one of its primary villains. Despite James Gunn's DCU kickoff movie being less than two months away, fans still know relatively little about what the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker has planned for its titular superhero (played by David Corenswet) and its terrifying troupe of DC Comics villains—like Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).
While Superman plot details remain scarce, the latest trailer may have accidentally revealed a redemption arc for one of the movie's villains. The new piece of movie marketing, which included exciting never-before-seen looks at things like Guy Garnder's Green Lantern superpowers, also gave fans plenty to gnaw on regarding the 2025 blockbuster's big bads.
Part of this conniving crowd of supervillains is the element-wielding Metamorpho, played by Barry actor Anthony Carrigan. In the comics, Metamorpho is a former adventurer who gains the power to transform his body into almost any element on the planet after coming into contact with a mysterious Egyptian relic on one particularly hairy job.
His specific role in Superman has not been disclosed, except that he is assumed to be one of the film's several DC Comics villains.
Thus far in marketing, his presence has been scarce. He pops up in this most recent trailer sharing a cell with David Corenswet's Man of Steel and holding what looks to be a stick of the Superman-subduing Kryptonite.
Many have taken Metamorpho's responsibility in this seemingly Lex Luthor-owned prison to help keep heroes like Superman at bay. Using his elemental abilities to manifest Kryptonite, Metamorpho essentially ensures that the iconic DC hero does not have access to his superhuman abilities while within the prison's glass confines and, thus, cannot escape.
However, other footage from the trailer seems to suggest that Metamorpho may only play a villainous role for part of the film, eventually flipping sides to help Superman escape the LexCorp facility.
Anthony Carrigan can be seen as Metamorpho in Superman in theaters on July 11, 2025. The new film from The Suicide Squad director James Gunn is set to kick the renowned filmmaker's new DCU off on the big screen, ushering in a new era of on-screen storytelling for the Blue Brand.
The new movie stars Hollywood lead David Corwenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, a late 20s take on the iconic hero who is still trying to balance his life as a god-powered superhero with his days writing for the Daily Planet newspaper alongside Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lan in Metropolis.
How Metamorpho Could Secret Be the MVP of Superman
Anthony Carrigan's Metamorpho looks as though he will have a villainous bent when he is introduced in James Gunn's Superman, but that big bad facade seems like it will only last so long.
In fact, Metamorpho could secretly be the hero of the movie when everything is said and done, actually helping Superman escape the clutches of supergenius Lex Luthor, as indicated by the movie's various trailers.
To this point, fans have seen a sequence in which Superman smashes his LexCorp prison cell while bathed in a plate-white light in both Superman trailers. While before, what exactly this white like is was unclear, the latest look at the movie may have given away where it came from and why it is such a big deal.
In the first official trailer, released on May 14, 2025, there is a split-second shot featuring Metamorpho manifesting this bright flash of light from within Superman's prison cell.
This quick look at the character could mean that, while Carrigan's DC villain was initially placed in the cell to depower David Corenswet's Man of Steel with a Kryptonite-laced appendage, Metamorpho may eventually see the light and get some sort of redemption arc.
Perhaps, as the pair of metahumans get to know each other, Metamorpho realizes the error of his ways, using his elemental powers to create a chemical reaction similar to that seen in Earth's sun (aka the thing that gives Superman his powers).
Then, with his proverbial super-powered batteries fully charged, Supes can smash through the glass and escape Lex Luthor's superhuman prison. And it would all be thanks to Metamorpho (read more about Metamorpho here).
