The new trailer for James Gunn's Superman (2025) unmasked the movie's secret villain: the mysterious Ultraman. While fans have gotten a chance to ogle over some of the upcoming DCU kick-off film's big bad, like Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor and a tower Kaiju monster, Ultraman remains shrouded in secrecy. The masked antagonist has been seen in several pieces of movie marketing, with the only mention of his name to this point coming in Superman merchandise leaks featuring the character.
Once again, Superman turned its eyes to the evil Ultraman in its latest trailer, offering fans a scant glance at the secret villain; however, this time, it was a little different. After months of speculating over the identity of this mystery character, this latest piece of movie marketing featured Ultraman unmasked for the first time.
At the 1:09 mark of the new "Tickets on Sale Now" trailer, David Corenswet's Man of Steel can be seen going up against Superman's mystery metahuman, with the villain shooting the film's titular Kryptonian with what seems to be a facsimile of his very own heat vision.
This is a big deal, as the character's identity has been kept a secret thus far, thanks to his infamous black mask. This particular trailer moment, though, gives audiences a taste of who is hiding beneath it and just how significant a threat he poses to Superman.
The sequence between the two characters only appears on screen for a split-second, so it is hard to discern any mind-blowing details from the battle, but Ultraman looks as though he is a long-haired human with what could be fangs sticking from his gaping maw.
The other key detail to look at (it may be the lighting in this particular shot) is the blue and green hue the character seems to have on his skin.
Watch the full trailer below:
Ultraman is just one of several villains set to go up against David Corenswet's Man of Steel in the upcoming film but has easily been the one with the most questions surrounding them in the lead-up to release. Superman soars into theaters on Friday, July 11, introducing audiences to the new DCU on the big screen for the first time.
It comes from the visionary filmmaker behind the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and DC's The Suicide Squad, James Gunn, backed up by a cast that includes Corenswet, along with Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Ms. Maisel), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class), and Nathan Fillion (Firefly).
Who Is Ultraman's Secret Identity in Superman?
It seems clear by now that James Gunn is intentionally keeping Ultraman as a secret villain in his upcoming Superman movie. The filmmaker seems to be hiding the character's true identity by any means, leaving only a minuscule breadcrumb here or there for fans to latch onto.
What is most interesting about this tactic so far is that an Ultraman exists in the comics, yet this version of the character seems to have almost no resemblance to the one seen on the page.
In DC Comics lore, Ultraman is essentially an evil Superman from an alternate reality where the Justice League has broken bad (read more about Ultraman's comic book origins here).
While there is a chance that Superman is going in that direction with the character, seeing as he seems to be able to use powers that perfectly mimic those of the Man of Steel himself, there is another popular theory going around that seems more likely.
Parasite is the other big name that has come up in the Ultraman secret identity conversation.
Another villain from DC Comics lore, Parasite is a metahuman enemy of Superman. The character was once an employee of STAR Labs before a freak accident left him as a power-absorbing supervillain, which could explain why the character can use the Man of Steel's various abilities in the new movie.
Or, perhaps the character is a wholly new creation for James Gunn's DCU. Given Ultraman's supposed green skin, as seen in the trailer, who is to say he is not an evolved Baby Joey (the green-skinned son of Metamorpho)?
Maybe Lex Luthor uses Metamorpho and his son to power up Baby Joey into a super-powered superweapon with all the powers of Superman without actually being him. Fans still do not 100% know Lex's plan in the new movie, so this Baby Joey theory could come to pass.
