One of the stars of Superman 2025 thinks two of the movie's biggest villains hooked up with each other behind the scenes. James Gunn's new DCU epic may have introduced audiences to a whole new roster of heroes, including David Corenswet's Superman, Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl, and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner; however, its collection of comic book antagonists is almost just as expansive.
These villains were headlined by the mysterious Ultraman, the evil supergenius Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and the living computer known as the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría). Hoult and Faría got the most screentime of the movie's big bads, serving as a one-two punch for Corenswet's Man of Steel to take on. While the pair's relationship was depicted as strictly professional in the film, Faría seems to think some backroom romance may have been at play.
Speaking to Collider, the Engineer actress said that she believes her Superman 2025 character and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor hooked up.
"He doesn't treat Engineer the way he treats other people," Faría posited, admitting that even though Lex is romantically involved with Sara Sampaio's Eve Teschmacher in the movie, she thinks "he likes to get kinky after hours with Engineer:"
"He doesn't treat Engineer the way he treats other people. He treats her with more respect, and Engineer also respects him. I know that Eve is so hot and so great and so funny, but I don’t feel like he sees eye to eye with her, and I feel like he likes to get kinky after hours with Engineer."
This is not the first time Faría has shared her not-safe-for-work headcanon regarding the two Superman villains.
In a separate conversation on the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast (via PopVerse), she chimed in about this potential steamy secret relationship. "I kept telling James, 'I feel like they f***,'" she joked, pontificating, "What if after hours Engineer gets really mean with Lex and he loves it:"
"She is a good person at heart, who is extremely broken and is willing to team up with Lex to get rid of what he believes are evil aliens. Supermen. But then I also think that they have a secret relationship, and I kept telling James, 'I feel like they f***.' And Lex is so serious, and then he has this gorgeous girlfriend that he treats terribly. So, I’m like, 'What if after hours Engineer gets really mean with Lex and he loves it.' That’s how it plays in my mind."
The Engineer is technically one of Lex's most wondrous creations in the DCU. She is a former special operative member who is experimented on by Hoult's DC villain. After the maniacal supergenius injects nanites into her bloodstream, she becomes the super-powered Engineer, essentially turning into a shape-shifting human computer.
Superman is now playing in theaters, debuting María Gabriela de Faría's Engineer and the rest of James Gunn's new DCU to the world. Faría's is just one of several villains taking on David Corenswet's Man of Steel, as she and Lex Luthor attempt to rid the world of Metahumans.
Are The Engineer and Lex Luthor Secretly In Love?
These particularly NSFW comments from María Gabriela de Faría may sound a little outlandish initially, but she may be onto something.
Throughout Superman, fans get a sense of how disposable Lex sees the women in his life. He banished one ex-girlfriend to his inter-dimensional prison after she wrote a strongly worded blog about him, and treats his current partner, Eve Teschmacher, like trash.
The only lady in his life he is seen treating as something even close to an equal is Faría's Engineer. If Lex were to be cheating on Eve with Engineer, it honestly would not be all that surprising.
Lex proves he is more than okay with stealing, murder, and various criminal and moral transgressions, so who is to say infidelity is beyond him?
With Lex in jail and the Engineer injured in the hospital by the end of Superman, there is a chance the pair may get to interact again soon in the DCU, especially with the Engineer-led Authority film still on the DC Studios slate.
