With the exception of a few scenes, Superman was a very family friendly film. Violent imagery was kept fantastical, the costumes were bright, and the characters (mostly) refrained from using adult language. Having said that, there was one (among others) major exception to the film's kid-friendly nature: Mr. Handsome, portrayed by Trevor Newlin.
A faithful companion to Lex Luthor, Mr. Handsome was, to put it bluntly, a thing of nightmares. Recently, James Gunn shared a Holiday card featuring Mr. Handsome, apparently teasing his return in 2027's Man of Tomorrow, which will see Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor share the spotlight with David Corenswet's Superman. Given his closeness to Luthor, his fate after Superman stopped the villain's evil schemes was an intriguing hanging plot thread.
Now, Gunn has confirmed audiences will find out what happened to him in his Superman sequel. Commenting on Gunn's Holiday post, a fan asked Gunn what happened to Handsome following Luthor's capture. The director replied: "You'll find out in [Man of Tomorrow]."
There are two possible meanings behind Gunn's tease. The first one is that Man of Tomorrow will reference Mr. Handsome, revealing his whereabouts, but not physically show him. The second is that the creature will be featured in the sequel. The latter is likelier, given how important he is to Lex, who will be the co-star of the film, and Gunn's aforementioned Holiday card:
The director captioned his post with: "Mr. Handsome holiday card to the Man of Tomorrow crew from our art department. Art by Sam Avila, Art Director.
Happy Holidays (and Hanlidays!)" Given that the image was specifically made for the Man of Tomorrow crew, it looks like odds are in Mr. Handsome's favor to show up in the Superman follow.
You may be wondering why there is so much focus on Mr. Handsome. Well, the guy isn't just a freaky creature. As mentioned, he's actually an important part of Lex Luthor's life. As teased by Luthor having a picture of Handsome on his desk, he is the villain's only friend. As Gunn explained in an X post following Superman's release:
"When people ask me my favorite character from Superman, it just might be Mr. Handsome. Lex created Mr. Handsome in a Petri dish when he was 12—he was trying to make a human. He didn't come out so well, but he just might be the only one in the world Lex has any true sentiment for, as evidenced by the photo on his desk. Our Mr. Handsome was portrayed by the wonderful Trevor Newlin."
Man of Tomorrow will arrive in theaters on July 9, 2027.
Are you looking forward to possibly seeing more of Mr. Handsome in Man of Tomorrow? Did you like the character in Superman? Let me know in the comments!