When James Gunn shared a first look at Superman, everyone was eager to know what that glowing orb in the sky was. Could it be Parasite? Mongul's spaceship? An interdimensional portal?
As the speculation continued, the expectation was that the orb might be tied to the movie's big bad. Nope. In reality, the Fifth-Dimensional Imp just appeared in the background of a scene featuring Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
Shortly after Superman's release, Gunn was asked if it could be Mister Mxyzptlk, and replied, "Oh, no. He’s just a stupid basic imp. He’s nowhere near as powerful as Mister Mxyzptlk."
While it may not have been that iconic member of Superman's rogues gallery, the fact that Imps like this one are causing chaos in the DCU promises to be very exciting for this franchise's future.
Today, artist Adam Milicevic has shared his final designs for the unnamed Imp introduced in Superman. On his website, he wrote, "Final Concept and Design for the Inter-dimensional Imp as seen in Superman. Done for Legacy Effects. Lots of iterations on this jelly boi."
Mister Mxyzptlk first appeared in 1944's Superman #30, and is a Fifth-Dimensional Imp from the land of Zrfff. He possesses near-omnipotent reality-warping powers and is limited only by his inability to refuse a challenge to say, spell, or write his name backwards, which banishes him to the fifth dimension for at least 90 days.
Only time will tell whether Gunn brings Mister Mxyzptlk into the DCU. For now, the filmmaker is concentrating on Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow, a movie that stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, and Frank Grillo as Rick Flag, Sr.
Several actors and characters are rumoured to appear, including Aaron Pierre's John Stewart/Green Lantern and John Cena's Peacemaker. Gunn has repeatedly said he'd like to introduce another Imp, Bat-Mite, but it's hard to say when and where he'll be able to make that a reality.
"Superman is an indescribable joy," we said in our review. "A beautiful, moving thrill, David Corenswet is the perfect Man of Steel in a movie packed full of ideas. Fortunately, under James Gunn’s expert direction, all of those work, creating a rousing experience that flies higher than DC has in a very long time."
Superman is now available on HBO Max, Digital, and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.