This week, photos from the set of Superman revealed a brutish villain slamming the Man of Tomorrow to the ground and taking him into custody alongside Rick Flag Sr. and The Engineer.
He's quite a bit bigger than the Man of Steel, but this unnamed bad guy being covered from head to toe has left us with a lot of questions...as has the "U" on his chest! Social media scoopers continue to insist he's Ultraman, a Superman clone created by Lex Luthor. That's an assessment we agree with, though we also think there's more to him than that.
In fact, we believe James Gunn is taking inspiration from four separate comic book villains for this formidable antagonist.
The first of those is Doomsday. It may not be green, but Ultraman is wearing what looks like a containment suit that, crucially, has the same goggles as the ones worn briefly by that unstoppable baddie.
We don't expect Gunn to introduce Doomsday this soon given recent appearances in the DCEU and Superman & Lois; still, it's possible whoever is beneath this costume will eventually transform into that beast in a future movie.
The colour scheme and utilitarian "U," meanwhile, appear to be paying homage to Ulysses, an obscure character who was sent into the Fourth Dimension as a child by his scientist parents, returning with incredible powers he tried to use heroically before heading down a dark path.
Then, there's the aforementioned Ultraman. If we're to believe the scoopers, then Lex creates a Superman clone to presumably take down Metropolis' alien protector so this doppelganger can serve the U.S. Government as they see fit. While the comic book version of the character hails from another Earth, the DCU desperately needs to ditch the Multiverse after The Flash, so making him a clone adds up.
Plus, calling his fake Superman "Ultraman" seems like a very Lex thing to do.
Finally, we have Bizarro. Gunn is embracing the comics for Superman and clearly enjoys the goofier elements of them (The Suicide Squad proves that). When "Ultraman" is unmasked, we expect to see a deformed monster beneath who will almost certainly be meant as a nod to Bizarro. Will he have the same weird speech pattern and the comedic costume? The latter is unlikely, though the former can't be discounted.
With this, the stage will be set for a new take on Bizarro who can stick around in the DCU. Making this possibility all the more likely is the fact that, in some comics, the villain is a Superman clone...created by Lex!
With Gunn pulling inspiration from four different villains, it feels like this reboot is taking us in unexpected directions. However, while he'll bear the "Ultraman" name, we remain convinced that Supes will go toe-to-toe not with Doomsday or Ulysses, but Bizarro.