Hot off the success of the Twilight franchise, X-Men: First Class looked like it might be Edi Gathegi's big break. Unfortunately, his time as a member of the X-Men was cut short when Sebastian Shaw killed the mutant in short order.
There was a lot of disappointment at the time, but even fourteen years on, Darwin's demise remains one of the X-Men franchise's biggest missteps in the eyes of many fans.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Gathegi, who plays the DCU's Mister Terrific in Superman, admitted that he agrees with fans. "They're not wrong," the actor acknowledged. "I think it is just a case of bad representation and missed opportunity. There was a lot that they could have done with that character, probably should have done with the character."
"I was waiting to be brought back [after First Class] because, as you know, the character doesn't die. The fact that he died in the first one isn't that big of a deal if he does what he does in the comics, which is come back," Gathegi continued. "Every movie that came out and the character didn't come back, it solidified that it was a misrepresentation and a missed opportunity."
While he's had a successful acting career since 2011, Superman does somewhat feel like Gathegi's second chance at a blockbuster role.
On that, he said, "This job is kind of undoing the wrongs of Darwin. I know that as it stands right now, this isn't the only project that I'll be in."
Mister Terrific will be a member of the "Justice Gang" alongside Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl. As much fun as it was to be part of another superhero team-up, Gathegi was far more excited to take a deep dive into what makes Michael Holt tick.
Describing him as "one of the most philosophically compelling heroes in DC," the actor added, "He's an atheist who believes in justice. He found meaning in knowledge. He saw that, while the universe might be cruel, intelligence, science, and innovation could make it better. He chose to become hope rather than succumbing to the despair of losing his wife."
The X-Men franchise dropped the ball on many characters and storylines, and Darwin ended up being another name you could add to the list of let-downs.
Filmmaker James Gunn seems excited about doing right by Mister Terrific, and as Gathegi points out, he's already confirmed for another DCU project. What that is hasn't been revealed, but Peacemaker season 2 is a likely destination for the hero, given the rest of the Justice Gang's presence there.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025. If you need a reminder of how things went for poor Darwin, here is it: