Edi Gathegi reflects on portraying Mister Terrific in James Gunn’s Superman
By Valerian Khakayi, July 13, 2025Edi Gathegi, the Kenyan-born actor, has opened up about stepping into the role of Michael Holt, aka Mister Terrific, in James Gunn’s Superman.
Speaking during a candid interview with Movie Jabber, he revealed that despite being told his physique was not required, he committed fully mentally and physically to inhabit the character on his own terms.
Gathegi recalled a revealing moment early on during preparation, narrating how Gunn pulled him aside early on to explain that the character was primarily known by comic‑book readers and did not come with mainstream expectations, so he was not required to get into superhero shape.
“My physique had zero role on Mister Terrific, in fact James pulled me aside very early in the process and said, ‘the character comes in for book readers but it is not one of the characters that is for the audience at large, so people do not know this character, and they do not have any expectations. If you do not want to get into superhero shape for this act, you do not have to,'” he said.
“I just made the choice to throw myself into doing it as much as possible because I wanted to have the most fulfilling experience for myself.”
He went on to say that Mister Terrific was the only role he auditioned for.
“This is the only role I auditioned for, but I did not know I was auditioning for this role at the time I was auditioning,” he added.
Inspiration
He explained that his inspiration for Mister Terrific came from Shakespeare, pointing out a play called Twelfth Night featuring a character named Malvolio, who believes himself to be superior to everyone else.
Gathegi thought it would be interesting to translate that kind of character into a superhero context, bringing Malvolio’s arrogant, self-assured energy into his portrayal of Mister Terrific.
“When you talk about inspiration for the character, the answer is Shakespeare. There is a play called Twelfth Night, and the character in the play is called Malvolio, who thinks he is above everybody, and I thought that would be interesting to have that type of character as a superhero,” he disclosed.
The Superman film premiered globally on Friday, July 11, 2025.