As I discussed in a teaser trailer review back in February, one of this summer’s most anticipated releases is Warner Bros./DC Studios’ Superman. Writer/director James Gunn’s second cinematic foray (after 2021’s The Suicide Squad) into the DC Universe, it stars David Corenswet in the title role and reboots the Man of Steel’s big screen adventures. As such, one thing setting the new film apart from its predecessors is that Superman isn’t the sole superhero in his world. Instead, he’ll be flying in alongside a host of other DC costumed crusaders, some better known than others.
Casual comics fans should be familiar with winged warrior Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and power ring-wielding Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a Green Lantern with both Moe Howard’s haircut and attitude. Newcomers, though, who’ve watched the trailer may be asking, “Who’s the fella with the giant T on his face?” That, my friends, is one Michael Holt (Nigerian-born actor Edi Gathegi), the latest iteration of my favorite Golden Age hero, Mr. Terrific.
The creation of writer Charles Reizenstein and artist Hal Sharp, Mr. Terrific debuted in Sensation Comics #1 in January of 1942. Known as “The Defender of Fair Play” and “The Man of a Thousand Talents,” he was the costumed identity of Terry Sloane, a polymath child prodigy who graduated college at 13 and was an Olympic medalist and successful businessman by his early 20s. Accomplishing so much left him feeling, like Alexander the Great, that there were no worlds left to conquer. So, naturally, Terry decided to end it all by jumping off a nearby bridge.
As fate (and, four years later, It’s a Wonderful Life) would have it, he instead saved another leaper, a young woman whose teenage brother idolized a gangster. Looking to give local kids a better role model, Terry donned a red-and-green tunic-like outfit with the motto “FAIR PLAY” emblazoned in the middle and put his myriad of abilities to use as a costumed crimefighter. The gimmick was hokey, even by 1940s standards, but to me there was something about a hero who took his slogan to heart–or, at least, to his abdomen–and who made his mark by mastering “every wisdom, every physical ability known to man,” as a later story put it.
One quick side note: DC’s Mr. Terrific was unconnected to 1967’s superhero sitcom Mr. Terrific. The short-lived CBS series starred Stephen Strimpell as a meek gas station worker who ingested a “power pill” which gave him one hour of super-strength, flight, and so on (not unlike another Golden Age hero, Hourman). Someday perhaps I’ll tell you all the story of this show and NBC’s Captain Nice.
The original Mr. Terrific appeared as a back-up feature in Sensation Comics from 1942 to 1947 and guest-starred with the Justice Society of America in 1945’s All-Star Comics #24 before fading into Golden Age limbo. When the JSA was revived by writer Gardner Fox in the 1960s, Sloane came out of retirement and took part in several of the group’s team-ups with their Justice League counterparts. He was killed off in battle with a heretofore unknown foe, the Spirit King, in a 1979 story which ended with his JSA allies vowing to avenge his murder.
Well, that avenging took 18 years to accomplish. In 1997’s The Spectre #54, writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake had DC’s ghostly guardian come to the aid of one Michael Holt. Himself a genius, gold medal athlete, and millionaire high-tech mogul, Holt was devastated by the death of his wife and unborn child in a car crash. Blaming himself for the accident, Holt was ready to end his life. The Spectre stopped him and told him the story of Terry Sloane and how the JSA finally tracked down the Spirit King.
Michael was inspired by the tale and decided to carry on Terry’s legacy as the new Mr. Terrific. Along with a black, white, and red uniform that keeps the “Fair Play” slogan, he wears a special T-shaped mask that makes him virtually invisible to film and recording devices. Holt’s main weapons are his “T-Spheres,” globe-like drones that can shoot energy beams, hack into computer systems, generate force fields, and more. Of course, there’s also his expert fighting skills and an off-the-charts intellect that’s earned him the title of “the third smartest man” in the DC Universe.
Since his introduction the second Mr. Terrific has gone on to serve as a member of both the Justice Society and Justice League (where he had a friendly rivalry with Batman). Holt later formed his own super-group, The Terrifics (one of his teammates, Metamorpho the Element Man, will also play a role in Superman). He’s been featured in several DC animated series, beginning with 2004’s Justice League Unlimited, where he was voiced by Third Watch’s Michael Beach. And a live-action version of him named Curtis Holt (played by Echo Kellum) joined forces with emerald archer Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) in Seasons 5-8 of the CW adventure series Arrow.
And so it is that, on July 11, a character charitably described as a “DC deep dive” will have a prominent role in Warners’ latest attempt to jumpstart its cinematic comic book domain. Gunn has gone on record as being a fan of Holt’s Mr. Terrific. “These characters all get their moment in the sun. They all have their moments,” he explained in an interview. “They’re supporting cast, but Mr. Terrific is the main character of those characters. He actually has a big part of the plot.” Gunn was able to make a talking tree monster and a sentient raccoon into key figures of the MCU, after all, so I’m cautiously looking forward to seeing what he has in store for “The Man of a Thousand Talents.” Here’s hoping that Mr. Terrific gets the “fair play” film treatment he deserves.