Eagled-eyed viewers noticed a mural of metahumans that decorated the walls of the Hall of Justice in “Superman.” But with only a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances, fans had a hard time naming more than a few heroes included in the design.
Now, writer/director James Gunn is giving audiences the full picture — but even DC fanatics are still struggling to compile a comprehensive list.
Though San Diego Comic-Con will not host a panel for the new DCU as a whole, Gunn will arrive in Hall H on Saturday to talk about the second season of his series “Peacemaker.” That doesn’t mean he’s leaving “Superman” fans empty-handed this weekend, though.
“You asked for it, you got it,” the DCU architect shared on X on Friday. “Here’s the full mural honoring the History of Metahumans in the DCU adorning the Hall of Justice in #Superman.” You can view the post below.
Fans weren’t necessarily expecting the deep cuts featured in the artwork Gunn shared. A few of the heroes present in the image are relative gimmes — Justice Society of America members like Wildcat and Wesley Dodds’ Sandman are immediate stand-outs. Max Mercury runs through the second panel, a Speedster with a close connection to various iterations of The Flash. Appropriately, standing next to him is Liberty Belle, an All-Star Squadron member who married Johnny Quick and gave birth to Jesse Quick.
Giovanni Zatara (father of Justice League magician Zatanna) stands on the edge of the first image, setting up magic for the DCU. At the end of the second image, a character resembling Sean Gunn (almost certainly Maxwell Lord) also appears.
Now things get a bit trickier. Gunn’s image sprawls with heroes from DC history that fans are struggling to recognize. The Black Pirate and Miss Liberty — two heroes who served on 1978’s short-lived team the Five Warriors from Forever — assemble near the start of the first image. B’wana Beast, who notably appeared in Grant Morrison’s acclaimed “Animal Man” run, is shown on the second. Bulletman and Bulletgirl likewise stand near the beginning of the latter photo.
If you can’t tell, most of these heroes aren’t exactly DC’s heavy hitters. Like many parts of “Superman” (an other-dimensional imp comes to mind), the mural shows that this new DC universe is willing to plumb the depths of comic book canon to flesh out its world.
In the film, the History of Metahumans mural briefly appears in a scene where Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) asks the Justice Gang of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) for help finding Superman (David Corenswet). Though no shot focuses on the mural, the artwork can be seen in the background multiple times.
The scene takes place at the Hall of Justice and was filmed at the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The History of Metahumans mural evokes real artwork adorning the walls of the Ohio landmark.
When asked if he could name all the heroes in the deep-cut images, Gunn cheekily responded, “I can yes.” The DC Studios co-CEO said during a Q&A that the mural tells the story of metahumans throughout the history of the new DCU. The beginning of “Superman” notes that the first metahuman appeared 300 years prior to the events of the film.
Gunn also stated during this Q&A that one of the heroes featured on this mural (other than Maxwell Lord) is portrayed by a famous actor — though fans will have to wait to find out who that is and what character they’re playing. With that casting in mind, audiences can expect to see some of these metahumans pop up again.
“Superman” is now playing in theaters.
