Ultraman's Real Identity In James Gunn's Superman Explained

Contains spoilers for "Superman"

James Gunn's "Superman" introduces a fresh take on the classic comic book hero, and it gets the DC Universe off the ground and flying toward the stars. The "Superman" trailer is packed with heroes and villains who all have a role to play in the film, but only one of them has an ultra secret identity.

Ultraman is actually a clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor. When we first meet him, he's inside a giant mech suit posing as The Hammer of Boravia and terrorizing the people of Metropolis. When he steps out of the suit, he seems similar to Black Noir from "The Boys" because he's constantly wearing a ninja-adjacent suit and never speaks a word. On his own, Ultraman seems to have almost the exact same set of powers as Superman himself, and the ending of "Superman" lets us know why.

When Ultraman gets de-masked, we see that David Corenswet's face has been waiting for us beneath the cowl. According to Luthor, the cloning process left Ultraman with less intelligence than a regular human, which makes him easy to control, and it also enhanced his Kryptonian powers. However, with a little bit of brains, Superman is able to outmaneuver his brawnier clone.

"Superman" is full of little nods for comic book readers to enjoy, but Ultraman's origin in the movie is one of the biggest deviations from the source material. Not to be confused with Ultra-Man, a completely separate character in the DC universe, Ultraman was first introduced in 1964. Originally, he came from an alternate universe where he and a group called the Crime Syndicate of America took over Earth-Three. Ultraman didn't start interacting with the heroes of the main DC universe until after he'd taken over an entire world, so he was a natural enemy for characters like Superman. The "New 52" DC Comics story reboot refreshed Ultraman's origin story and gave him the name Kal-Il, but in the current continuity he's still an alternate-universe version of Superman.

It's not surprising that David Corenswet plays Ultraman in James Gunn's "Superman," but making Ultraman a clone was a great change from the comics. Instead of weighing "Superman" down with the mass of yet another multiverse, the cloning story gives Ultraman the powers he needs in a way that's quick and easy to explain. Ultraman is really just a side villain in the movie, and his origin in the DCU lets us keep our attention on the real evil mastermind, Lex Luthor. Check out Looper's review of "Superman" to see how well we think the movie sets up the DCU for success.