Following the release of the animated Creature Commandos series to Max subscribers sometime in 2024, the film side of the new DC Universe will kick off the following year with Superman: Legacy. Although we know David Corenswet is bringing the Man of Steel to life and he’ll be accompanied by various superpowered allies, we’ve been in the dark on what to expect from the upcoming DC movie on the antagonistic side of things. That’s no longer the case, as Legacy has cast its first villain, and they have ties with another movie on the DC Universe Chapter One slate.
Word’s come in that María Gabriela de Faría has been cast to play Angela Spica, a.k.a. The Engineer, in Superman: Legacy. This character, who is the second to go by The Engineer moniker, is empowered by nanotechnology built into her body, and she was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch for The Authority comic book series in 1999. As those who’ve followed along with the DC Universe updates over the past year will remember, The Authority is another movie lined up for this new shared continuity, and Deadline’s report mentions that de Faría’s Engineer will be part of a team of villains.
If you’re unfamiliar with María Gabriela de Faría, she has prior comic book adaptation cred from playing Maria Salazar in the short-lived TV series Deadly Class. More recently, she has guest starred in shows like The Moodys and Animal Control, and film-wise, her biggest appearance so far has been in 2019’s The Exorcism of God. Now she gets take part as Superman: Legacy as one of its villains, but now there’s the question of who she’ll be working alongside in the reboot.
Considering that members of The Authority had previously been rumored to appear in Legacy, the logical assumption is that this team will serve as Superman’s main set of opponents. However, while these characters usually take more drastic action with stopping bad guys and enforcing justice, they’re not usually depicted in an antagonistic light. So is the DC Universe first set to paint them in a darker light before they lead their own movie?
Frankly, if this is what’s happening, it sounds like Legacy might be using The Authority as a substitute for The Elite, a team of antiheroes that appeared in the Superman story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" and was DC’s response to The Authority back when the latter team was off in their own universe under the Windstorm banner. The Elite’s brutal tactics sharply contrasted with Superman’s more old-fashioned approach to fighting crime, so perhaps we’ll see a similar ideological clash in Legacy between him and The Authority. From there, The Engineer and her teammates can be portrayed more sympathetically in their own movie.
Superman: Legacy’s cast also includes friendly faces like Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion as the Guy Gardner incarnation of Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. It’s also been rumored that Lex Luthor will appear, although writer/director James Gunn debunked that Daniel Craig will play him. If Luthor is present, it’s unclear if he’d somehow be allied with the other villains or pursuing his own agenda.
Gunn has confirmed that Superman: Legacy is still set to be released on July 11, 2025, so keep checking with CinemaBlend for updates on its progress between now and then. If you’d like to revisit older Superman cinematic adventures, or view any of the DC movies in order, head over to Max.
