James Gunn had a very successful run with Marvel Studios. He took a little-known group of characters, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and turned them into a team worthy of having a trilogy of movies. The higher-ups at Warner Bros. took notice of Gunn’s achievements, so when they were looking for someone to lead their DC Universe, they reached out. Of course, Gunn took the job and began working on a franchise that will kick off on the big screen with Superman. He wasn’t going to have fun without his friends, though, so he brought several over, including actors he worked with while at Marvel.
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Frequent Gunn collaborators like Nathan Fillion and Mikaela Hoover aren’t the only members of the cast to have experience with Marvel, however. Edi Gathegi, who will play Mister Terrific in the 2025 film, played a pretty infamous mutant in X-Men: First Class, who he really isn’t interested in talking about anymore.
While appearing on the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast to promote Superman, Gathegi was asked about whether he feels like playing Mister Terrific is his first real shot at playing a superhero. “We don’t talk about that,” he said. “It’s too juicy. I’m so happy that I get a redemption arc in the new DC Universe. I’m excited to inspire a whole generation of young Black kids with this new superhero.”
Gathegi is clearly beating around the bush, and that’s probably because he doesn’t look back at his time with Marvel fondly. Despite being part of a new generation of mutants, Darwin, Gathegi’s character, doesn’t get the same opportunities as his colleagues, failing to make it to the end of his first appearance.
First Class‘ Darwin Is a Sore Subject in a Franchise Full of Them
First Class acts as a soft reboot of Fox’s X-Men franchise. It takes things back to the 1960s and features the first meeting between Professor X and Magneto. The two iconic mutants have their hands full with the Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw, so they go out and recruit some reinforcements. Angel, Banshee, Havok, Mystique, and Darwin join the cause, and they all hit it off pretty quickly. Unfortunately, Shaw ruins the fun when he visits the CIA black site where the team is training.
Shaw tries to convince the mutants to join his side, and he thinks he has won over Angel and Darwin. However, Darwin is playing a trick on Shaw, using his ability to adapt to protect Angel while Havok attempts to take down the villain. Shaw shakes off the attack, absorbing the energy and putting it in Darwin’s mouth. The young mutant does his best to find a solution in his Rolodex of abilities, but nothing works, and the energy overwhelms him, leading to his death. While the sacrifice motivates the other mutants to fight back, it’s a major bummer because it takes the most interesting new character off the board.
Dying in an X-Men movie didn’t ruin Gathegi’s career by any stretch of the imagination. After playing Darwin, he went on to appear in major projects, including The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I and The Blacklist. However, it’s probably hard for the actor to see First Class on his resume and not feel a certain type of way. Fortunately, Gunn saw enough of Gathegi’s heroic side in his lone superhero appearance to cast him in a major part in Superman.
While Mister Terrific isn’t a lead role in the DCU, the character has a fascinating backstory, and there’s a decent chance that enough appearances could open the door for the character to get his own solo project. Unlike Fox’s franchise, the sky really is the limit for the actors working in Gunn’s playground.
Superman hits theaters on July 11, 2025.
How do you feel about Darwin’s death in X-Men: First Class? Are you glad James Gunn is giving Edi Gathegi another chance to play a superhero? Let us know in the comments below!