James Gunn isn’t likely to repeat many of the same tricks that Zack Snyder already employed in Man of Steel for the DCU’s upcoming movie Superman: Legacy, what with the long-lasting division the Snyderverse has created in the fandom. And yet it might be a smart move for him to dust off one of the best ideas that the Justice League director never actually implemented for the now-defunct DCEU. If Gunn’s still searching for a villain for Legacy, the fans have the perfect pick.
Over on the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit, DC diehards fielded the notion that Legacy should see the new Clark Kent face off against none other than Metallo for his first cinematic outing. For those not familiar with the character, John Corben is a cyborg with a kryptonite power source, which makes him a foe who can genuinely pose a real threat to Supes as he has his one weakness for a heart. Metallo has previously been adapted for live-action multiple times on the likes of Lois & Clark, Smallville, and Supergirl.
While he hasn’t appeared in the movies to date, though, he came pretty close. Zack Snyder has revealed that Metallo would’ve been the main villain for Man of Steel 2, if Warner Bros. didn’t end up expanding the movie’s concept to become Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Despite the best efforts of Henry Cavill, MoS 2 ultimately never happened, but Gunn still has the power to revive his forebear’s canny choice of villain.
Brainiac is another popular option, of course, but Snyder himself was planning to hold back the evil android until Man of Steel 3, so maybe Gunn should do the same and save Brainiac until a future Legacy sequel. In the meantime, Metallo deserves the chance to show us his mettle.
