James Gunn‘s Superman will have a lot of ground to cover in its 129-minute runtime, as it sets up the future of the DC Universe. One thing that will not be shown on the big screen is the secret relationship that The Engineer actor María Gabriela de Faría believes the character has with Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor.
The recent poster batches for Superman have confirmed that The Engineer will be allying herself with the more villainous characters in the upcoming DCU movie. The character, whose abilities come from nanotechnology built into her body, has been shown in marketing materials to be aiding Lex Luthor on his quest to stop Superman.
What can we expect from Superman’s Lex Luthor and The Engineer?
During a recent appearance on the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast (via ComicBookMovie), De Faría expanded on her character’s relationship with Lex Luthor in the movie, revealing that she pitched a “secret relationship” between the two to Gunn. “I also kept telling James that I feel like [The Engineer and Lex] have a secret relationship. I feel like they f**k! Lex is so serious, and he has this gorgeous girlfriend that he treats terribly. So what if, after hours The Engineer gets really mean with Lex and he loves it,” she explained. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like Gunn incorporated this pitch into the final cut of Superman.
Check out De Faría’s entire chat with the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast below:
The Engineer’s appearance in Superman comes ahead of the character’s inclusion in a planned movie about The Authority, the superhero team that the character is part of in the comics. The team was created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch and first appeared in 1999 in The Authority comic book, which was published under DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint.
A movie based on the comics was part of the initial slate reveal for Chapter 1 of the DCU in January 2023. Unfortunately, despite interest from Matthew Vaughn, development on The Authority movie has been slow going, with a rumor from February 2025 claiming that the project is no longer a “priority” at DC Studios.
Written and directed by Gunn, Superman is scheduled to open in theaters on July 11, 2025.
