Killed off in X-Men franchise, the Superman actor is now soaring in the DC universe
Back in 2011, the X-Men franchise was owned by 20th Century Studios, and they came out with the film X-Men: First Class, which followed the journey of a young Charles Xavier and Magneto trying to create a mutant super team in order to deal with the repercussions of coming out to the world about their abilities. One of the young recruits was a mutant named Darwin (played by Edi), and anyone who is familiar with the comics knows about the incredible shape-shifting capabilities he possessed. What came as a surprise was that he was killed in the movie by Sebastian Shaw, and fans never got the chance to see the character develop. Interestingly, he had very similar powers to Metamorpho, who appears in Gunn's Superman, but obviously did not have a happy ending.
ALSO READ: Superman ending explained: What it means for new DCU movies and Peacemaker season 2
Edi Gathegi recently revealed to THR that he had expressed concerns about the script to his agent and how he felt that killing the only male Black character halfway into X-Men: First Class was a cliche thing to do. He said, 'So I read the script, and I called my agents to say, 'Hey, listen, I have a problem with the fact that this character is the only Black character in the film aside from Zoë Kravitz's character. I am also the only mutant who meets an untimely demise halfway through the film.' It was 2009 at the time, and I was like, 'Killing the Black guy first is so played out. I can't do this.'' Edi added that he was told that the character's untimely death was part of a larger plan and he would return in the later films in the franchise, but nothing of the sort ever happened, which the actor expressed came as a 'surprise' to him.
Now all these years later, Edi has made peace with the studios' decision and is currently bearing the fruits of his incredible portrayal of Mr Terrific. Fighting alongside Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) as the Justice Gang, Edi stole the show with his sarcastic quips, entertaining fight sequences and an air of domination. He added, 'With X-Men, the message that I received as an actor and as a man of colour in this world is you can be the most powerful mutant in the world, and they'll never let you reach your full potential. Whereas with Mister Terrific in Superman, the message that I'm receiving is you can be one of the most intelligent characters in the universe, and you can make a difference. You can help save the world. It's a different level of conversation.'
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