James Gunn’s Superman Trailer Has a Secret Cameo from a Key DC Comics Villain

Look for! It’s not a bird or a plane, but a new “Superman” trailer absolutely packed with details and Easter eggs that fans will spend the rest of 2024 (and beyond) obsessing over. Make no mistake, the footage managed to achieve a fresh tone that establishes our main trio of David Corenswet’s Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult’s outspoken James Bondian Lex Luthor. But there’s no way to overlook the implication that this film appears to be a true ensemble piece, with the appearance of several major and minor DC heroes proving that James Gunn is clearly setting up his larger DC Universe.

While that includes all the obvious supporting characters who may or may not end up in this new Justice League at some point, one big name was almost completely absent from the trailer: Angela Spica/The Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría. Eagle-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of the mysterious villain in just a few shots, fighting Superman in a baseball stadium or smashing through a wall with nothing more than brute force. However, there is one particularly easy-to-miss moment, where she can be seen in her entirety. Maybe you just need a magnifying glass to notice it. A fan account on Twitter (Lex Luthor more definitely calls it “X”) got to the bottom of this, posting a screenshot of the scene showing Luthor’s flashy skyscrapers connected by a bridge, with the Engineer’s small figure highlighted just above the massive structure. Watch it below!

What are we, some kind of Suicide Squad? Well, sorry for bringing back bad memories of the former regime of the DC franchise, but that’s just what happens every time I see a villain team-up in the works these days. The “Superman” trailer doesn’t reveal much about the actual plot of the blockbuster, instead focusing on selling audiences on the look and feel of this reboot. Luckily, all we need is a little research effort to start connecting the dots ourselves, with a particular DC Universe fan account having already done the legwork for us by posting the following screenshot:

The engineer in #Superman pic.twitter.com/hOEpoixDRM

– Todo_DCU (@TodoDCU_) December 19, 2024

It all has to do with the mysterious figure known as The Engineer. Called Dr. Angela Spica, the character has always straddled the line between antihero and outright villain since her introduction in DC Comics in 1999. In the source material, the engineer is associated with a renegade group of people. with like-minded people called The Authority (which Gunn has previously described as a passion project of his). In the “Superman” footage, you can see the engineer in his distinctive suit walking on top of Lex Luthor’s “LuthorCorp” building (or make it like this). buildingsas they appear to be two towering skyscrapers connected by the aforementioned bridge) on their way to what will likely be a face-to-face encounter with Superman’s arch-villain. Although their interactions in the comics are few and far between, the two certainly have a lot in common in terms of intellectual ability and ambition, two things that could easily result in them joining forces against the Man of Steel.

We’ll find out for sure where this all goes when “Superman” hits theaters on July 11, 2025.