SUPERMAN’s James Gunn Shares His Love and the Backstory For Lex Luthor’s Creation Mr. Handsome

Despite its social commentary, James Gunn’s Superman was obviously set in a fantasy world. That has nothing to do with its Kryptonian hero, Green Lantern, or a flying dog. It’s because in the movie the world’s richest man wasn’t a total moron. Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor was evil, sure, but he was obviously not based on a real person because he was actually brilliant. He created his own pocket dimension, cloned Clark Kent, and found a great new donut place. It turns out he also created a living being at the age of 12 that he still loved even as an adult. And James Gunn says that abomination known as Mr. Handsome might be his favorite character from Superman.

Superman‘s writer-director addressed a common fan question about the film on social media. Fans want to know which character he liked more. His answer is one no one would have guessed. They also wouldn’t have guessed its backstory. Gunn said Mr. Handsome, a gangly, alien-like being played by Trevor Newling, might just be the character he loves most. While the creepy creature looks like it made its debut in M. Night Shymalan’s Signs, the Man of Steel’s foe actually created him as a pre-teen. That’s partly why he had a strange affection for the strange pseudo-failure years later in the film Gunn wrote:

Lex created Mr. Handsome in a Petri dish when he was 12 – he was trying to make a human. He didn’t come out so well, but he just might be the only one in the world Lex has any true sentiment for, as evidenced by the photo on his desk.