Superman: Legacy has added the DC character of Metamorpho to the film's growing roster, and here is everything you need to know about the character's origins, Justice League connections, and place in the DCU. Since David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan were confirmed as Superman and Lois Lane respectively, the casting for Superman: Legacy has shifted into high gear. The most recent slew of casting announcements links to the pre-existing superheroes that will exist in Superman: Legacy alongside Corenswet's new take on the Man of Steel.
Some of the other castings for Superman: Legacy involve a DC Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, played by Nathan Fillion. ing Fillion is Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. However, it is the fourth other major DC hero confirmed for Superman: Legacy that is one of the more interesting and has James Gunn himself excited: Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. With that being said, here is everything needed to know about Metamorpho, from his comic book origins and powers to how he will be utilized in Superman: Legacy and beyond in the DCU.
Metamorpho's DC Comics Origin & History Explained
Anthony Carrigan's Metamorpho in Superman: Legacy will undoubtedly be based on the DC Comics character, though there have been two major iterations of the Element Man: post-Flashpoint and pre-Flashpoint. Regardless, the character's DC Comics origin has remained the same. Originally, Metamorpho was a man named Rex Mason, a soldier for hire who was ed by a man named Simon Stagg to obtain the Orb of Ra, a powerful artifact from Ancient Egypt. After finding the orb, Mason was betrayed by Java, another of Stagg's assistants, and left basking in the light of an ancient meteor.
This meteor altered Rex Mason's genetic structure, transforming him into Metamorpho. After this, Mason committed to using his newfound powers for good as Metamorpho, a DC superhero. Since then, Metamorpho has worked with multiple other superheroes and played his part in certain superhero teams, though has primarily worked solo which begs the question of how the hero will be portrayed in the DCU's Superman: Legacy: a lone hero or part of a pre-established team.
Metamorpho's Powers Explained
As a result of Mason's transformation from the meteor, Metamorpho has plenty of unique powers and abilities. Firstly, his physiology was altered so that his body looks as though it is split into different elemental substances. This links to Metamorpho's main power: the ability to transmute his body into any element, be it a liquid, metal, or gas. Upon the character's initial creation, he was only able to transmute into naturally-occurring elements within the human body, though this limitation has since disappeared.
Through this ability, Metamorpho has the power of flight. By turning into a gaseous form, Mason can achieve a self-propelled form of air travel. Similarly, Metamorpho has the ability to transform specific parts of his body rather than the whole, allowing him to create various weapons or other useful tools. The nature of Mason's new body also means he has enhanced durability to attacks both blunt and energy-based. Another power Mason has been shown to have is bio-fission, the ability to create duplicates of himself using his power over elements.
Metamorpho's Connection To The Justice League & Other Superhero Teams
While Metamorpho may seem like a strange, obscure character to introduce in Superman: Legacy, he actually has strong connections to plenty of DC superhero teams, including the Justice League. Firstly though, Mason's initial superhero team was the Outsiders. The Outsiders were a group of superheroes formed by Batman himself, as a team that could go where the Justice League could not for political reasoning.
The initial formation of the Outsiders came when Lucius Fox, Batman's associate, was kidnapped by a man known as Baron Bedlam. Fox was being held in Markovia, just as Metamorpho had been seeking a cure for his condition from a Markovian scientist. As a result, Metamorpho ed the rest of the heroes involved in the rescue of Fox, overthrew Bedlam, and decided to stay on with the group, even coining their name himself.
Metamorpho then worked with the Outriders at length, even being revived by the team after his death at the hands of Simon Stagg. Eventually, Metamorpho was thought to have been killed again ending his time with the Outriders. After being revived a second time, Metamorpho spent some time as a member of the Justice League Europe. After the events of Flashpoint, Rex Mason was rebooted along with the rest of the DC Comics universe as part of the New 52.
In the New 52, Metamorpho's main team affiliation came with The Terrifics. This story began when Simon Stagg attempted to force Metamorpho to transmute into DC's Nth Metal in order to create a portal to the Dark Multiverse. Unknowingly to Stagg and Mason, the superheroes Mister Terrific and Plastic Man arrived to stop Stagg, due to Plastic Man's resistance to Dark Multiverse energy. However, Mister Terrific, Plastic Man, and Metamorpho were pulled into the portal where they encountered Phantom Girl.
The four managed to escape the Dark Multiverse and go their separate ways, yet found they kept being drawn to one another. It was revealed that this was because the four became cosmically linked by the Dark Universe's energy, causing them to form the superhero team known as The Terrifics. As evident, Metamorpho has been a central player in many DC superhero teams despite his more obscure nature than DC's best-known characters.
Metamorpho's Future In The DC Universe
Based on these connections that Metamorpho holds to various DC characters and teams, it helps to inform speculation on his future in the DC Universe after being part of Superman: Legacy. One possibility is that James Gunn is laying the groundwork for The Terrifics in the DCU's future. Both Metamorpho and Mister Terrific will be part of Superman: Legacy and James Gunn has previously expressed his desire to make a Plastic Man movie.
This Twitter post from Gunn was also shared months before Superman: Legacy's casting was announced, featuring DC Comics art with The Terrifics team front and center. All this could point towards Gunn foreshadowing a future Terrifics movie, especially through Metamorpho's inclusion in the DCU. Similarly, Gunn's prior superhero cinema works have centered on teams more morally gray, like the Suicide Squad and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
As such, Metamorpho's Superman: Legacy inclusion could be leading toward the Outriders playing a part in the DCU. The Outriders were originally formed as an offshoot of the Justice League that could do things the latter team could not due to political ramifications. Given Gunn's track record of anti-heroes and more morally gray superheroes, the Outriders could certainly fit in his DCU, spearheaded by Anthony Carrigan's Metamorpho.
Finally, it could simply be the case that Metamorpho will play a part in the DCU's Justice League. While the core of the Justice League are usually characters like Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Green Lantern to name the most popular, Gunn could be looking to stray away from this somewhat in order to distance the DCU from the former DCEU. This could be done by including lesser-known names as the Justice League's heroes, Metamorpho being one of them. Regardless, it is clear Metamorpho will have a role in the DCU’s future if his casting in Superman: Legacy is anything to go by.
