During one of the many press junkets the cast of Superman has been doing worldwide to deliver the hype train at any media station, Edi "Mister Terrific" Gathegi said something that struck many comic casuals in a significant way.
He was asked about his T-shaped mask in the movies (and in comics since 1997 as Michael Holt). In the most recent episode of the DC Studios Showcase podcast seen on Max, Gathegi corrected the script. He noted that it isn't a prop to hide his identity. It's something more advanced and familiar to CBM fans.
Ever since Mister Terrific's resurrection 40 years from the Golden Age, when the character was Terry Sloane, Holt has been portrayed with a T-shape mask on his face. This is a man who is a scientist and a wizard martial artist. He won the Olympic Decathlon with 14 doctorates, but he could never get a better mask than a vanity-ridden paint job on his face.
Actually, not at all. As Gathegi said, "It's not paint, it's nanotechnology."
Now, you may be thinking, "Isn't that a Marvel thing?" Tony Stark and Michael Holt are corelative that way. Both are scientific polymaths, and throughout comics, both have mastered nanotechnology.
That "T" on Mister Terrific's face, as shared by Gathegi, is a tool built from microscopic machines that equip him to do many of the futuristic things we'll see in Superman.
Many comic historians and collectors debate the origin of the enigmatic technology, which is predominantly seen through the eyes of Iron Man and Black Panther throughout the Avengers era.
One of the first mentions of nanotech in comics was featured in The Technovore from Iron Man #294 (July 1993). Written by the brilliant Len Kaminski and illustrated by Kevin Hopgood, Iron Man enters a space station when he discovers a trap—the crew members are these highly calculated and precisely made techno-organic creatures. After one skirmish, they go full Voltron on Stark and unite their powers, becoming the Technovore.
While that's fascinating and created the whirlwind of CGI porn encountered in the movies, the idea of nanotechnology is relatively recent in scientific terms as well. The word was first used in 1974 by a Japanese professor of science named Norio Taniguchi. His passion was exploring ultraprecision machining—the smaller the mechanism, the more he was enthralled. And since "microtechnology" was already a thing in the 1950s with the electric transistor, Taniguchi went with "nanotech."
All that to say, two decades later, nanotechnology shows up as a futuristic thing in comics. Four years after Tony Stark began experimenting with this brilliant mechanical journey, here comes another genius in Spectre (Vol. 3) #54. (Yes, his origin is through God's wrath, giving him the power of Mister Terrific via Terry Sloane from the Golden Age of Comics.)
Fast forward to Edi Gathegi's portrayal as the super genius Michael Holt, this man is ready to make a lasting impact in a superhero universe after his if-you-blinked-during-X-Men-First-Class-you-miss-Darwin role many moons ago.
"I'm so happy I get a redemption arc in the new DC Universe. I'm excited to inspire a whole new generation of young Black kids with this superhero. Mr. Terrific is so fantastic of a character, and there's so much potential."
There is a rich history of nanotechnology in DC Comics yet to be tapped. From Mister Terrific to Dr. Ryan Choi, who was The Atom, Dr. Virgil Adams, a scientist with S.T.A.R. Labs, and the volatile Brainiac who desperately needs the cinematic treatment, nanotech is known throughout the DC empire.
And come July 11, we get to look up and see it on the screen. You know? Again.