Another little-known denizen of the Man of Steel’s vast universe is making his silver screen debut in director James Gunn’s “Superman” blockbuster. His name? Metamorpho, a heroic shape-shifting misfit, AKA the Element Man or the Fab Freak of 1001 Changes.
Metamorpho is an elemental superhero from the DC Comics’ universe who can alter his body to form a variety of compounds and materials. But what do we know about this transmuting wonder, and what role is he going to play in the Man of Steel’s triumphant cinematic return?
Here’s everything you need to know about Metamorpho before you fly out to watch Superman.
James Gunn’s “Superman” is out now, but we’re keeping this rundown relatively spoiler-free. Still, if you want to go in completely sight unseen, turn back now and check out our Superman movies ranked list instead.
Created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon, Metamorpho first rose to fame in the pages of DC Comics’ “The Brave and the Bold #57” with a cover date of January 1965.
It might sound like the perfect name for a sideshow carnival magician, but Metamorpho is no mild-mannered conjuror to be messed with. His transformative powers come from a mystical meteor that crash-landed on Earth in Ancient Egypt during the days of Pharaoh Ramses II.
Discovered by the priest Ahk-Ton and molded into the glimmering Orb of Ra, this powerful cosmic relic would be discovered thousands of years later by mercenary archaeologist Rex Mason.
Contact with the luminous meteor changed Mason into the metahuman named Metamorpho, a being that can reconstitute his body into elemental substances or compounds like gases, acids, or minerals. In the comics, Metamorpho was originally only able to transform into elements that naturally appeared in the human body. Over the years, however, that limitation has been dropped.
There have been multiple attempts to cure Mason from his cursed morphing state, but the procedures would have been unbearable.
Metamorpho has been affiliated with several mainstream superhero and crime-fighting organizations, including Batman’s secret gang called The Outsiders, the Doom Patrol, Justice League of America, Justice League Europe, and the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
Metamorpho is portrayed by actor Anthony Carrigan (“Gotham”), and rumors in the lead-up to release were that he’ll be a pawn of Lex Luthor’s (Nicholas Hoult), transmuting his body into kryptonite to aid Luthor in trying to take down the Last Son of Krypton. He’s being twisted into a force for evil, yet at his core, he’s truly a good guy.
Teasers and trailers have shown Carrigan wearing a stunning multi-layered body suit that represents the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. We also saw Superman in a strange preview scene holding a green baby alien with Metamorpho’s tentacles reaching out. That’s likely Baby Joey, Metamorpho’s weird little son, who gets snatched and possibly held for ransom, which could force Metamorpho to choose sides between helping Lex Luthor or Superman.
“It’s things that were glued on me, but then they painted on detail, and then more things were glued onto that,” Carrigan told Entertainment Weekly when talking about his costume and makeup for the movie. “I’m not kidding when I say that I was glued in, I was sewn in, I was completely enveloped. I was tied in… roped in, basically. But all in service of this incredible costume.”
“You’re in a situation where it’s having to hurt someone, having to be an agent of the bad guy. And at the same time, there’s this struggle to want to be good,” Carrigan added regarding sneak peeks at Metamorpho generating jagged green kryptonite from his fingertips. “What the film does brilliantly is it puts you in this situation of, ‘Oh! He has no choice.’ He has to be doing this, and you see how painful it is.”
Director James Gunn’s “Superman” soared into theaters on July 11, 2025.
