Superman's Mister Terrific Actor Almost Starred In A Hit Robert De Niro Series

Edi Gathegi has been impressing audiences around the world with his performance as Mister Terrific in James Gunn's "Superman." The DC movie, which marks the beginning of the new DC Universe, introduces not only David Corenswet's new take on the Man of Steel, but a group of superheroes currently calling themselves the Justice Gang. This group includes Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl, and Gathegi's Mister Terrific. Fans have quickly taken to all of these heroes, though Mister Terrific in particular has emerged as a fan-favorite character from the film, due in part to his memorable takedown of Lex Luthor's PlanetWatch forces.

2025 could have seen Gathegi taking on another major project, this time alongside Hollywood legend Robert De Niro. Gathegi had originally been cast in De Niro's Netflix miniseries, "Zero Day," which stars De Niro as a former US President who's called upon by his successor to lead an inquiry into a major cyberterrorist attack. Following its release on Netflix, "Zero Day" received mixed reviews and currently has both an audience and critic score of just 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gathegi likely chose the right project out of the two, given that "Superman" currently boasts a critic score of 83% and an audience rating of 93%, getting the DCU off to a stellar start. In a recent interview with THR, Gathegi revealed why he had to walk away from "Zero Day."

Gathegi had originally signed on to De Niro's "Zero Day" before he became involved with "Superman." The actor revealed he had just landed his role in the Netflix series when his agents called to ask him for an audition tape for "Superman," though he was initially reluctant to take on the DC project. "I told my agents that I didn't really have the time or the bandwidth to audition for ['Superman']."

However, upon learning that director James Gunn was eager to have him in the role of Mister Terrific and was waiting on his audition, Gathegi decided to submit a tape after all. Gunn was impressed, and sure enough, Gathegi became DC's new Mister Terrific. Originally, he would have played the part alongside his role in "Zero Day," but the 2023 WGA strikes changed that. Gathegi revealed:

"I did ultimately have to leave ['Zero Day'], but it was only because of the strikes pushing the schedules on top of each other. My decision came down to what had the potential for a longer life, and a new DC character in a rebooted universe felt like the right choice. I was a bit bummed because working with De Niro was definitely a bucket-list thing, and I know and love the director, Lesli Linka Glatter."

Given the fan reaction to Gathegi's stunning turn as Mister Terrific, it seems like the actor definitely made the right call in this instance. "Zero Day" was admittedly a hit on Netflix, but even in 2025, the idea of being a major player in a nascent cinematic universe has exciting potential, and we hope it pans out for him.