Who Are The Justice Gang? Superman’s Goofy Allies, Explained
Is this the beginning of the Justice League? Maybe.
In the very busy world of the new Superman reboot, one group of characters steals the show in several scenes. We’re talking about the “Justice Gang,” a trio of heroes consisting of Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl ( Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Throughout the film, Superman forms an uneasy alliance with these heroes-for-hire, though, by the end of the movie, you certainly get a sense that perhaps a more permanent version of the Justice Gang could emerge in a future DCU movie.
So, is this the beginning of a new Justice League? Let’s unpack the Justice Gang in Superman.
Spoilers ahead.
In Superman, we’re told, briefly, that the Justice Gang is financed by Maxwell Lord, who appears very briefly toward the end of the movie, and is played by Sean Gunn, brother of director James Gunn. This is the same DC universe character previously played by Pedro Pascal in Wonder Woman 1984, though with a totally different personality. Why does this matter? Well, in the newly rebooted DCU, there is no Justice League yet, but instead a kind of ad-hoc group of heroes who work together and independently of Superman.
For casual fans, the most jarring member of the Justice Gang is probably Guy Gardner. In DC Comics canon, Guy Gardner is the third Green Lantern assigned to Earth, following Alan Scott and Hal Jordan. Gardner was famous in the ‘80s and ‘90s for his cranky demeanor and smart-mouth style. The ethos of Gardner was captured, perhaps, most famously, on the cover of Justice League International #1 in 1987, in which he stands with arms folded, saying, “Wanna make something of it?”
Meanwhile, the Hawkgirl in Superman is Kendra Saunders, also the third DC character to claim the mantle of Hawkgirl. Along with Guy Gardner, this version of Hawkgirl is set to appear in Peacemaker Season 2.
A detail of Justice League International #1 in 1987.
Finally, the version of Mister Terrific we’re getting in this movie is Michael Holt, the second Terrific in DC canon, first introduced in 1997. In many continuities, this tech genius creates “the Fair Play Club” to help combat juvenile delinquency. (This is why the phrase “fair play” is emblazoned on his jacket in the movie.)
Though the Justice Gang isn’t a direct analog for the Justice League International — and beyond Guy Gardner, the members in the comics are different than those in the movie — it does seem that this superhero team is the new DCU’s attempt to jumpstart a lower-key version of the Justice League. By the end of Superman, the character of Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) joins the Justice Gang and encourages the group to keep their goofy name, despite Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific’s objections.
Isabela Merced is Hawkgirl for the foreseeable future.
Earlier in the film, we also see the Justice Gang setting up at the Hall of Justice, which is most famously associated with the 1973 cartoon, Super Friends. The Hall of Justice also appears in various versions of Justice League comics, starting in 2007. But yes, make no mistake, the Hall of Justice was invented for Super Friends first.
Like many aspects of the 2025 Superman reboot, the Justice Gang is a mishmash of different sources: a bit of Super Friends, a dash of Justice League International, all with the promise of a possible rebooted Justice League in the future. But, above all, the Justice Gang is also very much its own thing, and the possible stories featuring this team in the new DCU are, in theory, endless. We’ve seen these heroes before, but never quite like this.
