DC crowns its smartest new hero, replacing Mr Terrific

Although Michael Holt, aka Mr. FantasticHe doesn’t have superpowers, he makes up for it with his exceptional intelligence. After earning 14 doctorates and founding Holt Industries, Michael followed in the footsteps of Terry Sloan, the original Mr. Terrific, and became a superhero following the tragic death of his wife. That puts him in good company with other non-powered heroes like Batman and the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle, because when the second Mr. Terrific isn’t beating up the bad guys, he takes them out with his T-Spheres and other advanced technology.

Although Mr. Terrific has been described as the third smartest person in the world, until now, the Olympic-level athlete’s growing prominence in the DC Universe made for a strong argument as to why he should be at the top of the list. However, there is a new DC superhero to whom that title now belongs, although this character was clearly inspired by Michael in the same way he was by Terry.

Ms. Terrific is actually DC’s smartest heroine

The Deadman #5, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art by Martin Morazzo

The dead man #5 sees the titular protagonist, aka deceased circus trapeze artist Boston Brand, visiting a future where he is alive, but the world has also become devoid of karma. In addition to meeting technological versions of supernatural characters such as Swamp Thing and The Phantom Stranger, Boston also meets Amril Melville, also known as Ms. Terrific, who possesses a higher IQ than him. She is accompanied by Connor Hawke, who still fights as Green Arrow, but dropped the ‘e’ from his last name.

Amril is the second Ms. Terrific DC has introduced in recent years, following the Earth-23 variant of Paula Holt, Michael’s late wife, from The terrifying. In Amril’s case, however, she “has no filial relationship” with Michael, although, like Paula, she uses T-Cubes instead of T-Spheres. Unfortunately for Amril, before she can give Boston information about what happened to the Justice League Omega in this time period, she is attacked by a swarm of birds released from the mouth of one of her opponents.

Now, back in the present, The dead man Issue #6 will show Boston grappling with this future where there is no heaven or hell, as the conflict with Mr. M and his Soul Eaters continues. As such, it is unclear if Ms. Terrific will return in some capacity before the series ends, if she will return in a different book, or if this was a one-off appearance. The dead man It was originally announced as a six-issue limited series, but was expanded to 12 issues in August.

As for Mr. Terrific, he remains one of the main actors in the Justice League Unlimited title, and has also recently appeared in books such as The flash, JSAand Superman. From July 2025 to January 2026, Michael starred in the six-issue limited series. Mr. Terrific: year onewhich retold his origin story for the DC All-In era. Edi Gathegi will also repeat the DCU franchise Mr. Fantastic in the next DC movie The man of tomorrow after his debut in Superman.

The dead man Issue #5 is now available from DC Comics.