There’s no question Mr. Mxyzptlk is a deserving oddball, but he could be on his way to movie screens now that Man of Steel 2 is in the works.

Fans of the Golden Age comics and the 1990s Superman: The Animated Series will have fond memories of this unique antagonist. Voiced to perfection by the late Gilbert Gottfried in the cartoon, Mxy is similar to Bat-Mite in that they are both interdimensional beings with reality-warping powers. In many ways, they are sprites and exist almost exclusively to cause trouble. The interesting pairing with Superman is that the Man of Steel can’t defeat Mxy with brute strength. In a Rumpelstiltskin-esque comedic twist, Mxy can only be dispatched by insanely unique circumstances, like tricking him into saying his name backwards or doing something random and oddly specific.

Under normal circumstances, Mxy wouldn’t be a top choice for a cinematic Superman villain, but these are strange and interesting times for live-action superheroes. With the news that James Gunn has pitched two projects to the Warner Bros. executives, there’s a chance that one (or possibly both) could be the Man of Steel sequels.

As tantalizing as the prospect of a Gunn-led Superman film, his satire-with-a-heart style would at first seem to be a contradiction for the Man of Tomorrow. However, that may depend on what antagonists Gunn brings to his story. The perfect one for his trademark filmmaking tone would be Mr. Mxyzptlk. That leads us to these key issues that should suddenly be more interesting to collectors and investors.

SUPERMAN #30 (1944)

The first time readers met Mxy was way back in 1944’s Superman #40. Obviously for a key issue that is nearly 80 years old, this is no cheap find. If there’s even a remote chance that he could find his way onto a movie screen, those prices will only go up. 

How much is it bringing these days? Considering its age and Mxy’s first appearance, it’s not as much as you might think. The highest grade sold this year has been a 9.0, which went for $4,200 in June. If you want to get the sticker price below the four-figure mark, you can downgrade to a 3.0, which last sold for $975 also in June.

SUPERMAN #131 (1959)

Widely considered Mxyzptlk’s first Silver Age appearance, this one should be the next best thing to the lofty prices from those Golden Age issues. Overall, not many copies trade hands online, but a surprising graded 9.2 sold for $960 in May. Before that, there hadn’t been any grades sold since 2022. 

SUPERMAN #50 (1987)

This may not be a first, but this ‘87 issue contains a fairly big moment. While it may not be considered canon, this comic saw Mxy hinted that he has a second identity in another universe as the Fantastic Four villain, the Impossible Man. That would be a crossover worth reading. 

In September, a graded 9.6 sold for $65. The last time a 9.8 traded hands online, it brought $75 in 2020. Odds are, you can find a raw copy on eBay for a small gamble.

A SLIGHT MXY-UP

As unlikely as it may seem, Mxyzptlk could be a star of the future DCEU. Pitting Superman against the interdimensional trickster would be something we’ve never seen from the cinematic Man of Steel. After all the shenanigans we’ve seen from the MCU, mainstream audiences would be more likely to embrace this quirky figure now than ever.

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*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.