Summary
Superman & Loismight be coming to the end of its run long after the rest of the Arrowverse flew off into the twilight, but the show won’t be going out quietly as it prepares to bring one of DC’s biggest villains to the fore in its final arc.
WhileSuperman & Loiswas made with the conscious decision not to tie it to the wider Arrowverse, the end of the rest of the franchise in quick succession left it as the only vestige of the old DC adaptation order on The CW, and saddled it with the responsibility of closing the door on several years of beloved storytelling in a fitting manner, despite many difficulties with its own final installment. Elsewhere, the wider DC franchise is moving on with a theatrical reboot ofSuperman,giving fans the impetus for all sorts of exciting thoughts and ideas like havingBrainiac be Superman’s next movie villain.
The CW’sSuperman & Loishas already proven it can master a villain, and the show might be the vehicle to grant fans their wish to see the alien antagonist in live action. In a recent roundup report that also confirmed moves for a second series of the Matt Reeves-inspired DC showThe Penguin,TVLinerevealed that Brainiac will indeed appear in the final season, and much sooner than expected. According to the report, episode 8 of the show will mark the on-screen arrival of Brainiac, and whatever wicked scheme he has in mind will likely unfold over the rest of the 10-episode final season.
Braniac’s appearance was hinted at as early as the season premierewhen he was mentioned by an alias and even referred to as a brainiac by Lex Luthor, but now fans know that they can expect the villain to make an appearance much sooner than they might have expected. While there’s no telling what exactly he’ll be getting up to in his premiere episode, there’s no doubt that fans are about to see the final arc of the series start in earnest. Brainiac represents a whole new level of existential menace for the people of Smallville (and, less importantly, Earth), and just like with Doomsday, there’s no guarantee that Superman will walk away from this one unscathed. The show’s stellar summation of the Death of Superman arc at the start of the season goes a long way to set an ideal tone for Brainiac. Brainiac is certainly the sort of villain you end a franchise on, but with the myriad issues thatSuperman & Loisencountered and sacrifices to the cast and budget that had to be made to get it greenlit, there’s a good chance that a better, more rounded version of what fans are going to get as a finale exists in the hearts of the showrunners, and it’s unfortunate that it won’t be what hits screens over the next few weeks.
Some fans might be a bit disappointed to see Brainiac come to the small screen and resolve an arc in just a few TV episodes, but the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. WhileSuperman & Loiswill certainly beat him to it,James Gunn could still be plotting to bring Brainiac to live-actionto do battle with the DCU’s new Superman. Fans will have to wait and see if David Corenswet’s Man of Steel will go toe to toe with this particular big bad, but until that develops, it’ll be really interesting to see what the showrunners at The CW have in store for the villain in the final season of the final show of the network’s formerly lauded Arrowverse.
Superman & Loisis available on The CW, and for streaming on The CW app.
