Warning: SPOILERS for the My Adventures with Superman episode “The Death of Clark Kent” are ahead!
In addition to Lex Luthor causing trouble with Task Force X, My Adventures with Superman Season 2 has also been spotlighting Brainiac during the 2024 TV schedule. This take on the Man of Steel’s enemy was the AI that ran the Kryptonian Empire’s ships, computers, city and defense system, and following the planet’s destruction, he found Kara Zor-El, as an infant and raised her as his “daughter.” Kara delivered her cousin to Brainiac in “Most Eligible Superman,” and in “The Machine Who Would Be Empire,” it was revealed that he intends to use Kal-El as his new weapon to conquer planets for the New Kryptonian Empire.
Now obviously Superman isn’t someone who would willingly aid this malevolent machine, but in this case, he doesn’t have a choice. “The Death of Clark Kent,” which can be streamed now with a Max subscription, saw Brainiac gaining a major power boost by taking over Superman’s body. While I was already impressed with this version of Brainiac, now he’s become of of my favorite adaptations of the DC villain.
How Brainiac Became More Powerful
Brainiac used a Black Mercy, a Kryptonian device that traps one’s conscious mind inside of it, to see and interact with Superman’s memories. As a result of his base Kandor falling apart, the machine housing Brainiac’s AI was falling apart, so he intended to transfer himself into Clark’s body. That necessitated he “destroy” the Kryptonian hero’s consciousness, which he first tried to do by pitting him against memories of enemies like Livewire and Parasite, but was unsuccessful.
As it turned out, the key to breaking down Clark’s will wasn’t by using brute force, but by using his connection with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, as well as his insecurity about not belonging among humanity, against him. The warped representations of his friends, plus the real memory of Lois breaking up with Clark in “Most Eligible Superman,” were especially tough to watch, but it seemed as though he was able to fight off this mental assault and defeat Brainiac. Unfortunately, all Superman accomplished was inadvertently trapping himself in a fantasy where he grew up on Krypton with his parents, Kara and uncle Zor-El.
Meanwhile, after stealing a S.T.A.R. Labs spaceship and opening a portal with the help of Monsieur Mallah and Brain, Lois and Jimmy found Kara Zor-El, and they formulated a plan to rescue Clark. While Lois and Jimmy went searching for their friend, Kara confronted her “father,” believing that he’s destroyed all those planets because he was malfunctioning, and tried to talk sense into him. When Brainiac made it clear this was his true nature and criticized Kara for picking planets that weren’t worthy for the New Kryptonian Empire, the two of them fought, and the latter was ultimately able to destroy the former’s body.
Unfortunately, Brainiac had already taken over Superman’s body and was easily able to defeat Kara. While he still felt a little bit of love for her, he stated that this love needed to be purged for the New Kryptonian Empire to rise, so he broke one of Kandor’s windows to suck her, Lois and Jimmy out into space. Mallah and Brain rescued them, but now there’s a Brainiac-possessed Superman flying around. So with no other option left, Lois used the Black Mercy that she grabbed and attached it to herself so she could go into Clark’s mind to try and free him.
Why I Like This Brainiac So Much
While I like the classic Coluan version of Brainiac who shrinks cities for preservation, then destroys their source planets, the first version of the character I ever saw was the one from Superman: The Animated Series. That Brainiac was also a Kryptonian machine, so it’s nice to have that shared connection with the one from My Adventures with Superman. But what really makes me love to hate the Adult Swim show’s Brainiac is how manipulative he is.
Naturally you can’t have Brainiac without his superintelligence, but rather than simply being cold and calculating, My Adventures with Superman’s version of the character is also outright cruel. You could hear the disgust dripping from his voice when he tells Kara how disappointing she’s been to him, and adding insult to injury, he forced her to destroy those planets when she wouldn’t initially comply with his orders. So although Brainiac admitted to partially loving Kara, he saw her more as a tool for his plans rather than an actual daughter.
Brainiac’s mental assault on Superman in “The Death of Clark Kent” was especially twisted though, because although Supes knew that Lois and Jimmy had never expressed such disdain for him when those past events occurred, Brainiac came close to convincing him he was wrong. Then, even upon gaining control of Clark’s body, he was still willing to sacrifice his new pawn as easily as one throws out the trash.
Jimmy tried to use the Kryptonite Lois brought along to weaken the Brainiac-possessed Superman, but it didn’t have any effect on him, and Brainiac said he would simply transfer himself to a new vessel while Clark and Kara were being harmed if the radioactive rock stayed out. This Brainiac loves to toy with people’s emotions, making him ruthless for a different reason than we’re accustomed to seeing from the character. It makes him a dangerous adversary to his enemies, but a great villain to watch onscreen.
There are just two episodes left of My Adventures with Superman Season 2, but fear not, fellow fans, as Season 3 is officially on the way to Adult Swim. Be sure you’re also following along with our coverage on the other upcoming DC TV shows.