Though it's not officially 100% confirmed, it looks like Brainiac will be the villain of James Gunn's new Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, leading Supes to team up with his arch enemy Lex Luthor. Brainiac makes perfect sense for a villain to take on that role, as he's not only one of Superman's longest running foes, he's also got comic connections to Luthor, Supergirl, and Lobo.
Dating back to 1958, Brainiac has undergone many changes over the years, with comics including numerous incarnations of the villain, and other media, such as Superman: The Animated Series and My Adventures with Superman adding deeper and more destructive connections with Krypton. So here's everything you need to know about the many versions of Brainiac, and how he could fit into the DCU.
Silver Age
The original Brainiac debuted all the way back in 1958's Action Comics #242 by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, two of the most influential early Superman creators. In his earliest incarnation, he is an alien conqueror who travels the universe shrinking cities and bottling them up for his bizarre collection.
Though Brainiac evolved significantly over the years, this initial version of the character established that he captured the Kryptonian city of Kandor, holding it hostage in his spaceship. Later, Superman: The Animated Series added the addition that Brainiac destroyed KryptonIn the modern age, Superman would eventually rescue Kandor and restore it to full size, temporarily creating a new orbiting city known as New Krypton.
Computer Tyrant
Brainiac's first major evolution came when he was changed from simply being an alien conqueror into being a diabolical artificial intelligence with a destructive streak, redefining him as a so-called Computer Tyrant named Vril-Dox from the planet Colu. The AI Brainiac later transferred his mind into a nearly unkillable series of android bodies adorned with a metallic skull.
This version of Brainiac became one of his most iconic portrayals, setting him up as one of Superman's most deadly and determined villains, also elevating him into a DC Universe level threat. It's also one of Brainiac's most visually striking incarnations, also introducing his menacing Skull Ship as his base of operations.
Milton Fine
In the '90s, Brainiac took a form closer to his original portrayal as a green-skinned humanoid. In this case, he was actually a human from Earth named Milton Fine, whose body was taken over by Brainiac's AI programming, turning him into a strange, cybernetic schemer with vast psychic powers.
The Milton Fine version of Brainiac anchored a mid-'90s DC event titled 'Panic in the Sky,' in which he uses his psychic abilities to take over the mind of that era's Supergirl to conquer the violent traveling space station known as Warworld and turn it against Earth. Given Supergirl is part of the current DCU, that tidbit could be extra relevant in Man of Tomorrow.
Time Traveler
Following the Milton Fine era, Brainiac was embodied as a series of different upgraded versions, including Brainiac 2.5, Brainiac 6, Brainiac 8, Brainiac 12, and Brainiac 13, some of whom traveled back in time from the far future to use their much more advanced AI intellect and technology to attempt to conquer Earth.
This ties into the character Brainiac 5, a member of the 30th century team the Legion of Super-Heroes, a Coluan hero who is depicted as the benevolent descendant of the present day's villainous Computer Tyrant. Interestingly, it's actually the introduction of Brainiac 5 in 1961 that spurred the first major revision of the present day Brainiac's backstory.
Collector of Worlds
In the mid-'00s, Brainiac was redefined yet again, this time in an attempt to reconcile all the different versions of the villain into one concise timeline. To accomplish this, Brainiac was reintroduced as a kind of prime Brainiac - the villain's true physical form, with all the other previous versions retconned into being clones of the prime Brainiac.
The newly reinvented Brainiac was a seeker of knowledge, seeking out planets with new information to absorb, stealing one of their cities, and destroying the planet. This Brainiac managed to shrink and steal Metropolis, with Superman eventually rescuing both his home city while also restoring the Kryptonian city of Kandor.
No Justice/Legion of Doom
Brainiac's next big move came in 2018's No Justice event, in which Brainiac arrived on Earth not as a conqueror, but with a warning that a massive cosmic threat was on its way to destroy the planet. Both heroes and villains rally to his cause, allowing Brainiac to empower them with his tech.
However, Amanda Waller becomes suspicious of Brainiac's motives, enlisting the Earth's most powerful psychics to probe the villain's mind. The psychic invasion causes Brainiac's head to explode, later leading to the revelation that he would have betrayed the Earth. He's later revived by Lex Luthor, who teams up with Brainiac to form a new version of the Legion of Doom, though Brainiac later betrays him.
House of Brainiac
Most recently, Brainiac returned to Metropolis in 2024's 'House of Brainiac' event with a whole family of android conquerors at his side, including his vicious new companion the Brainiac Queen. 'House of Brainiac' also involved some major retcons to Lobo's origins, showing that Brainiac was responsible for capturing and shrinking Lobo's home city.
Superman and Lobo eventually team up to defeat Brainiac and his cohort, with Brainiac eventually succumbing to a degeneration of his AI mind, dying as Superman promises to save his family. All Brainiac's stolen cities are restored, forming a new planet known as Colu II. With Lobo coming to the DCU in Supergirl, he could be involved in Man of Tomorrow.
While we wait for Man of Tomorrow to hit theaters on July 9, 2026, you can stay up to date on all the upcoming DC movies and shows that are in the works.
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