I thinkDC’s first release of 2025 did a fantastic job with Brainiac’s story, but I was not at all prepared for his love life to also be spotlighted. Superman has quite a few interesting foes in the comics. While other DC heroes like Batman and The Flash are often said to have the best rogues galleries, I always enjoyedthe variety that Superman’s villains offer. That said, you can’t really go wrong with classics, which is whyJames Gunn’s Superman movieuses Lex Luthor as its main villain.
While I am excited to see theanticipated DCU movie, I have also enjoyed the first DC project to release in 2025. Funny enough, the TV-MA series spotlights the City of Tomorrow, with Metropolis, Superman, and quite a few supporting players from the Man of Steel’s side of DC appearing. Among them is Brainiac, which is my favorite Superman villain after Lex Luthor. Similar in tone toCreature Commandos, the project that started theDCU’s Chapter One,DC Studios' first 2025 release shows Brainiac’s different sides,including his love life, which was a surprise.
2025’s First DC Release Reveals Way More Than We Ever Needed To Know About Brainiac
The Superman Villain Faces Immense Tragedy
Before James Gunn’sSupermanrolls around isHarley Quinn, with season 5 of the DC series starting the year for the comic book giant with exciting twists. Based on how popular Gunn’sCreature CommandosandPeacemakerhave proven to be, I think thatHarley Quinnshould receive more love. The TV-MA animated series goes for the same action-packed, bloody, violent tone of those projects, also sharing their raunchy comedy style.Harley Quinnseason 5 brings Harley and Poison Ivy to Metropolis, withBrainiac serving as the season’s main villain, trying to bottle the city.
Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 4 Review: I Don’t Want Brainiac To Die After Such An Emotional Origin Story
Harley Quinn season 5’s latest episode puts Brainiac center stage, and the result is a layered take on the villain full of laughs & emotional moments.
Harley Quinnseason 5, episode 4, pulled the focus away from Harley and Poison Ivy to tell Brainiac’s origin story. We get to learn about how Brainiac had a family in Colu — a wife, son, and a pet monkey — and they were all killed, save for the pet, while he was off-planet working to perfect another planet. What I didn’t anticipate was thatHarley Quinnseason 5 would explore Colu’s unconventional sex.Brainiac and his wife have intercourse by touching their foreheads and “sharing files.“Having known Brainiac as a cold-blooded machine, watching him “have sex” was weird but hilarious.
Why Harley Quinn Focuses On Brainiac’s Life In A Very Different Way
The DC Series Is Trying Something New
If there was one project that could touch on Brainiac’s love life, it sure wasHarley Quinn, as the comedic nature of the weird moment matched the show’s tone. It was also part of an entire episode fully dedicated todelving deeper into who Brainiac is as a character. In pretty much every other adaptation of the Superman villain, Brainiac is always a cold being with no compassion who just wants to amass as much knowledge as possible and bottle cities to add to his collection.Harley Quinnchanges that.
Episode 4 tried to humanize Brainiac, and it worked perfectly. Brainiac’s relationship with his family was developed quite well. His supporting wife had a mind of her own and tried to make him better, standing by his side. As for his son, he just wanted to make his father proud. Sadly, Brainiac could never tell him that he did. The death of his family haunted him in a way that he took an idea from his son’s last gift to him and transformed it into his plan to make cities perfect and bottle them. It made Brainiac a complex villain.
I’m Fascinated To See Where DC Will Go With Its Version Of Brainiac Next
The Villain Is One Of The Show’s Best So Far
After episode 4, I can’t help but partially root for Brainiac. I know that he is clashing with Harley and Ivy, whom we have followed for five seasons. However, the character is on a destructive path that was started by the worst possible form of trauma anyone could go through.The loss of his family changed Brainiac, but it did not make him evil, just cold. Through his talks with Coco, the family monkey who has been dead for a long time but Brainiac still hallucinates is alive, we can see that there is still someone worth saving in there.
Brainiac could be imprisoned on Earth and forced to help the planet for his actions.
As for what the future holds for the character, there are a few waysHarley Quinnseason 5 could take for Brainiac. Past seasons of the show had no problems killing major DC characters, soI fear Brainiac might suffer a dark fate. He could also live, being defeated by Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and the whole gang and flying off into space, or Brainiac could be imprisoned on Earth and forced to help the planet for his actions. In any case, the fact thatHarley Quinnseason 5 is taking time to make Brainiac a well-rounded character is exciting.
