Warning! Spoilers ahead for Superman #14!A new threat has emerged in Superman’s life, combining the terrifying threat of Doomsday with a surprising villain. The Super-Family has been kidnapped to serve as the test subjects for one of the coldest and cruelest villains Clark has ever faced: Brainiac.

Brainiac has been watching Superman and his family for months as part of his latest crusade. The Coluan villain has reached the peak of his quest for knowledge and is embarking on the next phase of his journey by creating life. But just as Brainiac’s creation comes to life, she reveals the terrible power she’s hiding that could doom the DC Universe.

The Brainiac Queen is a Doomsday-Like Monster Created by Brainiac

In Superman #14 by Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Miguel Mendonca, Alejandro Sánchez, and Ariana Maher, Lobo attacks Superman to prove to General Chacal that Lobo has what it takes to take over Chacal’s gang. After the fight, Chacal restrains Superman with powerful chains and notifies Brainiac that the Czarnians are returning to Brainiac’s ship with the Man of Steel in tow. Satisfied, Brainiac begins making the final preparations for his latest experiment and takes his prisoners to his main laboratory.

Meanwhile, Supergirl and Lex Luthor are on the run from Brainiac, running around the revived bottle city of Colu on Brainiac’s ship. Kara gets the two to safety and asks him what Brainiac is planning. All Lex says is that Brainiac has holes in his knowledge database and has filled the gap by trying to create a “new creature of death and destruction”. Back in the lab, Superman is brought to Brainiac, who places Superman with the rest of the Super-Family and uses their power to bring Brainiac’s creation to life.

The experiment is a success and the Brainiac Queen comes to life. Lobo and Chacal prepare to leave, but Brainiac reveals the Czarnians play a crucial role in the experiment. Revealing that his queen needs fuel, Brainiac unleashes the Brainiac Queen on Chacal and his men. The Queen transforms into a hulking monster that tears through the Czarnians, consuming anyone unlucky enough to be in her path. Within moments, the Czarnians are dead and the Brainiac Queen stands above their corpses, hungry for more power.

How and Why Brainiac Has Built His Powerful Queen

For eons, Brainiac has traveled through the DC Universe, amassing knowledge and storing it for himself (while also preserving alien cities in tiny bottled containment units). At some point, Brainiac felt he’d gained all the knowledge he’d ever need. And yet, there were mysteries that eluded him. Namely, why Earth had such a high concentration of superhumans. To sate this curiosity Brainiac began studying Earth in secret, observing the Man of Steel’s actions. Around the same time, Brainiac also began plotting to create new life.

To aid his quest for knowledge, Brainiac freed General Chacal and his crew, an army of Czarnians from the bottled Czarnian metropolis, Paz City. Brainiac had previously made a deal with Lobo’s old teacher Miss Tribb to take Paz City so Brainiac could study the secrets behind the Czarnians’ god-level healing factor. But for what Brainiac had planned, he needed Chacal’s military might. To ensure that Chacal was up for the task, he had the Czarnians slaughter the planet Braal’s people. With a powerful army behind him, Brainiac headed for Earth.

Metropolis was hit hard and suddenly by Brainiac’s forces as he unleashed a wave of drones and Chacal’s people on the unsuspecting city. The army tore through the city, looking for any metahuman. They captured and bottled up most of Superman’s family before retreating to Brainaic’s ship. Now with metahumans and Kryptonians to study, Brainiac began experimenting. In just a matter of hours, Brainiac had everything he needed to move to the final stage and bring the Brainiac Queen to life.

The Danger Superman’s New Foe Represents

The Brainiac Queen has been teased for months and fans had no clue what kind of powers she possessed. With her debut fans know that she has the ability to transform into a beast on part with Doomsday’s size and killing potential. In just a matter of seconds, the Brainiac Queen annihilates every Czarnian except for Lobo (who stayed out of her killing range). Czarnians are notoriously hard to kill and able to regenerate from practically nothing. However, the Brainiac Queen is deadly enough to render powerful healing factors absolutely worthless.

Though it’s still several weeks away, DC Comics is slowly approaching Absolute Power, its upcoming summer event. The event has already teased that the Brainiac Queen is going to be a part of the Trinity of Evil, a cadre that also features Amanda Waller and Failsafe, Batman’s ultimate robotic contingency. It wasn’t clear what Brainiac Queen would add to this equation, but now, the role she plays is obvious: The Brainiac Queen is going to be Amanda Waller’s muscle, and that spells trouble for the DC Universe.

Waller is out to rid the world of metahumans altogether and while it sounded like a pipe dream at first, it seems all too attainable now. Even if Waller wasn’t on the cusp of finding a way of de-powering the entire world’s metahuman population, the Brainiac Queen was able to brutally destroy dozens of Czarnians, some of the most resilient beings around. But if Chacal and his men weren’t enough to stand up to the Brainiac Queen, then what chance do the rest of DC’s metahumans have?

The Brainiac Queen is Amanda Waller’s Secret Weapon in Absolute Power

Waller has secured a lot of powerful assets in her quest to bring DC’s metahumans to heel. While Failsafe and his army of Amazos are going to be a huge help, the Brainiac Queen is a terrifying force unto herself. Though it remains to be seen what else she can do and how she can help Waller attain her goal, the Brainiac Queen has made it quite clear that she’s a danger to some of the most powerful people around. If Superman’s not careful, he and his allies could be the next thing fueling his new Doomsday-level foe.

Superman #14 is available now from DC Comics.