DC Just Proved Brainiac Can Work as a Superman Movie Villain, With One Major Update

Warning: Spoilers for Action Comics #1064!More than 60 years after he debuted in the comics, Hollywood may finally be ready to bring Brainiac, one of Superman’s biggest enemies, to the big screen. There have been numerous instances where Warner Bros. nearly adapted Brainiac for the movies, most notably Richard Donner’s original vision for Superman III (which itself was adapted to the comics). Alas, to this day, nothing has come to fruition.

As difficult as Brainiac has been to adapt for movies, DC Comics may have given the Superman villain exactly what he needs for a big screen transition to make sense. This can be seen in Action Comics #1064 by Josha Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Alejandro Sanchez, and Dave Sharpe. Rather than simply being an android able to out-think Superman, Brainiac now has an army of drones to do his bidding.

The creative team giving Brainiac his own horde of drones is enough to remold Brainiac into even more of a threat than he was before, one fit for any medium, be it in the comics or in the movies.

Superman Villain Gets His Own Army of Drones

House of Brainiac Begins

This issue marks the first chapter in Superman’s next major storyline, “House of Brainiac.” With the title villain at the center of it all, Brainiac suddenly invades the city of Metropolis with an army of Brainiac drones working side-by-side with Czarnians (Lobo’s people, who are even deadlier than Kryptonians). Superman assembles the help of every member of the Superman Family to protect Metropolis and fight off this army, but they’re being overwhelmed. They’re outnumbered because this attack is unlike anything that Brainiac has delivered to their doorstep before.

Past Superman stories featuring Brainiac have often seen him orchestrating some cold, calculated, meticulous and long-thought out scheme. This new attack, though, feels more random, chaotic, and unpredictable than anything Brainiac has ever attempted. Supergirl – who has a longstanding history with Brainiac – points out that, for someone who has a tendency to be “brutal but strategic,” this attack “is not his style. This is … chaos.” It’s the chaos that makes this attack feel even more massive, thus making Brainiac the most dangerous he’s ever been.

Brainiac’s Chaos Makes Him Dangerous

As another regular Superman villain, Lex Luthor, says himself in the same comic, the maddening Lobos and the focused drones make for a combination that’s difficult to counterattack. The sheer unpredictability of Brainiac is out of character, but that’s what makes it so fatal. By deviating from Brainiac’s usual M.O., this new attack and the uncharacteristic randomness surrounding it catches the heroes off guard. The sheer size and unpredictability of Brainiac‘s army makes him an even bigger threat than ever before, on top of creating a great battle setting for a potential Superman movie.