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Thoughts On That Change To Superman’s Origin? *Spoilers*

Do You Like This Twist To The Superman Origin?

  • Yes - It’s a Bold And Interesting Creative Choice

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • No - It’s a Betrayal Of The Source Material.

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • Indifferent - Makes No difference To Me

    Votes: 8 36.4%

  • Total voters
    22
So, I just rewatched the DCAU Superman episode from the 90s where Brainiac makes his first appearance.

Honestly, Gunn could use that episode as a template for his next film and tie the whole thing into Jor-El’s and Lara’s message. In the episode, Superman learns that Brainiac was the AI that was basically controlling Krypton and hastening its destruction so that he could gather as much knowledge as possible. The one key difference here is that the AU Jor-El ultimately realizes what Brainiac is up to and tries to stop him (obviously he fails). But in the new version, we could learn that Jor was being manipulated by Brainiac and it ultimately led to the planet’s end. Unfortunately, he believed the planet was doomed and focused his efforts on colonizing space rather than saving the planet.

The template of the episode would also provide an outlet for Clark to discover his Kryptonian heritage (initially trusting Brainy). Luthor could also factor into it in a similar way; in the episode, Lexcorp is working with the government to get Brainiac’s tech but instead he could be working with ARGUS from prison.

Anyway, who knows what Gunn has planned but I know this version of Brainiac is a popular one that would neatly tie in with some of the groundwork Gunn laid down already. Plus rogue AI is all the rage and fear right now.
 
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So, I just rewatched the DCAU Superman episode from the 90s where Brainiac makes his first appearance.

Honestly, Gunn could use that episode as a template for his next film and tie the whole thing into Jor-El’s and Lara’s message. In the episode, Superman learns that Brainiac was the AI that was basically controlling Krypton and hastening its destruction so that he could gather as much knowledge as possible. The one key difference here is that the AU Jor-El ultimately realizes what Brainiac is up to and tries to stop him (obviously he fails). But in the new version, we could learn that Jor was being manipulated by Brainiac and it ultimately led to the planet’s end. Unfortunately, he believed the planet was doomed and focused his efforts on colonizing space rather than saving the planet.

The template of the episode would also provide an outlet for Clark to discover his Kryptonian heritage (initially trusting Brainy). Luthor could also factor into it in a similar way; in the episode, Lexcorp is working with the government to get Brainiac’s tech but instead he could be working with ARGUS from prison.

Anyway, who knows what Gunn has planned but I know this version of Brainiac is a popular one that would neatly tie in with some of the groundwork Gunn laid down already. Plus rogue AI is all the rage and fear right now.

i've had similar thoughts about this as well.

what if they made brainiac as the over-arching villain for this first phase of the DCU?

and as you say, it would be relevant because the current fears of AI in our society.

and it would be like the JLU season 1 where it turns out brainiac was manipulating everything in the background so he can take over and destroy the justice league.

also this would differentiate it from thanos in the MCU.
brainiac is a villain that has physical form, but he can be replicated and hide himself in non-physical forms.

i think he's too big a villain to leave as a one-off for just one superman sequel.
 
i've had similar thoughts about this as well.

what if they made brainiac as the over-arching villain for this first phase of the DCU?

and as you say, it would be relevant because the current fears of AI in our society.

and it would be like the JLU season 1 where it turns out brainiac was manipulating everything in the background so he can take over and destroy the justice league.

also this would differentiate it from thanos in the MCU.
brainiac is a villain that has physical form, but he can be replicated and hide himself in non-physical forms.

i think he's too big a villain to leave as a one-off for just one superman sequel.

Yeah there is a ton they could do with Brainiac. But I want to see him as a Superman villain first, and then they can grow his influence from there. I was mapping out where this could go in my head, and I think it would be great to have Brainiac as your main antagonist in Superman 2, and then in the third installment, after his (apparent) defeat, you could have Luthor and Emmett Vale use some leftover Brainiac tech to help build giant kaiju Metallo.

Then you could bring Brainiac back as the Big Bad that threatens the entire JL.
 
I just read the Geoff Johns/Richard Donner Brainiac comic from like 15 years ago (yeah, I know, **** Johns) but it’s a really cool story that I think Gunn could merge with the DCAU Brainiac for a Superman sequel, or a Superman/Supergirl team up movie. Kara has really good arc in the story, as a lot of it involves her past trauma fleeing Krypton with her family from Brainiac’s attack. Plus the DP crew all have roles and they could fit in well with an adaptation of this story too. Lois and Kara have some nice bonding moments too. The only thing I would scrap would be the Pa Kent stuff, which seemed to just be thrown in to tug at the heartstrings.

I believe Gunn said this story was one of the ones that helped inspire him while he was working on the first movie. That may have changed since we know he initially considered using Brainiac but later dropped it. But given where this story went with Kara, maybe Gunn can drop some Brainiac teases in the Supergirl movie that lead into the next film. I feel like that could really bring together a huge story for both heroes and an introduction to the villain that everyone wants to see.

A few things I might streamline…

I feel like Brainiac works best as Kryptonian AI program rather than a Coluan scientist. However, I feel like he could have a series of organic Coluan clone bodies that he uses to give him his classic green humanoid appearance. But I stil like the idea of Brainiac as this cold, calculating entity purely driven by knowledge, superiority and experimentation. Making him a pure machine sets him apart from a more emotional villain like Lex and I want them to lean into that.

Collecting bottle cities is interesting and can make for cool visuals but I worry that it treads into some of the same territory that Luthor did with his offworld prison. It’s not entirely the same but it puts Superman on a similar path where he is freeing people from a secret prison again. But that might be okay if we get to see him explore Kandor and really connect with his Kryptonian heritage.
 
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I just read the Geoff Johns/Richard Donner Brainiac comic from like 15 years ago (yeah, I know, **** Johns) but it’s a really cool story that I think Gunn could merge with the DCAU Brainiac for a Superman sequel, or a Superman/Supergirl team up movie. Kara has really good arc in the story, as a lot of it involves her past trauma fleeing Krypton with her family from Brainiac’s attack. Plus the DP crew all have roles and they could fit in well with an adaptation of this story too. Lois and Kara have some nice bonding moments too. The only thing I would scrap would be the Pa Kent stuff, which seemed to just be thrown in to tug at the heartstrings.

I believe Gunn said this story was one of the ones that helped inspire him while he was working on the first movie. That may have changed since we know he initially considered using Brainiac but later dropped it. But given where this story went with Kara, maybe Gunn can drop some Brainiac teases in the Supergirl movie that lead into the next film. I feel like that could really bring together a huge story for both heroes and an introduction to the villain that everyone wants to see.

A few things I might streamline…

I feel like Brainiac works best as Kryptonian AI program rather than a Coluan scientist. However, I feel like he could have a series of organic Coluan clone bodies that he uses to give him his classic green humanoid appearance. But I stil like the idea of Brainiac as this cold, calculating entity purely driven by knowledge, superiority and experimentation. Making him a pure machine sets him apart from a more emotional villain like Lex and I want them to lean into that.

Collecting bottle cities is interesting and can make for cool visuals but I worry that it treads into some of the same territory that Luthor did with his offworld prison. It’s not entirely the same but it puts Superman on a similar path where he is freeing people from a secret prison again. But that might be okay if we get to see him explore Kandor and really connect with his Kryptonian heritage.

i know in dkIII - frank miller had written the civilians of kandor had succumbed to this extremist cult and were violent but i hope we do not go that route.

we've got enough evil kryptonians haha.

maybe show the people of kandor are ultimately peaceful so clark can finally reconcile with his kryptonian heritage, and that not ALL of them followed this culture of colonization.

so being called the last son of krypton is something he no longer needs to be ashamed about.
 
The breeding with human women thing with human is really, really strongly emphasized by Lex and a certain faction of the media. Because they're the bad guys, who are trying to manipulate people with a soundbyte and sensationalism.
You can’t make a critique/satire of Great Replacement conspiracy theories while also having seven hamfisted scenes about how it’s a legitimate, real evil plan only thwarted because the evil foreigner’s refugee baby was nice and raised by nice people. That is just profoundly confused, poorly written messaging.
 

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