With the Arrowverse likely doing a build-up to another Crisis on Infinite Earths-level crossover in the coming seasons, Brainiac is the next perfect DC antagonist for The CW. Since the launch of The Flash in 2014, the network spent multiple seasons teasing the iconic storyline that redefined DC Comics in the late '80s. After several crossovers that brought the heroes of the Arrowverse together against various threats, the ultimate big bad became Mobius a.k.a. the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett). The iconic DC foe put all the heroes to the ultimate test in trying to save the Multiverse. As he was defeated, the biggest question that remains is how the Arrowverse will ever top Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Anti-Monitor.
The go-to candidate would be Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips and one of the most iconic Justice League villains of all time, if not the most iconic one. However, with Warner Bros. still having a tricky restriction with what characters can and can’t appear on the TV shows while the DCEU is ongoing, it’s likely that Darkseid will never make it to The CW. With the exception of Smallville’s incarnation of the character, Darkseid hasn’t made it into the Arrowverse shows since the franchise began in 2012. Since Ava DuVernay’s New Gods will feature Darkseid as well as Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, The CW will most definitely not be able to use him in the coming years.
However, there is another candidate that would be ideal for the Arrowverse to look to, especially with Superman & Lois coming up as The CW’s next DC TV series: Vril Dox a.k.a. Brainiac. Ever since Jesse Rath’s Brainiac 5 was introduced into the franchise via Supergirl, the creators have toyed around with Brainiac’s existence in Querl Dox’s timeline from the 31st century. While next year’s crossover will be a smaller one between Superman & Lois and Batwoman — especially because of how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting TV production — Brainiac is the ideal big bad for the next Crisis-like crossover event featuring all of the Arrowverse shows.
The Next Arrowverse Crossover Needs A Bigger Villain
Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the creators behind all the Arrowverse shows have featured various threats from the DC Universe in past crossovers. From the invasion of Earth-X, Vandal Savage to the Dominators, the heroes had formidable villains to up against. But the Anti-Monitor brought it to the next level by raising the stakes compared to the villains that come before him. With a being like him wanting to take out the entire Multiverse, it ended up being a battle that affected all the Earths across the Multiverse. Even though he was defeated in the end, Mobius actually succeeded in destroying every single Earth before Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) rebooted the Multiverse as the Spectre.
As the Arrowverse has already dealt with a villain that wanted to destroy worlds, Brainiac comes in with a refreshing motive but equally-high stakes. One of Brainiac’s driving forces in the mythology has been his obsession with preserving worlds, making him known as the Collector of Worlds in the DC Universe. While he and Anti-Monitor both have a focus on going after worlds, Brainiac still stands apart by having a desire to collect them.
Brainiac Already Exists In The Arrowverse After Crisis on Infinite Earths
While he has yet to be referred by his real name, Brainiac has pretty much existed in the Arrowverse through allusion, since Brainiac 5 joined Supergirl in the third season, and the two characters share a common moniker and background. Despite being from the future, Brainy is forced to stay behind in the present due to a distant relative who unleashed a plague that killed every single A.I. in existence, except for him. That’s what caused Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan) to take Brainy’s place in the Legion by going to the future to try and find a way to stop Brainy’s cousin.
Despite having been there for almost 3 seasons, Winn has so far not been able to stop the relative, hence why Brainiac-5 is still around in the present. When Winn returned briefly in the fifth season, there were little indications of them getting closer to stopping Brainy’s distant relative.
Superman & Lois Can Properly Setup Brainiac For The Next Arrowverse Crossover
Since Supergirl doesn’t focus too much on Brainiac and the threat he is causing in the future, that is a story that Superman & Lois could pick up and continue. While Brainiac has been featured in a lot of Justice League stories, the Coluan is primarily recognized as one of the main villains for the Man of Steel in the lore. With the upcoming spinoff focusing heavily on Lois and Clark as parents, the series could start setting up Brainiac’s inevitable arrival in the present. Since Clark has travelled to the future in the comics as well as having a connection with the Legion of Superheroes, Superman & Lois could be where they first clash.
While Supergirl hasn’t explored too much about Superman’s past (if there is one) with Brainiac, the new show could set up their rivalry before he is eventually brought into the crossovers. It would be a solid way for the Arrowverse to do the Superman/Brainiac relationship differently compared to other iterations like on Smallville or the DC animated shows. Arrow’s final season handled the Monitor — as well as teasing the Anti-Monitor — in a solid way before the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. That is something that Superman & Lois could look to for inspiration in terms of how to begin Brainiac’s Arrowverse debut before he is fully used in a future Crisis-type crossover
What Brainiac As The Villain Would Mean For The Arrowverse's Next Crossover
With Brainiac bringing different aspects to the table as a potential crossover villain, there are several benefits to making him the next main threat. A payoff that needs to happen at some point is the two Dox cousins coming face to face in order to conclude the threat that Brainiac is causing in the 31st century. If Supergirl never introduces the villainous Coluan, it takes away a major story from Brainiac 5. It would be cheap for the creators to resolve that storyline offscreen and have Winn coming back to the present just to tell the other characters, as opposed to getting to see the two Brainiacs sharing the screen with each other.
Another reason for the Arrowverse to build up toward Brainiac as the next villain is because of Krypton’s portrayal of the iconic foe. While the Superman prequel, unfortunately, only lasted for two seasons, Blake Ritson’s version of Brainiac was one of the strongest aspects of the SYFY drama. Serving as the overall antagonist for the series, Brainiac going back in time to mess with the House of El showed why he is a villain that DC TV shows and films should invest in. While Krypton's Cameron Cuffe, who played Kal-El's grandfather Seg-El, was originally going to appear in Crisis, schedule issues prevented the SYFY series to take part in the 5-hour crossover.
Given how ambiguous Arrowverse's Brainiac currently is, the creators should look to Krypton's version as the perfect version to appear in The CW shows. Whether it's that Earth's Brainiac or Earth-Prime's version (that just happens to look like Ritson's incarnation), Krypton raised the bar in how to portray one of DC's most powerful villains, both structurally and visually. Another intriguing angle is if a big future crossover had Earth-Prime and Earth-Krypton's (given that they don't have a specific designation post-Crisis) come together as a double threat for The CW heroes; that would also be an organic way for Earth-Prime to discover that there is still a Multiverse out there, something the characters still don't know about. In conclusion, that is also what makes Brainiac the best next villain for the Arrowverse to invest in while also having the heroes battle the Collector of Worlds.