Krypton TV Series Casts Its Brainiac

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Krypton TV Series Casts Brainiac & Superman's Great-Grandmother

SyFy's Krypton TV series casts Da Vinci's Demons actor Blake Ritson as the villain Brainiac and Paula Malcomson as Superman's great-grandmother.

Da Vinci's Demons actor Blake Ritson has been cast in SyFy's Krypton as the classic Superman villain, Brainiac. This will be the second live-action version of Brainiac, with the first appearing in Smallville, played by James Marsters.

Developed by David S. Goyer and Damian Kindler, Krypton takes viewers to the home planet of Superman, two generations before its destruction. The series will follow the story of Superman's grandfather, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), who must fight to redeem the honor of his family, the House of El, after it was ostracized and shamed. Seg-El will struggle to save his world from chaos in the past, while the series also explores a present-day conspiracy to prevent the birth of Superman.

Deadline is reporting that both Ray Donovan actor Paula Malcomson and Ritson have been cast in Krypton. Ritson will play Brainiac, described as "a parasitic, hyper-advanced alien android of immense intelligence," while Malcomson will play Charys, the matriarch of the House of El. According to Deadline, "Charys helps her son Seg navigate the treacherous pitfalls of Kandor City, their Kryptonian home embattled with oppression and revolt."

It was announced by DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that two prominent members of Superman's rogues' gallery, Brainiac and Doomsday, would appear on Krypton. Johns revealed that Brainiac would serve as one of the show's primary antagonists. It was suggested at the panel that Brainiac would play a role in the modern-day portion of the story that revolves around the conspiracy to prevent Superman's birth. If true, Brainiac could be the character that ties together the past and present in the series.

Brainiac is a character with a deep, complex history in DC Comics that goes all the way back to Action Comics #242 in 1958. Brainiac is typically portrayed as an android from the planet Colu with green skin and a supercomputer for a brain. However, there have been multiple iterations of the character, making it difficult to say what we should expect from Ritson's Brainiac.

Aside from Brainiac and Doomsday, numerous DC characters will appear on the show. Science fiction hero Adam Strange will be played by Shaun Sipos. JLA member Hawkgirl is also set to appear.