DC might have just spoiled who the villain is for James Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy DCU film.
While DC Studios confirmed that David Corenswet will be the next Superman, audiences are still waiting to see who he’ll be going up against in his first movie.
It’s already confirmed that the anti-hero group named The Authority, or at the very least, members from it, will be in Legacy. Given the group’s questionable morals, they could easily be going up against the Man of Steel.
Though, many fans have been quick to point out that they might not be the main antagonists of the movie but rather one piece of the puzzle. Plenty of rumors suggest that Clark Kent will be going up against Lobo—perhaps even played by Jason Momoa, who might be leaving Aquaman behind.
Brainiac the Villain of Superman: Legacy.
The official Superman Twitter account revealed three of the character’s comic arcs that inspired James Gunn’s upcoming reboot, Superman: Legacy. One of the picks seemingly alluded to Brainiac being the movie’s villain.
The selections in question are Action Comics #866-780, from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, otherwise known simply as Brainiac. The story sees the knowledge-obsessed alien Brainiac setting his sights on Earth and the Man of Steel who protects it.
The villain has a tendency to go to various worlds and literally collect its people and cities to add to his vast reservoir of assets and knowledge.
Another comic run on the list was the already announced All-Star Superman, from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, which sees the Man of Steel dying due to overexposure to the sun. The Kryptonian sets out to accomplish as many heroic feats as he can in the time he has left while trying to make peace with his fate.
Finally, there’s Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright, which focuses on the character’s origin story—specifically when the hero decided he needed to do more with his powers.
David Corenswet vs. Brainiac?
It’s hard to see why a comic series with Brainiac explicitly in the title would be included in a list like this if the iconic villain wasn’t involved in some way. Otherwise, it would come off as DC Comics offering false promises.
Fans have wanted to see the classic villain get his due on the big screen for quite some time, so they’d no doubt be delighted if he does face off against David Corenswet’s Superman.
Brainiac was actually pretty close to getting a theatrical debut before James Gunn’s big DCU reset. At one point, he was considered to be the antagonist for Man of Steel 2.
The classic villain has popped up in various Superman media outside of film. He was recently the key antagonist in the Injustice 2 video game and is even set to be the leading baddie in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Brainiac was also the central villain in the SyFy series Krypton, which followed the titular planet 200 years before its doom.
Superman: Legacy arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.
