Superman & Lois Had Plans for Brainiac and Darkseid Before Cancellation, Confirms Showrunners

DC fans might have seen a fully realized Brainiac and possibly even Darkseid in Superman & Lois if the Arrowverse-adjacent superhero series had lasted more than four seasons.

On Monday, December 2, Superman & Lois aired its series finale on The CW. Across its four seasons and 53 episodes, fans were treated to fresh takes on several popular Superman villains, such as Morgan Edge, Bruno Mannheim, Doomsday, Gordon Godfrey, and Lex Luthor. However, if the beloved DC superhero drama had not been cancelled, co-showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher revealed that there were plans to introduce Brainiac and Darkseid in later seasons.

Speaking with TVLine, Helbing shared that they were able to work “some version” of everything they wanted into the fourth and final season, there were some ideas that they unfortunately could not fit in. “If we went on for a couple more seasons, we would have really explored Brainiac,” admitted Helbing. “We would have done more cool, traditional Brainiac stuff with him.”

The closest Superman & Lois got to having Brainiac on the show was through the character Milton Fine, who was introduced in Season 4 as a LuthorCorp inventor and ally of Lex Luthor. In the comics, Milton Fine was a character with psychic abilities who was possessed by Brainiac.

Helbing added that Darkseid was another villain they were hoping to get into the show, revealing that they had discussed “a way to lead up to Darkseid.” However, the co-showrunner admitted that they were unsure “if DC would have given us permission to use Darkseid, but we would have pitched the hell out of it to try to get it. That would have been a lot of fun.”

Fletcher also shared that they had hoped to get Adam Rayner back as Superman’s half-brother Tal-Roh/Morgan Edge, who last appeared at the end of Season 2, but that “we weren’t able to do it. It just came down to schedules and money and time.”

Superman & Lois concludes DC TV on The CW

With Superman & Lois off the air, The CW is without a DC series on its schedule for the first time since the 2011-12 television season. The Superman prequel series Smallville aired its final five seasons on The CW from 2006 to 2011, while Arrow premiered in 2012. The Stephen Amell-led series based on the superhero Green Arrow kicked off a wave of interconnected DC shows dubbed the Arrowverse that lasted until 2023.

Superman & Lois, originally developed as part of the Arrowverse before being spun off into its own universe, marked the final DC TV show for the network. With The CW shifting away from scripted originals in favor of unscripted/reality programming and acquisitions, it remains to be seen if the network will ever house another DC show, especially with the next few series from DC Studios set to air on HBO and Max.