'Supergirl' Season 5 could see Brainiac 5's villainous side return as Kara deals with a new technological threat
Jesse Rath's Brainiac 5/Querl Dox aka "Brainy" has become quite a beloved character on The CW's 'Supergirl'. He has proven himself to be quite a useful ally to the Girl of Steel, his prodigious intellect often helping Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and her friends out of some really tough scrapes.
Unfortunately, there's a pretty good chance that this season may bring out the worst in everybody's favorite Coluan. Season 5 will reportedly focus on the dangers of technology in a tribute of sorts to 'Black Mirror'. Showrunner Robert Rovner told TV Line this season will look at how people tend to be more engaged with the world of technology than with the human world.
“We think of this as our ode to Black Mirror,” Rovner said. “The hope is that people would be more engaged with what’s going on and wanting to make the world a better place, but they seem to be more engaged with technology. We explore how that affects our characters and how our villains try to exploit that.”
Seeing as how Rovner has teased technology itself may be the villain this season, Brainy's ability to interface with machines may prove to be an invaluable asset. That said, there's also the very real and very scary possibility he may end up being the one behind this impending technological assault.
In season 4, Brainy had his mind rebooted leading to the return of his ancestor’s villainous tendencies, though they seem to be under control right now. However, Rath has teased that his character will be going through some difficult times in the upcoming season, especially with respect to his relationship with Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines).
During San Diego Comic-Con 2019 in July, Rath revealed that “At least in the first couple of episodes, we will see them together in a relationship and learn the aftermath of the alignment situation and how that affected them as a couple and what that revealed about Brainy; about who he is and what he knows about himself and how he’ll struggle with opening up to Nia and being vulnerable with her. Because he did hurt her unintentionally. So it’s going to be a struggle but there will be some fun moments.”
Judging from his comments, it would seem Brainy is going to have a bit of an identity crisis, which is completely understandable for a hero who is most famous for being descended from one of the worst villains the universe has ever seen. Brainy's ancestor, the original Brainiac, is one of Superman's most iconic villains and though he is yet to appear on the show, the villainous Brainiac did have an important part to play in the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' comics.
Brainy's love for Nia is pretty much the only thing that got him to return to his normal self after the reboot but if that relationship is compromised, there would be nothing left to hold him back. Considering the sheer amount of power at Brainy's disposal, all it would take is one heartbreak-fueled tantrum to bring the whole world crashing down.
'Supergirl' Season 5 will begin airing on The CW October 6.