Brainiac Queen's Origin Will Make Her Superman's Next Great Villain

Warning! Contains spoilers for Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1!

Summary Brainiac seeks knowledge but struggles to understand love, a concept foreign to him.

Brainiac's encounter with a father's love sparks his curiosity, leading to the creation of Brainiac Queen.

Brainiac's pursuit of creating love through Brainiac Queen may result in Superman's downfall.

Brainiac's insatiable lust for knowledge has made him a massive threat to both Superman and the entire galaxy. Brainiac will happily steal entire cities from planets, then destroy the planet to make sure the knowledge he's stolen is one of a kind. But now, with the creation of the Brainiac Queen, he's seeking the one form of knowledge that has always eluded him.

The one thing Brainiac has never understood is revealed in the first and third chapters of Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 by Joshua Williamson, Edwin Galmon, and Fico Ossio. Brainiac decides to destroy the planet Czarnia, as he often does, when he witnesses a father fighting to keep his family alive, showing true love and devotion to other beings.

Brainiac is confused by this display, since he intends to destroy the entire planet. There's nowhere for this father to run in order to save his family, and yet he keeps fighting regardless. This moment confuses Brainiac, and he ends up sparing the planet and leaving without destroying it, as he wants to investigate this new feeling stirring inside of him — which ultimately leads to the creation of the new Superman villain, Brainiac Queen.

Related The Entire Superman Family Is Defeated in One Attack as Brainiac Makes DC History “House of Brainiac” finally arrives and the Superman Family faces their greatest challenge when Brainiac unleashes his most powerful attack yet.

Brainiac Queen's Origin Is Tied to a Very Human Emotion

Brainiac Is Confused by the Notion of Love

Brainiac has spent eons traveling in outer space completely by himself. All he cares for is gathering knowledge, and he achieves this by capturing rare species from extinct planets. Often, these planets weren't extinct until Brainiac showed up. He has no family, he has no friends: all he seeks is knowledge. But the one thing that Brainiac has never understood is love or affection towards others. It's never been important to him, but after seeing a father willing to risk everything for his family, Brainiac is finally trying to investigate and understand love and personal connection as a form of knowledge.

Brainiac has been changing his tactics a lot lately. He now has a council of Brainiacs that he interacts with, which is a large step for a character who has almost always been entirely isolated. While interacting with multiple versions of himself isn't exactly the healthiest form of partnership, it's better than nothing. Now it seems Brainiac is taking things a step forward by creating the Brainiac Queen. Instead of finding a family and exploring love naturally, Brainiac has simply decided to build his own family and see if he can experience it that way — which is extremely on brand for this extreme Superman villain.

Brainiac Queen Might Give Brainiac the Knowledge He Seeks

Variant Cover by Paolo Rivera

Love is one of the most valuable forms of knowledge in the world. It can inspire people to do amazing things, and it can bring an endless number of people together. Brainiac has traveled galaxies and crossed endless stars, but he's never felt the love of another person. He's never felt a reason to fight for someone else or to do things for another person simply to see their joy. Now, Brainiac is going to try and create his own perfect love in Brainiac Queen — which, given other previews, could very well lead to Superman's downfall.

Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 is available now from DC Comics!

SUPERMAN: HOUSE OF BRAINIAC SPECIAL #1 (2024) Writer: Joshua Williamson, Mark Russell

Artist: Edwin Galmon, Steve Pugh, Fico Ossio

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire, Rex Lokus

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artist: Jamal Campbell