SUNRAY- Fallen Soldier Official Trailer 2 (2025)

SUNRAY- Fallen Soldier Official Trailer 2 (2025)

A war veteran calls on friends from his past to hunt down those responsible for the death of his daughter. Along the way, he learns more about himself than he anticipated as a violent crime syndicate unravels in his wake.

SUNRAY: Fallen Soldier Trailer 2 (2025) Action Movie HD
#movie #trailer #movietrailers #movietrailer
"Was it all worth it?!" "I need answers..." Vertigo Releasing has unveiled the official trailer for an action thriller movie called Sunray: Fallen Soldier, described as a "veteran created, veteran starrer." Drawing from their experiences in the Armed Forces, the filmmakers behind Sunray have created what promises to be the most accurate and authentic portrayal of Royal Marines Commandos combat ever seen on screen. A war veteran calls on friends from his past to help hunt down & take out those responsible for the death of his daughter. Along the way, he learns more about himself than he anticipated as a violent crime syndicate unravels in his wake. This stars Tip Cullen, Tom Leigh, Steven Blades, Luke Solomon, and Daniel Davids. Written, directed, produced, edited and acted by former Royal Marines, many of the Sunray team have lived & experienced the direct effects of conflict including the loss of friends. Veterans were employed across the production both on & off screen. This looks intense and gritty and brutal, but it still looks like a generic action film with an uninteresting story similar to so many other films before - take out the bad guys.

Official trailer (+ poster) for James Clarke & Daniel Shepherd's Sunray: Fallen Soldier, from YouTube:

Sunray: Fallen Soldier Poster

A war veteran calls on friends from his past to hunt down those responsible for the death of his daughter. Along the way, he learns more about himself than he anticipated as a violent crime syndicate unravels in his wake. After dedicating his entire life to service in the armed forces, Andrew Coleman now struggles to slot back into a world he no longer recognises. Forced to confront the death of his daughter following a fatal encounter with drugs, he becomes hell-bent on finding those responsible... Sunray: Fallen Soldier is co-directed by British filmmakers James Clarke & Daniel Shepherd, who are both making their feature directorial debut on this project after other filmmaking work previously. The screenplay is written by and it's also produced by James Clarke, Sam Seeley, and Daniel Shepherd. This initially premiered at the 2024 Edinburgh Film Festival in Scotland last year. Vertigo Releasing will debut Sunray: Fallen Soldier in select US theaters + on VOD starting on January 24th, 2025 coming soon. Anyone interested in watching this?
"You have no place here anymore." Netflix has revealed the full trailer for Cassandra, a sci-fi series from Germany streaming on Netflix in February. Yet another of these series about Artificial Intelligence helpers at home who go haywire. It's a popular topic because obviously it's a "zeitgeist" concept for entertainment. Germany's oldest smart home awakens its AI helper Cassandra after decades when a new family moves in. Cassandra, determined never to be abandoned again, manipulates events to become part of the family. She fancies herself as much more than a fairy godmother who keeps everything in order. Cassandra sees herself as an equal member of the family and does everything she can not to be left alone again – with all the means at her disposal. "Originally created to serve, now fighting to stay." Starring Lavinia Wilson as Cassandra, along with Mina Tander, Michael Klammer, Franz Hartwig, Mary Tölle, Joshua Kantara, Elias Grünthal, & Filip Schnack. This looks very dark and extremely creepy! Watch out for these angry robots.

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🍿 › Posted January 7 in Sci-Fi, Streaming, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Amy Schumer in Fake Baby Bump Comedy 'Kinda Pregnant' Full Trailer
By Alex Billington
Kinda Pregnant
"The most important relationship you're ever going to have is with yourself." Yep, entirely true. Netflix has revealed an official trailer for a pregnancy comedy called Kinda Pregnant, from director Tyler Spindel, and a screenplay co-written by Amy Schumer and Julie Paiva. This is set for a streaming debut on Netflix starting in early February in just a few weeks. Jealous of her best friend's pregnancy, Lainy wears a fake baby bump...and accidentally meets the man of her dreams. Amy Schumer stars as Lainy, who puts on the faux bump. The cast also includes Jillian Bell, Will Forte, Damon Wayans Jr., Brianne Howey, Alex Moffat, Joel David Moore, Lizze Broadway, Urzila Carlson, and Francis Benhamou. This looks goofy and kooky and crass, playing up the "what if a woman faked a pregnancy for attention" concept into something that feels like made-for-TV comedy. Watch – and then forget about it right after you've watched.

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🍿 › Posted January 7 in To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Stay Single, Stay Safe - Full Trailer for 'Heart Eyes' Horror RomCom
By Alex Billington
Heart Eyes Trailer
"He's gonna keep killing people... We end it here." 😍 Sony Pictures has unveiled the full trailer for Heart Eyes, a horror comedy from filmmaker Josh Ruben. A Valentine's Day slasher concept! From a screenplay that's co-written by the modern horror masterminds Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy (Freaky, It's a Wonderful Knife, Time Cut), plus Phillip Murphy. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding co-star as the main couple. For the past several years, the "Heart Eyes Killer" has wreaked havoc on Valentine's Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe... "My love of horror is rivaled only by my love of romantic comedies. My most challenging genre bender to date: a brutal slasher in a nostalgic rom-com universe." It sounds freaky fun - a slasher horror x romantic comedy mashup as they run around Seattle navigating the city's romantic landscape while evading the killer. This also features Gigi Zumbado, Jordana Brewster, and Devon Sawa. Damn it looks totally nuts! A brutal slasher with extreme violence, but also a sweet romantic story about a new couple. Hitting theaters just before Valentine's Day next month.

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🍿 › Posted January 7 in Horror, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Full Trailer for 'Public Disorder' Series Following Riot Police in Rome
By Alex Billington
Public Disorder Series Trailer
"This is not brotherhood. This is the end of everything." Netflix has unveiled the full trailer for the Italian thriller series called Public Disorder, which will be available for streaming worldwide next week. Sadly they switched the title - the official Italian name is A.C.A.B. La serie, or simply the ACAB series. Public Disorder is Netflix streaming series about a riot police team in Rome, whose personal and professional lives slowly fall apart because of the hatred burning inside them. Among rising tensions, the team members are called to take sides & forced to question the deeper meaning of their work and their own membership of the Department. The series cast includes Julia Messina, Francesco Buttironi, Aiman Machhour, Marco Giallini, Valentina Bellè, Pierluigi Gigante, and Adriano Giannini. "Violence becomes the common thread connecting their lives, both professionally and personally." This looks intense and brutally honest and tough - I appreciate that someone was bold enough to make a series like this where just maybe these cops will take a look in the mirror and see who they really are. It is definitely worth a look - don't write it off.

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🍿 › Posted January 7 in Streaming, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Monsters Workshop Making Of Featurette for 'Wolf Man' Horror Film
By Alex Billington
Wolf Man Featurette
"I really hope that people will walk away from this film unable to forget the imagery." 😱 Universal has revealed yet another 2-minute behind-the-scenes promo featurette for Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man movie, landing in theaters in just a few more weeks. Ready for a good scare? Produced by Blumhouse, this a fresh update on the classic furry Universal Monster originally invented in the 1941 film The Wolf Man. "What if someone you loved became something else?" What would you do? A man must save himself and his family when they are stalked, terrorized, and haunted by a deadly werewolf at night – but something else is going on with him, too. Christopher Abbott co-stars with Julia Garner and Matilda Firth. This promo video features Leigh and his creature designer named Arjen Tuiten (the prosthetics & special make-up effects designer) discussing making the movie. The focus is on designing the monster and figuring out how to make the prosthetics look real and very unsettling. The anecdote about how the entire crew was scared by the full-on prosthetics is awesome - I dig this kind of hype. Wolf Man hits theaters soon - catch it on the big screen.

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🍿 › Posted January 6 in Featurette, Horror, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Griffin Dunne Crashes His Son's Party in 'Ex-Husbands' Comedy Trailer
By Alex Billington
Ex-Husbands Trailer
"As you guys get older, you're gonna have to work harder to find time for each other – but it is well worth the effort." Greenwich has debuted an official trailer for an indie awkward dramredy called Ex-Husbands, arriving for release starting in February 2025. This initially premiered back at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival and toured to many other fests including last year's Palm Springs & Sarasota Film Festivals. Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette were last seen together in the film After Hours, the 1985 dark comedy from Martin Scorsese, though they're time together in this new one is brief. When Peter Pearce flies to Tulum, crashing his son Nick's bachelor party, Peter realizes he's not the only Pearce man in crisis. The indie film stars Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette, along with Richard Benjamin, Miles Heizer, & James Norton. Most of this takes place in Mexico where Dunne messes with his son's party and his friends. Enjoy.

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🍿 › Posted January 6 in Indies, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Intense Trailer for 'Sunray: Fallen Soldier' British Action Thriller Film
By Alex Billington
Sunray: Fallen Soldier Trailer
"Was it all worth it?!" "I need answers..." Vertigo Releasing has unveiled the official trailer for an action thriller movie called Sunray: Fallen Soldier, described as a "veteran created, veteran starrer." Drawing from their experiences in the Armed Forces, the filmmakers behind Sunray have created what promises to be the most accurate and authentic portrayal of Royal Marines Commandos combat ever seen on screen. A war veteran calls on friends from his past to help hunt down & take out those responsible for the death of his daughter. Along the way, he learns more about himself than he anticipated as a violent crime syndicate unravels in his wake. This stars Tip Cullen, Tom Leigh, Steven Blades, Luke Solomon, and Daniel Davids. Written, directed, produced, edited and acted by former Royal Marines, many of the Sunray team have lived & experienced the direct effects of conflict including the loss of friends. Veterans were employed across the production both on & off screen. This looks intense and gritty and brutal, but it still looks like a generic action film with an uninteresting story similar to so many other films before - take out the bad guys.

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🍿 › Posted January 6 in To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Official Trailer for 1990s AZ Drug Scene 'Sons of Ecstasy' Crime Doc
By Alex Billington
Sons of Ecstasy Trailer
"They became the biggest threat to the organization." Max has revealed the official trailer for a true crime documentary film called Sons of Ecstasy, debuting for streaming starting next week. The doc film takes us back to parties in the 90s and reveals true stories of the MDMA drug scene during the rave era. "Power is a drug." In 1990s Arizona, an English stockbroker clashes with a mobster's son over the ecstasy trade. The Gravano family shares their perspective as two unlikely rivals vie for control amid guns, gangsters, and big raves in the desert. "For the first time, the Gravanos tell their side of the story. Through first-hand accounts from inside both factions, the film unravels the unexpected showdown between the British business guru and the Mafia heir apparent in the Arizona desert." Crazy that they actually got both sides of this to sit down and tell the truth about what really happened and how their rivalries played out. It's yet another true crime doc joining the massive true crime streaming library, but this one seems particularly fascinating. Get a look.

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🍿 › Posted January 5 in Documentaries, Streaming, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Onward to 2025 - FirstShowing Remains a Fully Independent Film Site
By Alex Billington
FirstShowing 2025
"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world." Heading into the year 2025, this marks the 19th year of FirstShowing.net – we originally launched this website way back in 2006. It's a miracle that it's still running all these years later – almost two decades. There've been so many times when I've wanted to throw in the towel, shut things down, and move on. But I still love movies. I still love cinema. I'm still happy (for the most part) being able to participate in this world and stay excited about watching new movies (and old movies) and talk about movies and keep everyone informed & updated about movies. It's harder than ever to remain an independent website in this day-and-age. So many other movie sites have shut down or been sold off recently. It's too hard and too costly, there's too many risks, and the internet has changed in so many bad ways (see: enshittification). I want to continue to keep "Hollywood connected with its audience" and will do my best to keep FS running for as long as I can. Even if I don't make much money.

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🍿 › Posted January 3 in Editorial, General, Movie News | Comments
'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl' Behind-the-Scenes Videos
By Alex Billington
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Featurette
"We problem-solve ahead by story-boarding." A series of behind-the-scenes videos have arrived online for Aardman's latest animated movie Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. These promos are also a reminder that this delightful, nerdy, wacky comedy is now available on Netflix worldwide to watch anytime you want. It's a blast! The "world's best boss" – Feathers McGraw – is back with a vengeance. 🐧 A brand new epic Wallace & Gromit family adventure from Aaardman, this is the first full length W&G feature film in 19 years since BAFTA & Academy Award-winning The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. When Wallace invents a "smart gnome" it seems to develop a mind of its own and go haywire with evil A.I. programming. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle the sinister forces. With the voices of Ben Whitehead (who gets his own video below), Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Muzz Khan, and Lenny Henry. I always enjoy seeing making of video about stop-motion animation, it's impressive every time. Especially seeing how much work goes into hand-crafting literally every single part of the film - including even deciding where the camera goes, what the lighting & animation will look like for every last character, and everything else. Enjoy.

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🍿 › Posted January 3 in Animation, Featurette, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Creepy Teaser for 'Dark Nuns' Korean Horror Film About a Possession
By Alex Billington
Dark Nuns Trailer
"Evil spirits, leave at once." Well Go USA has debuted a creepy teaser trailer for a Korean horror film titled Dark Nuns, opening in theaters worldwide within the next few weeks. It opens first in Korea at the end of January, then opens in the US in the start of February. A young boy Hee-Joon is possessed by an evil spirit. Nun Yunia tries to save him, assisted by Nun Mikaela. Priest Paul attempts medical treatment, while Priest Andrew performs an exorcism to rid of the spirit. After learning that the priest cannot arrive in time to save a young boy possessed by a powerful evil spirit, two nuns take on the dangerous forbidden exorcism ritual themselves in direct violation of the Church's sacred order—putting both their lives and their immortal souls in grave danger. Also known as The Priest 2: Dark Nuns, it's a spin-off of the 2015 film The Priest. Starring Song Hye-Kyo, Jeon Yeo-Been, Lee Jin-Wook, & Moon Woo-Jin. This looks like it gets quite freaky.

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🍿 › Posted January 3 in Horror, Indies, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
First Teaser for 'Devour' Indie Practical FX Gory Werewolf Horror Film
By Alex Billington
Devour Teaser Trailer
Get a load of this! An early promo teaser has debuted for an indie film called Devour, a horror thriller from filmmaker Scott B. Hansen. Following up on last year's Werewolves movie which also has full-on practical werewolves and extreme gore, this one continues with more practical FX and intense violence. A struggling all female metal band called "The Virginia Bitches" have a taste for blood and while on tour their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Seeking help they come across a town full of cannibals led by an infamous Warlock. So it's a mix of vampires, werewolves, and cannibals? The movie was shot at Digital Thunderdome Studios in Atlanta, GA. Special effects Titan Wayne Anderson (Jurassic World, IT, The Predator) built all the creature suits with a heavy focus on practical effects from Kevin Meaux and Oliver Kasiske from OX FX. This stars Gaven Wilde, Katelyn Newberry, Heidi Shepherd, Gus Langley, John Wells, Chelsea Lesage, & Alexandra Lucchessi. Horror fans should definitely keep an eye out for the film later in 2025.
Brainiac

Brainiac as depicted on a variant cover of Action Comics #1064 (June 2024).
Art by Ariel Colón.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Action Comics #242 (July 10, 1958)[1]
Created by Otto Binder
Al Plastino
In-story information
Alter ego Vril Dox
Milton Fine
Species Coluan artificial intelligence[2]
Place of origin Colu
Team affiliations Anti-Justice League
Legion of Doom
Notable aliases Collector of Worlds
Terror of Kandor
Milton Fine
Pulsar Stargrave
Abilities
See list
Brainiac is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, and debuted in Action Comics #242 (July 10, 1958). He has since endured as one of Superman's greatest enemies. The character's name is a portmanteau of the words brain and maniac.[3]

In his comic book appearances, Brainiac is commonly depicted as a superintelligent android or cyborg from the planet Colu who is obsessed with collecting all knowledge in the known universe. He travels the galaxy and shrinks cities to bottle size for preservation on his skull-shaped spaceship before destroying their source planets, believing the knowledge he acquires to be most valuable if he alone possesses it. Among these shrunken cities is Kandor, the capital of Superman's home planet Krypton, and Brainiac is even responsible for Krypton's destruction in some continuities. His attempts to do the same to Earth have brought him into repeated conflict with Superman. Though stories often end in Brainiac's apparent destruction, the character's artificial consciousness is resurrected in new physical forms, some robotic and others more organic-based in appearance.

Brainiac has been adapted in various media incarnations, having been portrayed in live-action by James Marsters in Smallville and Blake Ritson in Krypton. Corey Burton, John Noble, Jeffrey Combs, Jason Isaacs, and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games.

Fictional character biography
Silver Age
The first Brainiac/Kandor comic book story in Action Comics #242 (July 1958) was based on a story arc in the Superman comic strip from April through August 1958. In the comic strip story, Superman's foe was named Romado, who traveled the cosmos with a white alien monkey named Koko, shrinking major cities and keeping them in glass jars. The strip's Kryptonian bottled city was named Dur-El-Va.[4] This cross-continuity conflict was not unprecedented; in 1958 and '59, editor Mort Weisinger used the comic strip to prototype a number of concepts that he planned to introduce in the book, including Bizarro and Red Kryptonite.[5]

Brainiac is a bald, green-skinned humanoid who arrives on Earth and shrinks various cities, including Metropolis, storing them in bottles with the intent of using them to restore the then-unnamed planet he ruled.[6] He was originally notable only for having shrunk the bottle city of Kandor with his shrinking ray and for using a force field.[7] In his initial story, he also traveled with a white alien monkey named Koko; the monkey also appears in a 1960 Superman story retelling the story of Kandor's disappearance (Superman #141 (November 1960)). Koko was quickly dropped from Brainiac's stories, but a version of the character has made sporadic appearances as the villain's pet in the series Justice and the 2008 storyline "Brainiac" in Action Comics. The villain's descendant Brainiac 5 also had a pet named Koko for several stories in the 1990s.

In subsequent appearances in this early period, Brainiac was used mostly as a plot device rather than as a featured villain of the month. Brainiac's next appearance was mostly behind the scenes, when he tried to kill Lois Lane and Lana Lang, prompting Superman to give Lois and Lana superpowers. But the villain remained unseen except as a plot twist at the end of the story. Brainiac's next appearance was in "Superman's Return to Krypton" in Superman #141 (November 1960), in which the villain stole the bottle city of Kandor, the only city on Krypton that believes Jor-El's warning of doom for the planet, and which had already built a space ark within the city to save the population. Brainiac's next present-day appearance was in Action Comics #275 (April 1961), which showed the villain planning to defeat Superman by exposing him to red-green kryptonite, which he had created, giving Superman a third eye on the back of his head, forcing him to wear various hats to hide it. Superman soon defeated Brainiac and sent him off into the distant past. This was the first in-story appearance of Brainiac's iconic red diode/electrode-like objects atop his head, which had previously appeared on the cover of his first appearance in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), but were not shown in the actual story. In Superboy #106 (July 1963), an infant Superman meets Brainiac, and it is explained that Brainiac looks the same due to his 200-year life span. In Superman #93, Brainiac regenerates himself. It is revealed that he came from a planet called Bryak and, after a voyage in space, he returned to find everybody dead from a plague. He intended to get people from other planets (in shrunken cities to be enlarged with his growth ray) to repopulate Bryak, where he would rule them.

Brainiac's legacy was revealed in Action Comics #276 (May 1961), in a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up story. This story introduced Brainiac 5, who claimed to be Brainiac's 30th-century descendant. Unlike his ancestor, Brainiac 5 used his "twelfth-level intellect" for the forces of good and joined the Legion alongside Supergirl, with whom he fell in love. His home planet was given variously as Bryak,[8] Yod, Yod-Colu, or simply Colu.[8][9][10][11] 20th century Colu is a rim world found on the approach to the Magellanic Clouds.

In Superman #167 (February 1964), it was retconned that Brainiac was a robot created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu to spy on and invade other worlds.[12] Brainiac's distinctive forehead diodes are explained as "electric terminals of his sensory nerves" necessary for him to function. To explain the 1961 introduction of the villain's living descendant Brainiac 5, the story reveals the Computer Tyrants provided the villain with an assistant, a young Coluan boy named Vril Dox tasked with masquerading as his "son" so others would believe Brainiac to be a trustworthy organic alien scientist with a family rather than a deadly robot. The young boy Vril Dox was designated "Brainiac 2". In the same issue, the letter column contained a "special announcement" explaining that the change in the characterization of Brainiac was "in deference" to the "Brainiac Computer Kit", a toy computer created by Edmund Berkeley (and based on the Geniac) that predated the creation of the comic book character.[13][14]

In this same story, Lex Luthor discovers the Computer Tyrants could have given their robot villain a twelfth-level intellect but only gave him a tenth-level, the same as them, so he would not dominate them. Luthor frees Brainiac from imprisonment and increases his intellect to a twelfth-level one. He also implants a device to temporarily disable him or destroy him if necessary. The two join forces, but Brainiac later removes the device and blocks out Luthor's memory of his inner workings and the fact that he is a machine. This story becomes the first of many Brainiac/Luthor team-ups. Meanwhile, Vril Dox leads a revolt against the Computer Tyrants, eventually destroying them and freeing Colu. Brainiac sees a monument to this when he returns to Colu later on.

King Kull later enlisted Brainiac and Mister Atom of Earth-S to attack the city of Tomorrow and speed up the rotation enough for the people of Earth to fly into the air. They are defeated by Green Lantern of Earth-Two, Green Lantern of Earth-One, Flash of Earth-Two, Flash of Earth-One, Mercury of Earth-S, and Ibis the Invincible of Earth-S.[15]

30th century (Pre-Crisis)
At some indeterminate point in time, Brainiac fled into the 30th century. Developing the ability to absorb and manipulate stellar energy, he remade himself as "Pulsar Stargrave".[a] He became a powerful enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and once masqueraded as Brainiac 5's biological father.[16] In current continuity, Brainiac's connection to Pulsar Stargrave remains an open question, one even Brainiac 5 has yet to resolve.[17]

Bronze Age

Brainiac's robotic incarnation in Action Comics #544; art by Ed Hannigan
After Brainiac was revealed to be a robotic being, some stories would end him seemingly being destroyed, only for him to appear again in a repaired body or having transmitted his consciousness into a new form. Since he was essentially a living computer program that could be housed in different forms if "killed", Brainiac was sometimes referred to on comic book covers as "the villain who won't die!".

In the 1980s, DC Comics attempted to re-define several aspects of Superman's stories to boost sagging sales. In Action Comics #544-546 (June–August 1983), Lex Luthor acquires a renewed sense of purpose and dons a high-tech warsuit, while Brainiac is reimagined by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gil Kane and given a new appearance designed by Ed Hannigan. In a previous story, Brainiac had constructed a giant, computer-controlled planet to destroy Superman only to then be defeated and trapped in the planet's core. In Wolfman and Kane's story "Rebirth", published in Action Comics #544, Brainiac attempts to free himself by causing the nearby star, Epsilon 4, to go nova and utilize its energy. Instead, his body is converted into energy; his living program, his consciousness, experiences a strange journey before returning to his technology, where a new body is created for him over the next few months. As Brainiac recollects, during his journey he saw a great hand reach out from a void, ensnaring him briefly before releasing him. He also remembers seeing Superman's face at the same time. Reborn in a new body, the villain believes he has seen the Master Programmer, the divine force behind the universe's creation, and that this entity created Superman as an "angel of death" to destroy Brainiac. More determined than ever to kill and study Superman, Brainiac now has a colder, more merciless, and robot-like personality than before (he claims he is without emotions, yet shows signs of hatred and fear in regards to Superman). His new body is overtly robotic with a skull-like face and a reflective, iridescent honeycomb-patterned "braincase." He also creates a starship shaped like his new skull and adorned by metal tendrils, often referred to by fans and comic creators as the "skull ship." The ship acts as an extension of Brainiac himself. Brainiac retains this robotic appearance until after the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries ends in 1986, rebooting DC Comics continuity.

This incarnation of Brainiac meets his final end in the "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" storyline that ended the Pre-Crisis Silver/Bronze Age Superman chronology. Lex Luthor finds Brainiac's robotic head unit, with barely any power left. He hopes to team up with the evil living program again, only to become an unwilling host body for Brainiac instead. Fighting Brainiac's control, Luthor begs a superpowered Lana Lang to kill him, who complies by breaking his neck. Luthor dies and Brainiac retains control of the body for a short time until rigor mortis sets in. "Propelled by sheer malice", Brainiac's head unit leaves Luthor's corpse and crawls a few inches before finally running out of power for good.

Modern Age
In the Post-Crisis DC Universe, Brainiac's history was completely rewritten. The Post-Crisis version of Brainiac was now a radical Coluan scientist called Vril Dox who, having attempted to overthrow the Computer Tyrants of Colu, was sentenced to death. In his last moments before disintegration, his consciousness was attracted light years away to Milton Moses Fine, a human sideshow mentalist who worked under the alias "The Amazing Brainiac".[18] Needing cranial fluid to maintain his possession of Fine, Dox went on a murder spree. He discovered that Fine had genuine psychic powers and was thus a metahuman, which he frequently wielded against Superman.[19]

"Panic in the Sky"
In 1990, Brainiac is able to take over the minds of several LexCorp staffers. He makes the scientists create a new version of the skull ship (saying he thought of the design "in a dream") and use advanced genetic science to grow a new body for himself, resembling Milton Fine's form but taller, more physically fit, and with the green skin of a Coluan. He also has a new braincase helmet that resembles his Silver Age diodes. Now free of Fine's body and consciousness completely but still possessing the man's metahuman telepathic powers, Brainiac confronted Superman and then left Earth to plan another attack.

Brainiac returned in the "Panic in the Sky" storyline after seizing control of the mobile planetary fortress Warworld and recruiting assistance from Maxima and the alien warrior Draaga. Discovering a lost and confused Matrix (an artificial life form who at this time operates as Supergirl), Brainiac brainwashes her into becoming his soldier. He clashes with the New Gods and then launches a pre-emptive strike on Earth.[20] Rather than wait for an invasion, Superman gathers a large group of superheroes and allies, one team attacking Warworld directly while the other remains on Earth to counter further attacks.[21][22] Through duplicates of his braincase, Brainiac briefly takes control of some of Earth's heroes, but ultimately he fails. Supergirl and the other heroes are freed from mental control and the villain is rendered catatonic.[23] His vegetative body is taken back to New Genesis for observation.[24]

"Dead Again"
A year after the seeming death and then return of Superman, a dead body matching the Kryptonian's appearance is found in his abandoned tomb, leading some to wonder if the hero's return was a deception.[25] It is revealed that Brainiac is no longer on New Genesis but revived and returned to Earth, leaving behind an illusion that he remained in a coma. While hidden, he created more delusions to turn the public against Superman and make the hero question his own sanity.[26] The two battle and Superman taunts the villain by insisting he is just Milton Fine, a cheap entertainer. Fine's personality seemingly emerges and shuts down the Brainiac persona. Fine was then escorted off to a psychiatric facility.[27]

The Doomsday Wars
During a later skirmish with Superman, Fine's body is irreparably damaged, leaving Brainiac with only a short time to live. With help from a new Coluan assistant named Prin Vnok, Brainiac retrieves Doomsday, the monster that seemingly killed Superman before, and uses him as a new host body. Now a cunning psychic with a super-strong, near-indestructible body, Brainiac attacks the Justice League. But Doomsday's own raging mind fights back and Brainiac realizes he still needs a suitable host. Hoping to create a clone Doomsday form by manipulating human DNA, Brainiac attempts to steal a prematurely born baby Superman is transporting to a Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, the newborn child of Pete Ross and Lana Lang. Brainiac sees this as an opportunity for revenge, correctly concluding that Ross and Lang are close to him. Using a 'psi-blocker' device, Superman thwarts Brianiac's plans and the villain is forced to house his consciousness within a completely robotic body. Dubbing his new form Brainiac 2.5, the villain fears he is now trapped in this form.[28]

Brainiac 13

Brainiac 13. Art by Ed McGuinness, Steve Kim, and Tommy Yune.
At the turn of the millennium, Brainiac 2.5 revealed that he had placed a sleeper virus in LexCorp's Y2K bug safeguards. This virus was intended to dramatically boost his abilities. However, the virus instead allowed his upgraded future self, Brainiac 13 (or "B-13"), to travel from the 64th century to the present day and take control of Brainiac 2.5's body.

Brainiac 13 then began transforming Metropolis into the 64th-century version of the city, which he controlled, and also began upgrading Metallo into a giant-sized version of himself. Brainiac 13 then took control of several android superheroes, such as the Red Tornado and Hourman, and used them against Superman. The Metal Men's responsometers were able to protect them from his programming, and allowed them to help defeat Metallo.

During a fight with the Eradicator (who was attempting to 'hijack' the B13 virus and use it for its own ends), Superman discovered that Brainiac 13 could not cope with Kryptonian technology, due to incompatibility issues. This gave Superman a plan to stop Brainiac 13's scheme. With the aid of the rebuilt Kelex, Superman tricked Luthor into connecting a Kryptonian battlesuit to one of Brainiac 13's power conduits. Kelex then reactivated the Red Tornado to help Superman break Brainiac 13 down into his respective nanobots and trap him in the suit.

Brainiac 13 was able to work with Brainiac 2.5—now transferred into the aged body of Lena Luthor—and prepared a tactic against Imperiex for the upcoming Imperiex War. The Brainiacs successfully engineered Imperiex's defeat, allowing Brainiac 13 to absorb Imperiex's power and use it to overpower the combined heroes and villains of the universe while simultaneously devastating both Earth and Apokolips. Brainiac 13 planned to use the power he stole from Imperiex to conquer the universe and reshape it in his image, and is made so powerful by the absorption that none of the heroes, not even Superman, can hope to damage him.[29] However, with help from Lex's temporal displacement technology and Darkseid's Boom Tube technology boosted by magic supplied by Tempest and the Amazons, Superman was able to destroy Brainiac 13 and Imperiex by sending them through a temporal Boom tube where they were annihilated in the Big Bang. Brainiac 13 had his body disintegrated and the remnants of his mind scattered across sixty trillion light years, finally killing the chronologically last known version of Brainiac.[30]

After the death of Brainiac 13, Superman discovered that the version of Krypton he previously visited via the Phantom Zone was, in fact, a trap created by Brainiac 13. Having been defeated by Kryptonian technology, Brainiac 13 had traveled back in time to the real Krypton prior to its destruction. There, he stole the Eradicator matrix and Jor-El's diaries, and created a false Krypton based on Jor-El's favorite period in history.[31]

Sometime later, Superman traveled into the future and battled Brainiac 12. He learned that everything Brainiac 13 did in the past was designed to ensure things reached the point where Brainiac 13 would be created. Brainiac 12's defeat before his upgrade apparently reversed the advances Brainiac 13 had made to Metropolis.[32]

The Insiders
Around the time of the Graduation Day event, a future version of Brainiac, called Brainiac 6, used his "granddaughter", Brainiac 8 (also known as Indigo), to kill Donna Troy to ensure the fate of Colu. Indigo then infiltrated the Outsiders until she attacked the team, along with Brainiac 6 and his allies, Lex Luthor, and a brainwashed Superboy, who had attacked the Teen Titans. In the ensuing battle, Indigo died and Superboy broke away from the brainwashing, while Luthor escaped. While his ship was destroyed, Brainiac's condition and whereabouts after the battle are unknown.[33][34]

Silver Age Brainiac in the Post-Crisis universe
Later stories revealed that elements of Brainiac's Pre-Crisis history occurred in the Post-Crisis character's history prior to his possession of Milton Fine and his first encounter with Superman. The citizens of Kandor recall that Brainiac stole their city from Krypton, and not the alien wizard Tolos.[32]

History of the DC Universe mentions his defeat by the Omega Men, although this is not seen in Crisis on Infinite Earths itself, and noted a second Brainiac was created in a laboratory on Earth two years later. In the Silver Age: JLA one-shot, the Injustice League discovered numerous shrunken alien cities found in Brainiac's abandoned spaceship.

Brainiac's updated mechanical form

Brainiac battles Superman during the Infinite Crisis event. Cover of Superman (vol. 2) #219 (September 2005). Art by Ed Benes.
Brainiac later reappeared as a swarm of interlinked nanotechnological units. Its operation was to sabotage a Waynetech research facility accomplished by infecting Metallo with a computer virus and controlling him from orbit. Superman and Batman tracked Brainiac's signal to an orbital facility and attacked. Brainiac's nanoswarm body was destroyed, though he had infected the Metal Men during their previous encounter with Metallo. Brainiac proceeded to use them to acquire a prototype OMAC unit, which Bruce Wayne had developed through the use of Brainiac 13 nanotechnology. Superman and Batman destroyed the OMAC body with the aid of the Metal Men, after the Metal Men overcame Brainiac's control.[35]

Return
Main article: Brainiac (story arc)
Following revisions to Superman's continuity in Infinite Crisis and Action Comics #850, Brainiac reappeared in a self-titled five-part story arc in Action Comics. In Action Comics #866 (August 2008), a Brainiac robot probe (resembling his skeleton-esque Pre-Crisis incarnation, and mistaken for the real Brainiac by Clark) arrives on Earth and battles Superman. After the probe is defeated, information about Superman's blood is sent to the original Brainiac. As Brainiac wakes up, his computer announces "Attempt #242 in progress", a reference to Brainiac's first appearance in Action Comics #242, and to the many encounters between Brainiac and Superman. In the following issue, Supergirl reveals to Superman that Brainiac shrunk the Kryptonian city of Kandor and placed it in a bottle, and that all previous incarnations of Brainiac that Superman has encountered were just probes, clones, and nanite-controlled bodies. She notes that no one has ever actually seen Brainiac. Inspired by Supergirl's story, Superman attempts to find Brainiac and stop him. He heads to a world under attack by Brainiac just in time to be caught in a supernova as Brainiac destroys the system's star and the populated world along with it. The supernova knocks Superman out, and he is caught and brought onto Brainiac's ship.

Superman escapes from his imprisonment and sees Brainiac emerging from his "bio-shell". This version of Brainiac resembles a much larger and more muscular version of the original, Pre-Crisis Brainiac, and has motives similar to the Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of the character in that he travels the universe and steals the knowledge of various alien cultures, abducting and shrinking cities from each planet as samples, and then destroys the planet so that the value of the destroyed civilization's knowledge is increased. Superman attacks Brainiac, but Brainiac manages to overpower the Man of Steel before restraining him with the help of his ship's internal systems. Brainiac inserts the subdued Superman into a machine that allows him to read the Kryptonian's mind, with the intent of assimilating his brain. Brainiac's ship then travels to Earth and prepares to abduct the city of Metropolis.

Brainiac successfully steals Metropolis, and prepares to fire a missile that will destroy the Sun and the Earth itself. Supergirl ends up captured along with the rest of Metropolis, but Superman breaks out of his restraints again and frees her. Supergirl stops the missile, while Superman battles Brainiac. Brainiac appears to have the advantage in physical combat yet again, but Superman knocks Brainiac out of his ship and into a swamp, where Brainiac is overwhelmed by the microscopic organisms covering his body. Superman uses this distraction to defeat Brainiac. While Superman frees the cities of Metropolis and Kandor, the villain launches a missile to the Kent farm in an act of spite. The farm is destroyed, and Jonathan Kent suffers a fatal heart attack because of it.[36] Brainiac is brought to a top-secret military base, where the imprisoned Lex Luthor is assigned to discover his secrets. Luthor eventually manages to use Brainiac's connection to his ship to kill the soldiers assigned to watch him. Brainiac manages to free himself from Luthor's control, forcing him on board the ship, and the two make their escape.[37]

Notably, upon learning of Brainiac's modus operandi of destroying planets by destabilizing nearby stars when he is done collecting cities and knowledge from said planets, Superman openly speculates that Brainiac destroyed Krypton, which was destroyed when its sun went nova soon after Brainiac abducted Kandor and Argo. He also asks the alien what he did to Krypton's sun.[38] Brainiac ignores the query, neither confirming or denying his responsibility, though he does heavily imply it ("In fifty-seven minutes, my solar aggressor will reach your sun. It will flare up, and the Earth will be incinerated. Just like Krypton."). Superman still believes Brainiac had a part in Krypton's destruction after the end of this story arc.[39]

New Krypton
Main articles: Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton and Superman: War of the Supermen
Following this, Brainiac, now in possession of his ship again, unleashes his robot army against the newly created planet of New Krypton, and the Kryptonian citizens rise up to fight the drones. General Zod's army proves totally unable to fend them off, as the Brainiac's ship's force fields are seemingly invulnerable and his drones are equipped with red sunray guns, allowing them to kill tens of thousands of Kryptonians. Superman, being the only one who knows how to penetrate his force fields (having learned the trick in the previous story arc), manages to enter Brainiac's ship. Supergirl leads the Kryptonians against the drones, but is attacked by an anti-Kryptonian Brainiac probe. Superboy, Mon-El, and the Legion of Super-Heroes join the fight and save Supergirl.

After this, Brainiac shrinks Kandor again and re-bottles it, including a miniature red sun to de-power all the Kryptonians inside. The Legion, Supergirl, Superboy, Zod, and Superman all make it on to Brainiac's ship, thanks to Brainiac 5 hacking his ancestor's force fields and allowing them entry. The Legion explains to Zod that, just as Krypton's city of Kandor is held in a bottle onboard Brainiac's ship, other planets' cities are also imprisoned, and, therefore, Zod cannot destroy Brainiac's ship until the cities can be rescued. Zod sends Supergirl off and then arrests the Legionnaires, branding them terrorists. Meanwhile, Superman is about to face off against Brainiac when he is knocked down by a kryptonite energy blast fired by Lex Luthor and subsequently captured. Brainiac locks him in captivity with the intent to experiment on him, but Superman escapes and meets up with the rest of the superheroes and Zod on a separate section of the ship. Zod enters the scene and engages Brainiac in combat while Supergirl, Superboy, and the Legion recover the bottled cities on Brainiac's ship, including Kandor. Zod seems to be losing his fight with Brainiac, when suddenly Superman gets up and tackles Brainiac from behind. Before the battle between the two Kryptonians and the villain can continue, Brainiac's ship starts to destabilize and descend towards the planet. It is revealed that Lex Luthor sabotaged the ship and re-sized one of the cities while inside.

Luthor's intervention causes the ship to crash into New Krypton, destroying it while Supergirl and the Legion re-size Kandor. However, the city that Luthor expanded is still growing, now putting Kandor at risk. As Brainiac 5 works on the problem, Supergirl is shocked to discover Superman impaled by pieces of Brainiac's ship as a result of the explosion. Superman appears to have been fatally stricken. Luthor, though reeling from the explosion, is pleased with all the destruction he has caused. Brainiac confronts Luthor in the ruins of the ship and is furious that Lex sabotaged his ship. Luthor mocks him and spits in his eye before Brainiac angrily snaps Luthor's neck, killing him.

Now deprived of his ship and technology, and seemingly depowered by his ship's destruction, Brainiac finds himself faced by an entire city of angry, solar-powered Kryptonians. Zod is eager for a final showdown with Brainiac, who calls Zod a coward for confronting Brainiac with his powers intact and an army of super-powered Kryptonians at his back. In response, Zod fires the red sun radiation from an Archer rifle at himself, to remove his powers and thus supposedly level the playing field as he prepares to take Brainiac down. Brainiac 5 gives Superman a transfusion of Conner's blood and exposes him to a large dose of concentrated yellow sun rays, successfully reviving him.

Despite the loss of his powers, Zod is able to get the upper hand on the similarly powerless Brainiac and force him to his knees. Zod is about to shoot Brainiac when Superman intervenes. This causes a heated argument between Superman and Zod. Zod commands his soldiers to restrain Kal-El so Zod can proceed with the execution of Brainiac. Brainiac 5, sensing that this is his moment of destiny, steps in and teleports himself and Brainiac off of New Krypton.

It is revealed that Lex used a Luthor robot, supplied by the Toyman, to accomplish his mission on New Krypton, and that Brainiac killed the robot instead. Lex discusses with General Lane how his objective, to bring chaos to New Krypton, was achieved. Lex has been working as an agent of General Lane all along. The disarray that Lex caused provides Lane with a window of opportunity as he prepares for the impending war with New Krypton. Lex receives a Presidential pardon for his efforts. The story ends with Zod rallying his people as he declares war on the planet Earth. The story concludes in the next miniseries, Superman: War of the Supermen.

Mon-El plants the many bottled cities that Brainiac has captured over the years on various planets across the galaxy. These cities will one day become the United Planets by the 31st century, the same planets that will produce the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Brainiac 5 takes Brainiac to their homeworld of Colu where he hands him over to Vril Dox, a.k.a. Brainiac 2. Vril Dox happily turns his "father" over to his people for his crimes. However Lyrl Dox, a.k.a. Brainiac 3, releases his "grandfather" with a weapon called Pulsar Stargrave. What then occurs is an all-out battle for Colu between all three present-day Brainiacs. Vril Dox even calls in Lobo for help. Brainac breaks out of his prison and, after causing much damage on Colu, escapes with Pulsar Stargrave in tow for parts unknown.[40]

The New 52
Brainiac's origin in "The New 52" is revealed in Superman #23.2. Vril Dox was acknowledged as the greatest scientist on his homeworld, Yod-Colu, given his advances in force field technology and miniaturization. He developed an artificial intelligence, C.O.M.P.U.T.O., allowing him to discover the fifth dimension. Dox discovered the fifth dimension was in a state of war, and a group of its inhabitants, the Multitude, had entered their dimension and destroyed over a hundred planets. Realizing Yod-Colu was next in the Multitude's path, Dox tried to find a way to save his planet, even performing experiments on his son. The magistrates of Yod-Colu sentenced Dox to exile, but Dox used C.O.M.P.U.T.O. to take control of Yod-Colu's computer networks. Copying the planet's database, Dox constructed an army of robot servants called Terminauts and miniaturized the city his wife and son lived on and bottled it in a force field, while the rest of Yod-Colu was destroyed by the Multitude.

After the destruction of Yod-Colu, Dox constructed an army of starships and distributed his consciousness across a series of robots that would each travel the universe to preserve planets from the Multitude, becoming known as the Collector of Worlds. One of these robots attacked Krypton. Dox became fascinated by Jor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who actually saved his homeworld from the Multitude. Upon returning to Krypton, however, Dox discovered Krypton had been destroyed.[41]

Referred to at first as 'The Collector of Worlds', Brainiac is first seen as the mysterious informant that supplies Lex Luthor information of Superman and his alien nature.[42] Clark is having a dream of Krypton's final moments in which an artificial intelligence that controls the planet wakes up robots in an attempt to preserve the Kryptonian culture. Later, while Clark conducts an interview in a robotic factory, the same harvester robots appear.

John Corben (the soon-to-be supervillain Metallo) is suddenly possessed by the artificial intelligence. It demands Superman.[43] The robots create havoc throughout Metropolis, but Superman soon realizes that they are really after him. Superman fights the possessed Corben with the help of John Henry Irons.

Although they managed to defeat him, the alien sentience had already miniaturized and bottled the city of Metropolis and took it to his ship in space.[44] Superman travels to the ship to find many alien bottled cities, Kandor included. The alien identifies himself as a being from the planet Colu where he was known as C.O.M.P.U.T.O and on Krypton he was called Brainiac 1.0. He claims that, without Superman and the ship that brought him to Earth, his Kryptonian collection is incomplete. The alien intelligence demands Superman make a choice: the intelligence will disable life support in both the Kandor and Metropolis bottles, and Superman must choose which city to save using indestructible Kryptonian armor found on the ship.

Superman decides on neither and wears the armor (which changes instantly into the current Superman costume design). Brainiac sends Metallo to attack Superman, but due to Superman reasoning with him over his feelings for Lois Lane, he breaks free of Brainiac's control and joins Superman in his attack. Superman then uses his rocket from Krypton which had also been miniaturized with Metropolis to attack Brainiac's mind, which the rocket was able to do since its primary mission was to protect Kal-El. In doing so, Metropolis was returned to Earth and Superman took possession of Brainiac's ship and made it his new super citadel.[45]

Notably, the ship Clark was placed into as a child was described as having "Brainiac AI", leaving the identity of the Collector of Worlds in doubt.[46] The Colony of the Collector of Worlds told Superman that its AI technology went by different names, beginning on Yod-Colu as C.O.M.P.U.T.O. On Noma, he was called Pneumenoid; on Bryak it was Mind2; on Krypton he was called Brainiac 1.0; and, finally on Earth, he is the Internet.[47]

After this defeat, Brainiac retreated to deeper parts of the cosmos, and eventually came across the planet Tolerance, the setting of a bounty hunting glimmernet game show called The Hunted. Striking a deal with Lady Styx, overlord of the Tenebrian Dominion, he bottles a portion of the Sh'diki Borough of Tolerance to add to his collection. He encounters Jediah Caul, a former member of the Green Lantern Corps, who combats and infects Brainiac's ship. Ultimately, Brainiac abandons his plans with the Sh'diki Borough and ejects Caul and the bottled city before leaving for parts unknown.[48]

Back on Earth, during an investigation of 20 kidnapped people who developed metahuman powers after being kidnapped by Brainiac, one of these 20 infects Lois Lane, thereby giving Brainiac control over a close ally of Superman.[49] Brainiac plots his return to Earth, using Lane to infiltrate Earth's defense systems to allow an easier path for his physical return.[50] and even upgrading her body to contain his 12th level intelligence. His minion Cyborg-Superman (a reconstructed Zor-El, father of Supergirl)[51] constructs a portal to allow Brainiac's command ship and "daughter ships" to travel to Earth from throughout the galaxy.[52]

Superman, whom Brainiac had conspired to 'infect' with the monster Doomsday to drive him away from Earth, uses his augmented power to attack Brainiac's gigantic mothership and break through to its core and, finally, Vril Dox himself. The Coluan appears still-humanoid, and explains his reasoning for stealing minds from throughout the universe: he has concluded that if he can 'unite' the minds of a certain critical number of people, he will be able to change reality itself. His motivation for this appears a desire to right the wrongs he feels responsible for: the loss of his wife and child back on Colu. His plan is undone when Superman drags him, mothership and all, into a black hole. But then, Vril Dox is snatched away to safety, it seems, by a being who appears to be the true Brainiac: an immensely powerful entity from outside the universe itself.[53]

Convergence
This version of Brainiac, a composite of Brainiac from around the Multiverse, is revealed to be the pre-Flashpoint era Brainiac who, having found his way into the Source Wall and into the Multiverse, was thrown back in the timestream and mutated by the effects of "crisis" events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, and 52, creating a godlike being.[54] He then uncovered the location of Vanishing Point from nearly killing New 52 Earth-0's Michelle Carter, from which he could roam the complete history of the Multiverse, collecting doomed cities from defunct timelines, alternative futures, and parallel worlds to add to his collection, in Convergence, leaving behind an agent, Telos, to rule a planet of the same name containing the cities. Brainiac's attempt to do this to a future timeline of Earth-0 was narrowly averted by the heroes in the story The New 52: Futures End; Brainiac was contained in a T-sphere, leaving Telos stranded without his master, prompting the events of Convergence in which the planets are bid to fight each other. When the events of Convergence nearly end in an irreversible destruction of the Multiverse, the time traveller Waverider, formerly the pre-Flashpoint Booster Gold, frees Brainiac, who reveals he is sick from his mutations and only wishes to return to normal, to being Brainiac of Colu. He sends most of the heroes home, and with help from the Zero Hour Parallax and the pre-Flashpoint Superman, averts the collapse of the Multiverse from Crisis on Infinite Earths, and is returned to the normal Brainiac. His actions also allow various parallel universes and alternate timelines to exist as the new Multiverse.[55]

DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Brainiac's name is first referenced in an issue of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. The entirety of the Green and Yellow Lanterns (including Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart), along with Starro the Conqueror, are lured into a trap and subsequently hit with a shrink ray while on the planet Xudar, leaving them tiny and helpless. In the next issue, they are trapped in a bottle, and their jailer is revealed to be a robot claiming to run on "Brainiac 2.0" software. The robot heavily resembles both Brainiac's 1983 skeleton-esque incarnation and the robotic drones utilized by the post-2008 version of Brainiac. It has a collection of shrunken bottled planets, and travels in a ship resembling Brainiac's skullship. At the time it was not clear if this was the true Brainiac after Rebirth or yet another one of his drones.[56]

The machine's victory is short-lived, however, as it is revealed that Larfleeze was able to reprogram it to his side using an Orange Lantern ring, having rebooted its life systems after finding it inactive on his homeworld with its ship. Larfleeze is impressed that the machine was able to capture the Green Lanterns and Starro, and even more impressed with the machine's shrinking technology, and plans to hijack its technology to put together his own collection. He takes the ship and collection to his homeworld of Okaara. However, upon being informed that the Yellow and Green Lanterns are still fighting inside the bottle and trying to kill each other, Larfleeze's own greed for having everything gets the best of him and he ends up breaking the container. This frees the Lanterns, and somehow restores them to their normal size and strength, after which they immediately start rampaging inside the ship and trashing Brainiac/Larfleeze's collection. Hal, Kyle, John and Guy go on to lead the attack on the Orange Lantern Corps. With everyone fighting together, the Orange Lantern Corps are quickly overwhelmed. Larfleeze accuses the robot of playing him; when it responds that it simply did what he programmed it to do, Larfleeze destroys it in a rage.[57]

The Superman storyline "New World" later confirmed via a flashback cameo that the Post-Crisis, post-2008 version of Brainiac (the tall, muscular, green-skinned cybernetic alien scientist) still exists in the post-Rebirth continuity, and has encountered Superman in the past. Thus, the robot that defeated Starro, the Green Lantern Corps, and the Yellow Lantern Corps before subsequently being dispatched by Larfleeze was, in fact, one of his drones.[58]

No Justice
Brainiac later arrived on Earth again and battled the Justice League, who proved no match for him and his ship, until Superman arrived. However, he did not come to destroy the Earth, but to deliver a warning: that there is a cosmic-level threat in the universe coming to Earth, one that the heroes of Earth are woefully ill-prepared for. Brainiac thinks he can defeat the threat, but it means teaming up with Superman and the Justice League and combining members of the League with some of the most dangerous supervillains in the DC Universe and sending them into battle against this extinction-level menace. Four teams outfitted with Brainiac's technology are formed (including among other members, Lex Luthor, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Sinestro), with Brainiac himself working directly alongside his nemesis, Superman.[59]

The No Justice miniseries begins with the Omega Titans, the aforementioned threat, attacking Colu, Brainiac's homeworld, which explains Brainiac's kidnapping of Earth's superheroes and supervillains. Brainiac claims to have developed a plan to defeat the Omega Titans and the superheroes only need to follow his orders to win, but Amanda Waller uses the hidden Protocol XI, which involves kidnapping the world's most dangerous psychics, to probe Brainiac's mind and find out what he knows. The strain of the psychic attack causes Brainiac's head to explode, apparently killing him. His clone-son, Vril Dox/Brainiac II, later revealed that if Brainiac's plan had been followed, he would've hijacked the power of the Titans himself, destroyed Earth, and conquered Colu before going on to dominate the universe.[60]

Legion of Doom
Brainiac's body is later recovered by Lex Luthor, who sets Professor Ivo on reconstructing it with the intention of the alien joining the Legion of Doom. He initially tries to betray the Legion soon after awakening, but Luthor is able to convince him that they're better off working together after a linking of their minds. The Legion's plan revolves around reviving and empowering a cosmic being named Perpetua. Brainiac aids them in this goal, and as a result is able to go around the multiverse and bottle "hypertime", essentially entirely different timelines. Confronting the Justice League in the 853rd century, Brainiac used the knowledge and technology of these hundreds of advanced timelines to upgrade himself into Brainiac One Million, a colossal new form of unparalleled power. He planned to destroy the timelines he had abducted after completing his battle, to keep his knowledge exclusive, boasting that when this iteration of the multiverse dies, he alone will have its knowledge. Multiple alternate Justice Leagues from across the universe prove unable to defeat him even working together. However, when Perpetua is finally revived at full power, even his abilities prove nothing compared to her nigh-omnipotence, and she decides to use it to turn him into her new control station/throne, effectively subverting him into a tool.[61]

Brainiac 6
Brainiac 6 and other members of the "gang" first appear in Adventures of the Super Sons #1.[62]

Dawn of DC
Brainiac has recently put Lobo's city in a bottle because he believes that city will allow him to uncover Earth's greatest secret.[63] He then launches an invasion in Metropolis and captures most of Superman's powered allies and Lex Luthor, with Superman unable to stop him.[64] It is also revealed that Brainiac is seemingly dying, and has created clones to help him with his tasks. Brainiac frees Lex Luthor to hear his explanation on how he can bring Superman, and plans to experiment on Lana Lang.[65] Brainiac convinces General Chacal, a general of Czarnians, to capture Superman, and sacrifices the Czarnians so that Brainiac Queen can get more power.[66] Lex Luthor realizes Brainiac has been losing his intelligence and dying due to him creating new bodies across the multiverse and splitting his consciousness into them, causing strain in his body. Conner Kent uses hi