Basics of Superheroes: September 2026

Clark's got to learn a bit of history to get his powers back.

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, Jon came back and he brought a friend! Well, a sister. And he’s not so much ‘Jon’ but another possible Jon from the future. This one prefers to go by Jonathan and is much more edgy and angsty than the last one. The Kents all get up to speed on what has happened, as neither Jonathan nor his sister Lara knew about Jon’s previous adventures with time. Jonathan is infuriated to learn the ‘last guy,’ as he calls his other self, failed and floats off in a huff. Clark tries to talk to his boy, but Jonathan wants nothing to do with his young father. Turns out this Jonathan didn’t have Kara to help teach him how to use his powers and is holding his dad responsible for not being there for him. Lois tries to bond with Lara over Pa Kent’s cookies and learns that the two super kids come from yet another timeline where she ends up as General Lane. Oh, and they’re here to kill Lex. He builds these techo-organic androids called the Eradicators that conquer Earth, it’s a whole thing. While Clark and Lois compare notes on how the failed their kids, Lara sneaks off to fulfill her mission. This turns into one of those ‘time traveler makes the future happen’ situation, as she interrupts Director Waller (no they don’t explain how she got her job back) in the process of firing Lex and shutting down LexCorp. Seeing a flying Korean Teen with an S on her chest freaks Lex out and he releases his prototype early. A prototype that he’d just stuck a bit of his brain into. The Super Squad arrive and are told to leave by Slade, who says LexCorp is on lockdown. The floor collapses beneath them, dropping Clark and Lois into the sewers below and Jonathan and Kara fly after them. The horror movie portion of the episode has the Eradicator attacking each of the Supers while they’re separated, throwing a subway train at Kara to take her out and pummeling the Superkids. Kara gets back up and they have a throw down that ends up back on the LexCorp front lawn. The three Scions of the House of El do their best, but Kara’s the only one that can keep up with the monster for long. She does a LOT of damage to it, ripping two of its four arms clean off. Unfortunately, the Eradicator is smarter than it seems, it adapted to their attacks and developed Heat Vision… and it noticed that Kara is protecting Lara and Jonathan above all else. So fires a full power Heat Vision at the injured teens. Kara jumps in the way, taking the hit and going down. She has a sweet moment with Jonathan, telling her nephew (second cousin, but whatever) that he is her better tomorrow. Enraged, Jonathan attacks the Eradicator, but, again, smarter than it acts, the android steals Jonathan’s time travel watch, mutters “I Win!” and vanishes into the timestream. Clark realizes that he has to go the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, he’s had enough visions to figure out something there is calling to him and can get him his powers back. Lois is terrified for him to go, as she’s sure she’ll just mess up their kids more, but Clark has faith in her and assures her he’ll be back soon. He hitches a ride with B-1Z, who’d come to help but was too slow, and they arrive at the Fortress. The Stewards then take control of B-1Z’s mind and have him attack Clark, knocking him out. That’s not good. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

We open with Clark, shirtless for some reason, standing before a giant glowing star embedded within the Fortress of Solitude. He hears a voice whisper in Kryptonian “Venu al Rao, Kal-El!’ Clark wakes up in the Fortress of Solitude, bound and surrounded by stewards robots and B-1Z, who is now sporting a black unitard. His eyes are still glowing red, indicating he’s under mind control. One of the stewards demands to know why Kal-El has come here. Clark says that they wanted him to come here, they called to him so he can get his powers back. The chief steward says that no, they didn’t, and that power is not meant for the weak. It’s head morphs, revealing it to be Brainiac. Not the same Brainiac that’s in storage, though. Primus Brainiac was the AI System that ran the Warship Kandor, this is the Brainiac AI system designed to run Clark’s ship. It calls that Brainiac ‘corrupted’ while it is pure, shown by its lights being white instead of red. Chief Brainiac says that it can restore Kal-El’s powers, but he has to prove himself, prove he can be a conqueror. Clark says that conquest doesn’t make people strong, but Chief Brainiac counters by asking if losing his powers to a mere human makes him strong. Never mind he was powered by anti-Kryptonian radiation. Clark agrees to do whatever he can to get his powers back. Chief Brainiac says that he has to prove himself. A vision starts, ice and snow whip around them and Clark wakes up in cosplay. He’s in some kind of tribal warrior armor, the House of El S painted on his chest in red. Chief Brainiac says that he needs to prove himself here, in Krypton’s ancient past, prove himself worthy of the power of his ancestors. Do that, and they’ll make him strong again.

Back at LexCorp, Lois asks Jimmy how Kara’s doing. Kara’s still alive, but she’s unconscious and they need to get her some kind of medical care. Lara comes over and asks where her dad went. Before she can answer, Waller calls Lois over and says that Waller is taking control of the Kryptonian “assets.” Lois refuses to allow that, saying they’re barely more than children. Waller tells her that there’s a monster on the loose that’s immune to Kryptonite, they don’t know where it is, when it’s coming back, and she needs to have the assets on hand to neutralize it. She says they’re living in a post-Superman world, after all, and thus no one is coming to save them. That hits Lois hard, and she agrees to coordinate with Waller, in exchange for getting Kara medical help. Waller agrees and makes a call medic.

Clark asks where they are. Chief Brainiac says that they’re where Kal-El can ‘prove’ his strength. It’s making him see a simulation of Krypton’s prehistory, saying that at this point, Kryptonians were al like Clark is now, primitive, weak and flightless. So, basically human. It explains that this changed when aliens invaded Krypton, Clark’s ancestors overthrew them, and took their technology, using that to give them their phenomenal powers and even restore their dying sun, turning it into Rao the Living Star. Chief Brainiac also reveals that one of the ‘children’ of Rao is what powers the Fortress even now. Chief Brainiac challenges Clark, saying that he will prove himself by holding off the invaders, as they’re coming this very night. Clark asks how real this simulation is, and Chief Brainiac says that the invaders will be as real to Clark as he is, they can and will kill him given the chance. Chief Brainiac disappears as Clark calls out to it, saying that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Alone in the frozen night, he sees a ship head for the planet’s surface.

We jump back to Lois. Waller has set up a medical tent and Kara is laid up in it, Jimmy at her side. She goes to her children, giving herself a little pep talk before talking to them, saying that they are HER kids, she can talk to them. She tries to tell them the plan, but Jonathan (who is his mama’s boy to his core) is immediately combative. He accuse Lois of formulating a plan that comes down to her standing on the sidelines while they do the work. She says that the plan is for them to all do their best. Jonathan needles her some more, asking what his dad thinks of the plan, and asks where he even is. Lois says he’s getting his powers back, which seems to actually upset Jonathan more, as in every timeline, Lois’ plan is to just get Superman back, they’re never enough for her. He tells Lara they’re going to bail. Lara says maybe the should just listen, which pisses Jonathan off. He accuses his sister of always just doing what mom says, and asking why they’re even listening to Lois as she’s not their ‘real’ Mom. This frustrates Lois to no end, and she shouts at him that he should listen to her as their last plan caused ALL of this. I feel so much for Lois in this one shot, as she’s five foot nothing and Jonathan as at least 6 feet, so she’s trying to look authoritative while looking up at her baby boy. Jonathan says, ‘sorry for saving your life, mom, guess I can’t do anything right,’ and flies away. Lois tries to apologize, but he’s not listening. Lara tells her not to be too upset, Jonathan is always like this, and a dejected Lois says “because I made him like this.”

Clark checks out the invaders ship. They crash landed, it seems, the ship is sparking and smoking from damage. He cautiously approaches it, just as the ship opens and five soldiers come out. Clark tries to talk to them, but they’re speaking another language. They open fire on Clark; he blocks with the shield he was given and ends up taking out one of the guards. The other four charge him. Clark is able to fight off the guards with his weapons until it’s just him and the leader. He gets forced to the edge of a cliff, when red energy starts to spark around him. His eyes turn red and he’s able to fight off the leader. He gets the guy on the ground with a sword to his neck, but then fights through the battle rage. Unfortunately, this gives the leader a chance to charge Clark, knocking them both into the ravine behind him.

Back at camp, Lois assesses the situation while Lara eats a hot dog. Her boys are gone, and there’s a time traveling monster coming to kill them. Not a great situation. She ask Lara for an idea how to handle this. Lara is petrified at the thought of having to decide something and says she’ll screw it up. Lois gives her a pep talk, saying that Lara needs to have input on what they do going forward and that she needs to trust herself. She offers her compass to Lara as part of the speech, Lara revealing that she’s wearing a future version of that compass as a necklace. She says Lois gave her the same pep talk before the mission and hugs her. Lois is surprised to learn her future-self gave the same speech. Lara corrects her, saying it was almost the same speech, but she included more stuff about how she and her dad never got along. Lois chuckles at that, saying she and Sam were too much alike to get along. She sees Lara’s half eaten hot dog and has an idea.

Lara wakes up, screaming because she thinks she’s still fighting. She sees she’s in a tent and that Jimmy is sleeping beside her bed. She’s disappointed to learn she lost. She wakes Jimmy by saying his name, and he hugs her with joy, embarrassing Kara. She says that it sure is a mighty coincidence that Jimmy was there when she woke up. Lois comes in with hot dogs, wing-womaning for Jimmy by saying that he never left the tent. Kara asks why he didn’t, and he says he’s not going to leave her alone again. Kara’s stomach grumbles and Lois hands over the hot dogs. She asks how recovered Kara is feeling, and when Kara says she’s ready to fight, asks her to talk to Jonathan instead. Kara, bluntly, asks if Lois is unable to parent him herself. Lois admits that’s exactly it, and that she needs help to reach her boy. Kara asks why Clark isn’t doing it, and Lois gets a concerned look on her face.

At the Fortress, we’re shown what is happening outside Clark’s vision. He’s laying before Chief Brainiac, who has its hand over Clark’s face. It appears to be beaming the simulation into Clark’s mind as the other Stewards watch. B-1Z gets agitated, but another Steward tells him to be still.

Clark wakes up in the vision, muttering he needs to stop waking up like that. The lead alien, a Coluan, gets up and takes his helmet off. He charges Clark and tries to gut Clark with his own sword. Clark gets cut across his chest and goes into a battle rage again but fights it off once he takes the Coluan’s sword. He notices that the Coluan’s arm is broken and uses the sword to make a splint for him. He tries to tell the green alien that he’s a friend.

We shift to the moon. Jonathan is trying to work out his feelings by playing moon catch. He’s hurling a rock so hard it orbits the planet before returning to him. Kara joins him and tries to get him to talk. Jonathan tries to fly away, but Kara pursues him, saying that it’s better to talk than run. That’s all it really takes to get Jonathan to open up, saying that he’s on the moon because he’s frustrated. He’s frustrated that because of him, they went off mission, the Eradicator got loose, Lara and Kara got hurt, and everything else went to shit. This is why, he thinks, they all want Clark back, his perfect dad, why would anyone want him? He lobs the rock at Kara, who catches it, and tells him that he’s wrong. She tells Jonathan that Clark isn’t perfect, the others treat him like he is because he won’t give up on anyone, so Kara is going to follow his example and not give up on Jonathan.

Kara and Jonathan return to the others. Kara says that she got Jonathan to agree to help. Still feeling angsty, Jonathan storms over and says that he’s going to do this himself, he won’t follow orders, he’ll prove that he’s good enough. Lois doesn’t hear any of this, and instead walks over and hugs her boy tight, saying that she’s just glad he’s back. Slade comes over and tells them that Lex has detected a temporal anomaly.

Clark and the Coluan hike across the landscape. They make it out of the crevasse, but the Coluan’s injuries are bad enough that they rest for the night. They’re attacked y one of those lizard beasts that B-1Z adopted. Clark fights it off, going rage mode again, and hurling the creature into the ravine. He checks on the Coluan, he survived but took a nasty bite to his shoulder. Clark heaves the alien over his shoulder, saying that they’ll make it home, they have to.

In Metropolis, everyone moves out to a temporary base camp Waller had built on the site of Zero Day. Lex’s data suggests that the Eradicator, or something else in the time stream, will be breaching in the next 48 hours. Waller assesses the situation. This is operation Doomsday, which has two lines of defense. The first line will be the superhuman, lead by Slade. She orders the Kryptonians to fall in, but Lois and Kara correct her, saying that while they’ll with Waller, Jonathan and Lara take their orders from Supergirl. Waller backs down, saying that she hopes they’re as Super as they think they are. We get a setup montage: Kara trains the kids in some basic Kryptonian martial arts, John Henry Irons comes in and forges weapons for Jonathan and Lara, Livewire and Heatwave are brought in as back up (Lois hugs Livewire to her chagrin), and they even dust off some of those anti-Superman robots from season one. Waller also brought in her Task Force X assets Damage and Atomic Skull. Jimmy notices Lex skulking in the back and guesses what he’s planning.

That night, Lex tries to run, but he’s cut off by Jimmy. Jimmy chews Lex out for being a coward. Lex tries to defend himself by saying it’s the Kryptonians’ fault, but Jimmy rightly points out that their problems all lead back to Lex. He made the monster, it got loose, and now they’re all in danger. Jimmy challenges Lex to act like the hero he thinks he is or admits that he’s the villain.

Clark reaches the alien ship. The guards are suspicious of him, but he puts his hands up in peace. He looks around the camp and sees things that don’t make sense for an invasion force. Namely, children, the elderly, and other injured Coluans. He realizes this isn’t an invasion force, but a refugee ship. The Coluans draw their weapons, and Clark prepares to defend himself; his eyes start flashing red, but he fights it off. Chief Brainiac appears above them, egging Clark on. Clark refuses. “They’ve already died once, what’s the harm in killing them again? Show us your strength!” Chief Brainiac demands as its eyes flash red. Clark prepares to fight, but throws it off, saying that this isn’t strength. He throws his weapons aside. Chief Brainiac says, “Fine,” and warns Clark’s family and their hopes will die with him. Before the Coluans can fire, Clark’s buddy wakes up and orders them to standdown. Chief Brainiac is enraged by this turn of events, saying that Clark has rejected their offer of power. He says Clark can perish in his weakness as the simulation ends, and we see Clark standing alone opposite B-1Z.

Everyone gathers to face off against the Eradicator. Waller demands to know where Lex is. Jimmy looks worried, but then Lex comes in, having decided to take Jimmy’s advice once again. He finished working on some helmet just as the Eradicator breaches into their timeline. He’s gone through a lot of changes, having slimmed down significantly and apparently learned to speak eloquently. He begins a villain monologue, but Jonathan “Impulse Control is for Loses” Lane rushes the Eradicator and slices him in half. Jonathan lands and starts to gloat, not seeing until its too late that the Eradicator regenerated, one half of it regrowing completely, and the other half budding off to becoming a clone of its original hulking body. The hulk Eradicator slams Jonathan into the ground. Eradicator Prime says that they have no superman to save them, and he is here to make sure that never happens again.

Clark asks what the Coluans were calling him at the end. Chief Brainiac says that they called him ‘friend’ and that is why he failed. Clark says that he passed, he beat the aliens, defeated their leader, but Chief Brainiac cuts him off, saying that he was supposed to DOMINATE them, not befriend them. Brainiac is clearly having some sort of existential crisis over Clark’s decision, saying that the entire Kryptonian Empire was built on the just principle that the weak are subservient to the strong. Clark asks where that trajectory ended. Chief Brainiac snidely says that he won’t be talked down to by a beggar. Chief Brainiac all but begs to know what the point of the last 10,000 years of servitude is if domination isn’t the natural order of the universe. Clark then realizes that Brainiac and the Stewards are what is left of the Coluans. Brainiac himself WAS the chief that Clark befriended. Clark empathizes with what happened to them, which drives Brainiac into a rage. He orders Clark’s death, but he’s saved by B-1Z breaking free of his control and ramming his fist through the Steward that held the knife. So Clark’s got that to deal with too… Damn.

Okay, so I’ll start off by explaining how I think this Coluan reveal works. The series never really explain it super well. I think that after the Kryptonians conquered the Coluans, they forced the survivors to get their brains scanned to build an AI. They then copied these Ais over and over again to fill whatever role they needed in society. That’s why there are multiple versions of Brainiac. It isn’t a coincidence that the Brainiac of Clark’s ship was the Coluan leader, every ship AI is based off that Coluan, I’ll call him Vril Dox. Other Coluans were given other duties, I’m sure one controlled the cities, one controlled transportation and so on. These copies all develop their own personalities as the series goes on, which lead to Primus Brainiac having an existential crisis at the thought of being shut down and destroying Krypton, and why Chief Brainiac holds up Krypton like a religious zealot. That was a really good way to differentiate the Brainiacs, too. Chief speaks like a priest at the pulpit describing the greatness of Krypton. It makes his crashout there at the end all the more potent because he’s literally having his faith be questioned by Clark and his kindness. The whole simulation was neat, I just wish it had been a bit longer. Lois’ plot was decent as well. There were folks online that didn’t love that Lois asking Kara for help, but I think that was brilliant. In my experience, those who say the nuclear family (Two parents and their children) are misinformed. Kids grow best with a support network, and the better the support network, the better they grow. I don’t have kids, but I’m an ‘active’ Uncle. I go to school events, I support charity drives, I do my best to be involved in my sibling’s kids lives as best I can. I’ve never been in a situation like Kara was with Jonathan, but I’d like to think that if my siblings ever needed help with their kids seeing a specific perspective, they’d feel comfortable reaching out to me to give it. And, as much as Lois clearly loves these two time travelers, she simply will never understand what its like being in Superman’s shadow. Her perspective on Clark is as his friend and love of his life. She has no idea what its like to be compared to him and seen coming up short. Kara does, so she’s able to help Jonathan see why Clark is held in such esteem to Lois. I also liked that Lois’ maternal instinct was strong enough for her to know that Jonathan needed a hug more than he needed her to hear his bravado in that moment. Lara also had a good character moment with Lois encouraging her to be part of the conversation, and that led to Lois’ hot dog lightbulb moment. She’s the lesser developed Super Kid, but they tried with her. And Jimmy confronting Lex was just fun. It was weird that it really seems like Lex is more Jimmy’s personal antagonist than Clarks, but hey, we’re trying something different. I enjoy the design of this Eradicator, it looks like this one went for a more Classic Kryptonian look combined with a Lex body type. So, it’s a thin dude in Kryptonian regalia, it works really well. And he’s voiced by Steve Blum, a perfect casting choice. So… Clark’s has to get his powers back and then race across the planet to save the day. Tall order but he’s had longer trips. See you tomorrow for the finale.

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

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