The end of Kite Man: Hell Yeah and the trailer for season 5 of Harley Quinn showed the imminent arrival of Brainiac. Then in the season premiere of the latter, we see that the alien collector is already on Earth and using his tech (disguised as Metropolis' Automaton Security System) to infiltrate and scan Earth. His plan worked so well that it had an unintended consequence. It made Superman feel so obsolete that he left Earth for some self-help. However, don’t be shocked if this was part of Brainiac’s plan.
Episode 3 didn’t show or even mention Brainiac. It was odd considering he was supposed to be the big bad. Thankfully, the creative team knows how to get people excited. They waited until the end of the episode and during a sweet moment between Harley and Ivy to bring in the villain of this season. What’s even better is they left things on a cliffhanger.
As HarlIvy are about to kiss, they’re interrupted by Brainiac's machines used to make Metropolis safe (and make Superman feel insecure). Harley and Ivy think the Automaton Security System (or A.S.S.) machines are there to stop the Floronic Man that Harley just killed. Instead, their purpose was to transport the duo to Brainiac’s ship. While they're captured and confused, Brainiac sits and decides what to do with them.
Brainiac is a Superman level villain. He’s superhumanly strong and intelligent on an unfathomable level. He also has technology that can hold the Kal-El in his place. And, for some reason, he’s made it a point to kidnap Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy after calling them imperfect.
On paper, this makes no sense. Neither of them is on his level. But you have to take into account that both of them have defeated people well above their power level. For example, in the season 5 premiere, Harley decapitated Eclipso with a baseball bat. That shouldn’t be possible. That means he sees something in them that shouldn’t be underestimated. Or he’s just annoyed by them. Who knows, maybe it’s both.
The next episode of Harley Quinn should explain why Brainiac came to Earth. Fans of DC Comics know he’s there to gain knowledge of the universe and keep it for himself. However, not everyone who watches the show reads the comics. It would make sense that an explanation would be coming. More importantly, there’s no way Harley and Ivy don’t make fun of Brainiac for naming his machines A.S.S.
Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow and our social media sites Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter for more on Harley Quinn season 5 when it comes out.