Superman: Unbound adapts Geoff Johns’ story Superman: Brainiac for a more streamlined intro to the villain. Without all of the baggage of continuity like Brainiac’s appearances in Superman: The Exile, he gets more development. As does Supergirl not only in conveying Brainiac’s threats but how she copes as a survivor who lost everything to him. Granted, this is not a perfect adaptation, it’s more of a companion piece that adds depth.
Superman: Brainiac
The main appeals of the Geoff Johns story is showcasing every piece of Superman’s humanity. Whether that’s with his wife Lois Lane or his friends at the Daily Planet. Even if some of them are more like walking jokes. But the most important part of Clark Kent are his parents especially his father Jonathan Kent. Jonathan likes to keep his son close with some keepsakes that Superman adds to the pile. The way Clark casually uses heat vision for one keepsake and another for a prank speaks volumes. He’s surrounded by people who love and accept him, even the ones who don’t know he’s Superman. So seeing his cousin Supergirl in distress about Brainiac, there’s a huge threat to his home coming his way.
Superman: Unbound With Brainiac
Let’s talk about Brainiac while we’re at it. In the comic, he’s definitely threatening with the cinematic artwork of Gary Frank and Jon Sibal. But it’s the less restricted time and nuance he receives in Superman: Unbound that stands out.
Brainiac is an alien in every way to the very human Superman. Growing up as Clark Kent gave Superman compassion, empathy, and humility. It’s what allows him serve as an example to follow. At least with how it helps his cousin Kara deal with Earth easier. But Brainiac cut himself off from everything save for data collecting. Unlike say surveying for service, Brainiac is more like a dictator hoarding quality products for himself. This is best shown in Brainiac’s invasion of an alien city. The city puts up a decent fight even before Superman shows up. But after putting the city in one of his bottles, he destroys the city’s planet via exploding their sun.
But why? Like any cache purge, Brainiac tries to reduce redundancies. He doesn’t destroy planets to prevent rescues or payback. Brainiac wants to collect the peak of a planet’s scientific progress to add to his knowledge. He just doesn’t want to go somewhere twice because he doesn’t want to waste time. Unless retaliation like Krypton’s Argos City comes knocking, bottling the population to his existing collection. But that’s also why Brainy was ready to dump Earth after bottling Metropolis. He doesn’t see Earth as anything with value.
Supergirl: Unbound
Supergirl shows herself off as a survivor of Brainiac in Superman: Unbound. She truly values life and struggles to live with a few hard truths. Until Superman dealt with some terrorists, Kara looked like she was ready to lose her temper. After Brainiac captured her home of Kandor, Kara’s driven to stop bullies who ruin people’s lives. But that’s also what makes it a little hard to live on the Kent farm. Don’t worry folks, the Kent pigs are grass-fed, but Kara prefers meat substitutes. Which is part of why Kara avoids Metropolis when Superman confronts Brainiac. If her power and ethics prevent her some saving farm pigs, why should she bother helping Metropolis?
It’s humanizing moments like these that make Kara Zor-El feel like a fleshed out character. She’s angry at a lack of world progress, but tries to live with it. It’s something Lois understands quite well when he offers a heart-to-heart to Kara. In fact, Lois proves to be a good influence when she stands in defiance of Brainiac in the darkest hour.
Despite not being as experienced as Superman, Supergirl uses her powers in different ways. Rather than stop Brainiac’s sun destroying missile with brute force like Clark, she uses her heat vision to help get it away from the sun. It’s a clear sign of Kara overcoming her limitations to be her own hero.
Superman Unbound By Foils
Foils are probably what makes Superman: Unbound such a different experience. We all know how Supergirl is Superman’s foil in terms of heroism and experience. Or how Lois is a foil to both Supers in finding value on Earth or relationship dynamics. Lois even one-ups Superman as an example for Supergirl to follow.
But it’s Brainiac’s dynamic with everyone that makes the biggest difference. Brainiac’s augmentations make him a physical powerhouse towards both Kryptonian heroes. He also makes himself the center of his universe, like when Brainiac arranges his trophied cities around him. Plus he has the cities policed with drones like a dictator. Yet he does not immerse himself into the worlds he collects. This is actually how Superman defeats Brainiac in the movie. Obviously spoilers to people who haven’t seen this.
When Superman gets Brainiac out of his ship, Brainiac’s augmentations overload from sensory input. Unlike Superman who learned to focus and live with everything around him, Brainiac has no experience. This along with Superman’s heat vision burns his skin off, reducing Brainy to a skeleton and black box.
Not A Total Replacement
I need to remind everyone that Superman: Unbound does not have everything over Superman: Brainiac. For one Jonathan is barely a character in that movie compared to the comic. Without spoilers, all I can say is his role displays a critical weakness in Superman’s capabilities. But Unbound also has a few more small moments that make up for it. Like Jimmy Olsen’s signal watch and crush on Supergirl. Not to mention avoiding the tragedy of Geoff John’s New Krypton saga with the placement of the city of Kandor. It gives Supergirl payoff for her role in this movie while keeping things self-contained.
So I encourage you to see both stories for yourself. The comic definitely has everything fans love about Superman. But if you think the other characters could’ve had more, Superman: Unbound is definitely worth your time.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.