Superman & Lois is nearing the end of its four-season run on The CW but even as the series winds down there are still some surprises for fans — including the introduction of iconic characters from DC comics. This week’s episode, “Sharp Dressed Man”, saw one such character arrive with The Flash star Tom Cavanagh playing Godfrey but the episode also saw another character arrive as well and it is one that fans have been eagerly waiting for. Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of Superman & Lois beyond this point.
In Season 4 of Superman & Lois, Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) has had a little help with some of his efforts against Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) and Clark (Tyler Hoechlin). That help — at least in terms of the technological aspect of things — comes from a man named Milton, aka Milton Fine who we finally meet in “Sharp Dressed Man”. Played by Riverdale’s Nikolai Witschl, Milton was not only responsible for building the box to hold Superman’s heart and the red street lamps, but he even proved pivotal in hacking Steel and Starlight’s suits for Lex as well. His work is so smart and so good that Amanda McCoy (Yvonne Chapman) at one point in the season even says he’s a “brainiac”.
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And yes, the “brainiac” description fits here. In the comics Milton Fine is a version of Brainiac, a metahuman who had actual psychic powers that attracted what it believed was the disembodied mind of Coluan scientist Vril Dox who, after possessing Fine’s body, began calling himself Brainiac.
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The idea that Superman & Lois got to bring some version of Brainiac to the series in its final episodes may be a little bit of a surprise to fans — and it was also a surprise to the series’ showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher as well. They said earlier this year that they were surprised they were able to use a character, though at the time they didn’t reveal exactly who it was.
“There is a pretty significant character from the comics that we were actually surprised that we were able to use — and it’s pretty soon in the season,” they said. “You hear the name drop, then start hearing that name drop more, and then you see that person eventually.”
That largely describes how Milton was introduced this season. As for how things will resolve with Milton, after this week there are just two episodes remaining of Superman & Lois. It’s unclear if Milton will fully become Brainiac during the remaining episodes or if he will remain in the role he is currently, working out the high-tech solutions for Lex’s diabolical plans for the Kent family. At this point, only time will tell.
Superman & Lois airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.