By rights, Superman & Lois should have ended after season 3. The CW was looking to get out of producing pricey scripted dramas, and with DC Studios' Superman reboot on the way, there was every chance the plug would be pulled without a satisfying resolution.
Fortunately, all the pieces fell into place, and we got a truncated fourth and final season. A few cast members fell by the wayside due to budget cuts, but Superman & Lois ended on a high note and managed to satisfy fans.
Season 4 introduced a villainous inventor called Milton, played by Nikolai Witschl. On the page, Brainiac poses as the human Milton Fine, and there were hints that Superman & Lois' "Milton" would eventually be revealed as the classic Superman baddie (he was even referred to as a "brainiac" at one point).
Talking to Screen Rant and Fan Expo Philadelphia, Lex Luthor actor Michael Cudlitz confirmed that the series scrapped plans for Brainiac.
"From what I remember, it involved Brainiac," he said when asked about the stories we didn't get to see due to the show's cancellation. "They were going to definitely go into the world of Brainiac."
Brainiac has appeared in the likes of Smallville and Krypton, but fans have yet to see the clash with the Man of Steel in theaters that they've spent decades dreaming of. Hopefully, it's something James Gunn has planned for a possible Superman sequel.
Cudlitz also addressed the fan reaction to his take on Lex. Explaining that getting "ten to fifteen of the fans digging what's happening" would be "a straight-up win," he added, "As it turns out, and I'll leave it to the fans to decide, we got a lot more than that. My Lex was incredibly welcomed from those that saw it."
"There are some that just judge it on, with the goatee, and that's fine, I get it. It's their loss because the show is amazing," The Walking Dead alum continued. "When I started watching it when they were talking to me about doing it and saw what these guys were doing, I was so impressed and excited to be part of it that I didn't even care anymore."
Shortly after Superman & Lois ended, co-showrunner Todd Helbing said, "If we went on for a couple more seasons, we would have really explored Brainiac. We would have done more cool, traditional Brainiac stuff with him."
"There’s also a way to lead up to Darkseid that we had talked about," he noted. "I don’t know if DC would have given us permission to use Darkseid, but we would have pitched the hell out of it to try to get it. That would have been a lot of fun."
Would you have liked Superman & Lois to continue with a fifth season?