Kara Zor-El debuted on My Adventures with Superman carrying out Brainiac’s will, but upon learning about her adoptive father’s true nature, she rebelled against him and helped her cousin Kal-El/Clark Kent defeat the robotic antagonist in the Season 2 finale. Now Kara has officially become Supergirl and found a new family that includes Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Since My Adventures with Superman is coming back for Season 3, we’ll see her forge a new life on Earth, but that doesn’t mean her life will suddenly be smooth sailing. Actress Kiana Madeira, who voices Kara, shared with CinemaBlend how her character will grapple with Brainiac’s demise in Season 3.
Madeira spoke to our own Sean O’Connell at San Diego Comic-Con alongside costars Alice Lee and Ishmel Sahid, as well as the My Adventures with Superman showrunners Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clogher and Josie Campbell. When Sean asked the actress if Season 3 will explore Kara’s trauma over everything that went down with Brainiac in Season 2 (which can be streamed with a Max subscription), she answered:
I think that it will definitely be challenging. Brainiac was her father, so to speak, the only… not person, but thing that she thought loved her, and that was entire life and all her core memories. So I don’t think it’s going to be easy to put it behind her, but I am very excited and curious to see how she navigates with it all. I think that she’s going to be trying to find her place on Earth, and I’m excited to dive into her journey in that way.
Unlike Kal-El, who landed on Earth and was raised by a loving couple, Kara Zor-El was found by the megalomaniacal Brainiac, the AI that ran every ship, computer, city and defense system in the Kryptonian Empire. As we would later learn, Brainiac destroyed Krypton when its people started to engage with peace talks with an opposing force, which disgusted him. After Krypton was gone, Brainiac dedicated himself to forming the New Kryptonian Empire, and Kara, his “scion,” helped him make that happen.
Sadly for Kara, her belief that the New Kryptonian Empire would bring prosperity to countless planets was a lie. Brainiac brainwashed Kara into laying waste to any planet that refused the Empire’s rule, and while she initially thought that her father might be malfunctioning, he quickly made it clear he’d been like this the whole time. Fortunately, with Superman’s help, Kara stopped Brainiac from destroying Earth, and after his body was destroyed, she retrieved his computer core, which is inactive… for now.
Yes, in a show like My Adventures with Superman, it’s hard to imagine Brainiac not being revived at some point, and the odds of that grow more likely if the series stretches into Season 4 and perhaps beyond like the showrunners want. But looking specifically at Season 3, Kiana Madeira knows that Kara will struggle with this father figure having manipulated her her entire life. It’s be an understatement to call these feelings complicated, because even know all the atrocities he committed, this was the individual who raised Kara and made her feel special, even though he mainly felt contempt for her by the end. You don’t get over something like that quickly.
Other things we can look forward to in My Adventures with Superman Season 3 include the introduction of the Conner Kent version of Superboy, Han Henshaw seemingly transforming into Cyborg Superman like I hoped he would, and Lex Luthor working with Slade Wilson and finally going bald. Check back with CinemaBlend for more coverage on this entry of the upcoming DC TV shows slate, and browse through our 2024 TV schedule to see what’s premiering soon.
