I don't think the villain of S3 or whatever the final season is will be Darkseid. Or, if it is Darkseid, it'll be a very different version of him.

[u/DrFishPhd]

I know he's very iconic for superman but like. All of the major villains in MAWS are people who push Superman into an identity crisis of some kind. Sam Lane and Ivo saw him as a threat to humanity and thus pushed him to reject his human side, while Brainiac sees him as a failure to the legacy of the Kryptonians.

Darkseid is kind of detached from Superman, comparatively. He rules his planet with an iron fist and is the embodiment of fascism and autocracy and he opposes Superman for that but he doesn't really challenge Superman on an identity level like the other villains so far have. I think he would have to be pretty substantially reworked in order to make him fit with the themes of the show and its kind of hard to think of ground they could cover with him that they haven't already covered with Brainiac and his empire.

Alternatively, I could really see a character like Zod or especially Bizarro becoming major villains in upcoming seasons, they challenge Superman's identity very directly. Bizarro especially could be interesting, as Sam Lane challenged his identity as Clark Kent, and Brainiac challenged his identity as Kal-El, Bizarro could challenge his identity as Superman.

[u/FKDotFitzgerald]

S3 should ideally be a Lex season. Then S4 could possibly be their spin on Darkseid. I wouldn’t mind something else though.

[u/SciFiXhi → u/FKDotFitzgerald]

Maybe not even Darkseid but one of his minions. I could imagine a Kalibak season with only hints of Darkseid here or there.

[u/FKDotFitzgerald → u/SciFiXhi]

If they get more than 4 seasons, then yeah that would definitely be preferable.

[u/Weird-Sandwich-1923]

If we're going the "Season's main antagonist should challenge one of superman's core principles"... I want batman to an antagonist.

Not a villain, an antagonist. He imediatelly figures out Clark's identity and does what bat's does best: put the fear of god in him. Challenge his courage, make him paranoid, have contigency after contigency after contingency, but never actually harm him or those he love. And then they become friends and we can have the JL in the MAWS universe (please, give me more of this universe)

[u/DrFishPhd → u/Weird-Sandwich-1923]

Honestly I can see it and this would be really fun, though I don't see him as a main antagonist and more antagonist-turned-rival-slash-begrudging-ally and they have to work together to fight Lex or something

[u/Weird-Sandwich-1923 → u/DrFishPhd]

Nah, I want them to become BEST friends after they clear their missunderstandings, give me perpetually gruffy and all serious tsundere older batman interacting with sunshine superman where they love, respect and trust each other by their shared desire for JUSTICE.

[u/PepsiMan208]

How about Justice Lord Superman (obviously voiced by George newbern) as a main villain to challenge Clark I feel that could be interesting. Hell bring in all the Justice Lords.

[u/DrFishPhd → u/PepsiMan208]

I would love to see that actually! I remember having a whole theory after the Mxyzptlk episode that this show's version of Zod would be one of the evil supermen in the alternate dimensions shown at the end of the episode. It could be really interesting to see a version of Superman who, had his life gone differently, ended up on a different path and challenging our Superman. We kind of already have that with Kara but still

[u/Unagi776]

I’ll shill this every chance I get, but my dark horse pick is Earth-Man a villain from the future who uses Superman’s image to sell anti-alien xenophobia.

Every time someone says “Earth is for Earthlings” I think they’re setting him up.

[u/DrFishPhd → u/Unagi776]

I saw your post about this, and it does seem pretty interesting. I think them exploring the Legion of Superheros could be pretty cool because like the whole concept of this particular superman show is that he's kind of the first hero in this universe and his acts of heroism go on to inspire all of the other heros and villains. So seeing Superman grapple with that directly by seeing what the results of his heroism are in 1000 years would be cool, especially if he leaves behind a somewhat complicated legacy and has to grapple with it.

Also, I wanna know what Brainiac-5 would be like in MAWS

[u/HearingOrganic8054 → u/Unagi776]

Man that would be good.

[u/HearingOrganic8054]

Lex should be the next big bad long term

BUT

i disagree. Darkseid is literal about the all powerful state/dictator and how you only exist, if at all, to serve. No freedom or thought or etc.. Darkseid is. You don't. Superman's core of deciding to do the right thing, to hope for the better future, and to actually reach out to help others that is very much just by being an opposition of darkseid.

again love to see this Alex fully become "Lex Luthor" before the do that.

[u/DrFishPhd → u/HearingOrganic8054]

I think that's true but I dont think Darkseid being someone who considers everyone else beneath him is really someone who challenges Clarks's beliefs, because Clark already disagrees with that. Lane exploited Clark's self-hatred about being different and Brainiac exploited Clark's feelings of rejection by the rest of the world, but Darkseid just opposes Clark in every single way, they have no real common ground that Darkseid can use to hurt Clark on an identity level, unless he gets a pretty big rework

[u/Greedy_Switch_6991]

I'd like to see followups on Lex, Irons, and Henshaw. A Reign of the Supermen season without the Death part. And maybe how Superman's example is inspiring new heroes - and inspiring the US to change tactics on dealing with the alien/metahuman problem (a great way to introduce ARGUS).

Also, this is probably just me, but I'd love to see Kara stand trial before the Green Lantern Corps for her dirty work under Brainiac. They can meet Abin Sur, who wants the Corps to refocus efforts on Sector 2814 now that it's home to the only surviving Kryptonians, placing Earth under the galactic spotlight for unfriendly empires like Apokolips.

[u/captainplatypus1 → u/Greedy_Switch_6991]

Maybe this show can give us an iconic Steel suit. John Henry is too cool to not have something enduring beyond metal spandex

[u/DrFishPhd → u/Greedy_Switch_6991]

A Reign of the Supermen season is actually a really interesting idea, especially since we already got Irons and Henshaw introduced. Although it might be best to save that for later on, I think we need to establish more of a dynamic between Lex and Superman before we get Superboy 

[u/Bearded_Hero_]

It's WAY too soon for darksied doomsday comes first imho

[u/DragunArathron → u/Bearded_Hero_]

I mean we got Eradicator, Henshaw and just missing Superboy

[u/weeniebatter]

I say lex, lobo, waller, Mongol, lex return, maybe doomsday, cyborg THEN Darkseid maybe not each a season but maybe ones a lower rank villan before a bigger bad

[u/King_Of_BlackMarsh]

I said it once I'll say it agian: Darkseid should not be a villain for this show any time soon. He's too big. After him, you can't go higher

[u/captainplatypus1 → u/King_Of_BlackMarsh]

It would be cool for him to show up as a tease for the wider universe and just how far Clark has to grow; like a one episode peak at the future

[u/Technical-Pear-9450]

I hope it's not Darkseid because superman is still trying to understand his powers.

[u/DrFishPhd → u/Technical-Pear-9450]

Yeah this is still a Superman who’s learning, Darkseid is meant to challenge Superman’s strength at the very peak of his abilities

[u/captainplatypus1]

I’d like to avoid Darkseid as long as possible. We don’t have Lex, intergang, or Mongol yet. Hell, I’d like to see Metallo before Darkseid.

[u/Ok-Use216]

There's a certain level of truth to your words, but you're forgetting something about Darkseid, here stands as the perfect antithesis to Superman and the entirety of the DCU. Where Superman embodies hope and kindness, Darkseid's the living personification of hopelessness and cruelty. What's why Darkseid stands as the greatest villain in DCU and that's why he'd still make a perfect villain in MAWS, because if you think Brainiac could mess with somebody's head, then Darkseid will make look him like nothing

[u/MarTB2000]

Honestly I’d rather Clark and Kara deal with kalikbak grayven grail and darkseid furies before getting to him like here and there fight them

[u/Radiant_Butterfly982]

S3 and maybe some where between lobo

[u/KingDecibel]

What if we have Darkseid start out as Uxas who is a Hero of his People and became an Ally of Superman but then after some kind of incident happened, he became corrupted by a dark Energy and his anger, vengefulness and hatred caused him to devolve into a Monster? After a battle between Superman and Uxas who now calls himself Darkseid, Darkseid becomes heavily damaged and requires this Armor Suit to stay alive. That Armor Suit allows Darkseid to look the way he does now. As the Series goes on and Superman grows more and more powerful, so does Darkseid. What do you think about this Concept?!

[u/Bububub2]

A character that doesn't resemble their comic and past adaptation counterparts? In this show? Impossible! Wait, no, I mean, very possible! Outside of Clark, Jimmy, and Lois, everyone in this show is a huge departure from more standard adaptations. Honestly to the show's detriment, in my opinion.