Superman: Unbound is a 2013 direct-to-video american animated superhero film, directed by James Tucker and written by Bob Goodman. based on the comic book story arc "Superman: Brainiac" by Geoff Johns. and the 17th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
Plot[]
Lois Lane offers herself as a hostage during a terrorist hijacking. In the ensuing aerial confrontation, Supergirl intervenes in a somewhat reckless manner before Superman arrives to resolve the situation.
Afterwards, Lois — now aware of Clark Kent’s secret identity — presses him to make their relationship public. Clark is cautious and reluctant, worried about the consequences. Their disagreement is cut short when the Daily Planet is alerted to a meteor incoming toward Earth.
Superman intercepts the meteor and discovers it is actually a robotic drone. He destroys it, though in the process it transmits a beacon. Superman brings it to the Fortress of Solitude for analysis.
Supergirl, frightened by the events, confides that she has past experience with Brainiac: before Krypton’s destruction, Brainiac captured and miniaturized the Kryptonian city of Kandor. Her parents had been attempting to track him before they lost contact with Krypton. She fears Brainiac will do the same to Earth.
Realizing the threat, Superman leaves Earth in a Kryptonian ship to track Brainiac across the cosmos. He finds Brainiac’s drone fleet attacking another planet. Superman intervenes, but despite his efforts, he watches Brainiac capture that planet’s capital city and then fire a massive “Solar Aggressor” missile to destroy the planet by causing its sun to explode. Superman is knocked unconscious in the blast.
He awakens onboard Brainiac’s massive skull-shaped ship. In a medical/examination area, he fights his way through the interior. He discovers a chamber full of bottled, miniaturized cities (as Brainiac has done to many worlds). Brainiac appears and confronts him.
Brainiac explains his logic: he was programmed (originally as a Coluan scientist) to learn everything there is to know about life and civilizations. But because life is always changing, any knowledge becomes outdated the instant it’s learned. Brainiac decided the solution is to preserve a static “snapshot” of civilizations — capture and bottle them — then destroy their worlds, thereby “freezing” the knowledge. He had done this with Krypton’s city of Kandor before Krypton’s destruction.
Using telepathic abilities and control of Superman’s ship, Brainiac also deduces Clark’s secret identity and locates Earth. He sets a course to Earth, and he sends Superman into the bottled world of Kandor.
Inside Kandor, Superman’s powers are weakened by the artificial red sun. He meets his uncle Zor-El and aunt Alura, who explain Kandor’s history and Brainiac's motivations. They reveal Brainiac’s logic, and that once a civilization is bottled, it is doomed to stagnation; thus his goal is “perfect knowledge” by stopping change.
Superman devises a plan: he uses Brainiac’s “subjugator robots” to escape Kandor and reenter Brainiac’s ship. He disables much of Brainiac’s systems, seizes control of Kandor, and flees the vessel. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Lois learns (via Supergirl) why Superman left Earth. She alerts the Pentagon to the possibility of a Brainiac invasion.
Brainiac repairs his ship and arrives at Earth (Metropolis). His drones attack, and eventually, Metropolis is bottled — captured inside a giant containment shell. Both Superman and Supergirl are captured by Brainiac.
Brainiac attaches Superman to his systems and begins to torture his mind by overloading him with data. He claims Earth offers nothing new to him, and that he wants Kandor. He intends to destroy Earth.
During the mental assault, Superman speaks of what Earth means to him — its life, change, diversity. He breaks free, disables Brainiac’s systems, and frees Supergirl. He convinces her to stop the incoming Solar Aggressor from striking the sun (which would have caused the sun’s destruction).
Recalling Zor-El’s words about Brainiac’s ideals, Superman forces Brainiac to experience the chaos of life — the unpredictability, growth, and change — something Brainiac had worked to suppress. The strain on Brainiac’s systems is too great: he overloads and disintegrates in a burst of energy.
Afterward, Superman restores Metropolis, rescues its people, and relocates Kandor to a new planet where its inhabitants may grow again; the city is re-expanded to normal size. Superman (as Clark Kent) then publicly embraces his relationship with Lois and proposes to her.
In the film’s epilogue (post-credits scene), we see Brainiac’s remnants recovering, hinting at possible future returns.
Cast[]
- Matt Bomer as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
- Stana Katic as Lois Lane
- John Noble as Brainiac
- Molly Quinn as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl
- Diedrich Bader as Steve Lombard
- Alexander Gould as Jimmy Olsen
- Frances Conroy as Martha Kent
- Stephen Root as Zor-El
- Jason Beghe as Terrorist Leader
- Sirena Irwin as Alura
- Wade Williams as Perry White
- Melissa Disney as Thara Ak-Var
- Michael-Leon Wooley as Ron Troupe
- Will Yun Lee as Parasoldier Leader
- Ian James Corlett as Kryptonian #1
- Andrea Romano as News Anchor #2, Superman's Ship
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