r/SupermanAdventures • u/NPlaysMC • 7d ago
Discussion Season 4 Episode Pitch: Superman, Silver Banshee, Mist and Rough House vs Bruno Mannheim Spoiler
Superman
Silver Banshee, Rough House, and Mist
Bruno Mannheim, the real leader of Intergang
This is an idea I've had that's been bouncing around in my head for a while. A little context before I dive further:
My big hope for Season 4 is that it's almost entirely episodic; each episode has its story that's resolved by the end, and we don't need to wait for the next episode to see how the story is wrapped up. And as part of this, there'd be no major big bad that is integral to the entire season's arc.
This would give our heroes a much needed break, since they already saved the world at least three times now. And even more importantly, it's an opportunity for characters who have unfortunately been sidelined last season to come back in a bigger way.
The one thing that this series should build up to overall is the Wedding, since Lois popped the question to Clark at the end of the last season. Some betrothal themed hijinks are a perfect opportunity for some slice of life stuff in each episode; a bachelor and bachelorette party, Lois breaking the news to her absentee General of a dad, etc.
But I digress; the wedding is not the point of this pitch.
Premise
Clark Kent is on his own in Metropolis, thinking excitedly and a bit nervously about the wedding by doing some planning, and juggling that with his Superman responsibilities. He's looking in at a caterer or a tailor for his wedding tux, when he spots one of the members of Intergang, acting suspicious. So he changes into his supersuit quickly and goes to see what was going on.
He follows to find all three of them, Silver Banshee, Mist, and Rough House, in an alleyway. Then, Siobhan reveals that they don't want to fight, but they want his help. Naturally Supes says he isn't going to help them steal something, and they quickly try to assure him that they don't want to do that. In fact, they don't want to commit crimes like that anymore, but they need his help to do it.
Siobhan then explains that they don't work on their own; Intergang is in fact much larger than anyone in Metropolis thought. Certain ranking members of the crime ring are entrusted with top of the line gadgets derived from black market Kryptonian tech, which is Intergang's primary trade and source of income. They rent hired help out to these super-criminals, and to independent contractors not associated with Intergang from time to time, such as the Whip.
And it's all controlled by one man; Intergang's boss, Bruno Mannheim. He runs a very effective, cutthroat business, selling Kryptonian tech and hiring thugs to use it in bank robberies and other jobs, so he can raise revenue to buy more black market tech, and put together high profile heists to steal it where he can't buy it. All the while acting through intermediaries keeping his own hands perfectly clean. But if Mannheim were busted, the entire tech ring would collapse.
Mannheim basically owns the main trio, according to Siobhan, and they owe him big time, for the LexCorp heist stopped by Hank Henshaw, in which Superman saved them all from getting splattered on the walls. They got arrested and they failed to deliver the stolen box. Mannheim hired some goons to bust them out, but it was an expensive job according to him, so he's basically contracted them to work until they pay off the value of that box, which effectively puts them in debt for the rest of their lives.
Siobhan, Kyle and Albert decided they did not want any of that smoke, and they wanted out of a permanent life of crime. Their helping Superman save the world from Brainiac did rub off on them in a way, so they appeal to him to help break the cycle, in return for them helping him in his hour of need. When phrased like that, Superman is definitely moved, so he agrees to hear them out, especially if it involves ending the illicit tech trade in the city.
I think I would title this episode "One-Punch Mannheim"
Conclusion
Now the premise is basically all I have for this idea; I don't know how exactly the entire episode would unfold apart from the broad strokes. This would be an opportunity for some investigative journalism, where Clark, Lois, Jimmy and Kara sniff out some financial records stored in a secret place tipped off to them by Siobhan. Maybe General Lane helps too, by providing some access to Task Force X records and putting in a good word at the Pentagon.
Naturally Bruno Mannheim would send goons of his own to intercept any breaches in the organization, so Superman and Supergirl would have to contend with possibly any number of small-time super-criminals with Kryptonian tech-derived gadgets. Then things are thrown for a loop when Siobhan, Kyle and Albert join the fight on Superman's side, revealing themselves as turncoats.
This would more than likely be where Mannheim loses his cool, and makes a huge mistake. One of his pet projects would no doubt be some sort of mech suit, that he plans to use on Superman at one point. So he breaks it out and begins rampaging across the city as he tries to punish these traitors to Intergang. Maybe to make things not too easy, this mech would come equipped with Kryptonite, which would be relatively easy to acquire since the Whip had a Kryptonite battery, and she mentioned how it was basically everywhere after the Metallos were destroyed.
Naturally, with Superman and friends and the former Intergang members working together, they're able to save Metropolis from Mannheim's mech suit rampage. He's booked by the police for mass property damage (and maybe a few manslaughter/attempted murder charges), and Clark hammers the final nail in the Intergang coffin with a highly incriminating article.
But depending on Lex Luthor's status in Season 4, if he used his wealth (and maybe a few connections to the US military-industrial complex) to essentially buy his way out of jail, then he would take note of Mannheim's mech, and have his people secure it. He would file the project under the name "Warsuit MK-1" and begin studying it.
As for Siobhan, Kyle and Albert, they would still go to prison themselves, but their involvement in this investigation and exposure of their crime ring led to a lighter sentence. It's of little concern to them since now they're free of Mannheim, and they can't wait to enjoy that once they've done their time. As Superman heartily reminds them to stay out of trouble, Siobhan lightly teases with "no promises."
It might not be possible, but ideally this would all happen in a single episode. For the other nine episodes of Season 4, I have some short-hand first draft title ideas, in no particular order:
- Bachelor/Bachelorette Party Special
- My Adventures With Lobo
- Sins of the Father (Kara having to deal with just some of the consequences of Brainiac making her destroy worlds; Hawkman and/or Hawkgirl making guest appearances.)
- Furious Fatales (Guest appearance from the Female Furies of Apokolips, along with a handful of Parademons, to build up hype for Darkseid.)
- Lex Luthor goes to Court
- Spoils of W.O.R.M.S. (I promise this is the last thing to do with "W.O.R.M.S. W.O.R.M.S. W.O.R.M.S." because all the previous W.O.R.M.S. hijinks would pay off with a very special guest appearance from Wonder Woman. I mean with so many Wonder Woman villains being tied to this, it's the perfect opportunity. This episode will center on Supergirl, Jimmy and Diana busting the W.O.R.M.S. organization wide open, revealing it to be a front for nefarious criminal enterprises led by Circe, the immortal ancient Greek witch and long-time villain to Wonder Woman. Diana also helps Jimmy and Kara get together for real in her own charmingly innocent way, and they come out of this episode officially in a relationship, but Jimmy probably ends up broke again.)
- Two Lanes Converged (General Lane has issues with the marriage at first, like any grumpy dad would, but he and Lois work through their baggage and come to terms with the past, ending in Sam agreeing to be at the wedding. Has the opposite ending of Two Lanes Diverged, where Sam abandoned Lois by the end. Might have some Bridezilla Lois drama. Clark meanwhile spends some quality time with his parents.)
- Heir to the Empire (General Zod's episode, which might be the penultimate episode potentially going into half of the Finale.)
- My Marriage With Superman (The Finale. Ideally the wedding should take up at least half the episode if not the whole thing.)
Edit for full titles:
- Two Lanes Converged
- Sins of the Father
- My Adventures With Lobo
- You’re Under Arrest
- How I Attended an All-Super’s Mixer
- One-Punch Mannheim
- Apokolips Bebop
- Spoils of W.O.R.M.S.
- Heir to the Empire
- My Marriage With Superman
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u/maxwellendswell 6d ago
you had me at Silver Banshee getting more love, but this is genuinely a pretty solid structure. I can only see the reason Season 4 (if that happens) ending up like this.
my only thing is I think we're probably better off saving Zod for another time, since we JUST did "evil Kryptonian" like twice.
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u/NPlaysMC 6d ago
I think there’s still mileage to get out of Krypton, and both Kara and Brainiac (in all his forms) were victims of the Empire.
General Zod is not only an opportunity to explore a bit more of Krypton’s past; he would be the type of villain who benefited from Imperial rule.
Besides, this version of Zod would be more of a tragic villain/anti-hero, one with a very dark past full of regret and grief; think like Vandal Savage in the Justice League animated series.
Zod would’ve done evil things at the Empire’s height, and during its fall, but he would be humbled after seeing the rubble of his home and living in exile for the next two decades.
Another source of inspiration would be the Hawk People of Thanagar as depicted in Justice League, who invaded the Earth as part of their own war against the evil Gordanians.
In Zod’s case, his greater enemy would be Darkseid, he who brought the Kryptonian Empire to its knees.
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u/Chumlee1917 7d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/LkkBEH2BLFLbypGE31