Who Is Onomatopoeia Superman & Lois’ New Villain

Superman and Lois have faced many villains throughout their long history in comics and on screen. From the likes of Lex Luthor to Brainiac and Doomsday, the Man of Tomorrow has always managed to overcome his foes and save the day. But now, a new adversary has emerged in the latest season of Superman & Lois, starring the iconic superhero duo. This villain goes by the name of Onomatopoeia, and unlike many of Superman’s past foes, he is a relatively new character in the DC Comics universe. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at who Onomatopoeia is and how he fits into the overall story of Superman and Lois.

Onomatopoeia is a serial killer supervillain with the unique power to imitate sounds and is gifted with superhuman durability. Little is known about Onomatopoeia except for the fact that he, in the comics, targets non-superpowered heroes exclusively. Little is known about Onomatopoeia when it comes to Superman & Lois TV series, but we do know at the moment that his powers reflect those in the comics and that he is somehow allied with what appears to be the biggest villain in Season 3, Bruno Manheim. 

Now that we’ve covered who Onomatopoeia is in short, it’s time to analyze the character in more detail. If you’re interested in the comic book story of this interesting villain and his future in the TV series, stay with us and keep reading!

The first episode of Superman & Loise Season 3 presented us with a new cast of villains

One of the things we’ve seen in the first episode of Superman & Lois is that things have, at least for a time, returned to normal after dealing with otherwordly threats in the season 2 finale. Back in season 2, we were introduced to the name Bruno Manheim, who reappeared at the beginning of season 3, and it appears that he has a whole team of supervillains assisting him in his criminal efforts. It’s obvious that season 3 will “stay in the neighborhood” as most of the villainous activity will be focused on Metropolis and the fact that Manheim is planning something big. 

But we’ve mentioned that Manheim has a whole team behind him, and we’ve met two of his henchmen so far, Atom Man and Onomatopoeia. 

Clark got into a fight with Atom Man during Jonathan’s and Jordan’s 16th birthday party. And at first, Clark was shocked that Atom Man had superpowers and enough strength to rival even his own strength. Later we will learn that Atom Man got out of jail three months prior because he suffered from a brain tumor which means that he most likely acquired his superpowers as a part of some experimental treatment that he underwent organized by Bruno Manheim. 

Clark never had a chance to ask Atom Man more questions related to his state since he was seemingly murdered. Clark was shocked since it seemed like he was killed by gunshots, but no bullets could be found inside his body.

This was when he noticed a shadowy figure staring at him. The figure had strange white swirls instead of a face, and Superman noticed that something had happened to his hearing. Despite Metropolis being relatively calm at that moment, he could hear chaos all around, sirens, gunshots, and screaming. Despite hearing those sounds, he could find no evidence visually that those things were truly happening. 

Those misleading sounds were a manifestation of Onomatopoeia’s power. Onomatopoeia left the scene before Clark could react, but we can see the supervillain again in the last scenes of the first episode. He is present during the experiment along with Bruno Manheim and an unknown scientist trying to resurrect Atom Man again. 

We’ve witnessed what Onomatopoeia is capable of, but this is pretty much the only thing that we know about this shadowy villain. For further info, we’re going to have to refer ourselves to comics. 

Onomatopoeia is a well-known supervillain in the comics targeting heroes without superpowers 

Onomatopoeia’s true identity and origin story are unfortunately unknown. His origin story and who he was before he acquired his powers were never explained in detail. All we know about this villain is that he clashed with numerous heroes in the comics, like Virago, Connor Hawke, and Odd Man. He seems to have a penchant for targeting superheroes that are without any kind of superpowers. 

At one point, he became a member of the Secret Society of Supervillains and was considered for membership in Suicide Squad until he was ultimately dismissed because of his chaotic tendencies. 

Onomatopoeia teamed up with the Joker to escape Arkham Asylum, using the Joker as bait for Batman. During the escape, he shot Deadshot but failed to realize that Deadshot was only pretending to be dead.

Onomatopoeia hired the Joker to start a gang war with Maxie Zeus, who was selling a drug called “Chuckles” made from Joker Venom. Eventually, Onomatopoeia had a fight with Batman and was defeated. To escape, he stabbed the Joker, forcing Batman to choose between capturing him or saving the Joker’s life. Batman chose to save the Joker, allowing Onomatopoeia to get away.

Onomatopoeia once managed to manipulate Batman and earn his trust 

Onomatopoeia is not the only name under which this supervillain operated. He was also known as Baphomet, and appropriately, he wore a demon-themed mask instead of his usual black mask with concentric white circles. 

As Baphomet, he posed as a masked vigilante and helped Batman to take care of Demon Etrigan, a criminal Fun Land, and Black Spider. Since his identity as Onomatopoeia was unknown to pretty much anybody, Baphomet felt bold enough to expose himself in front of Batman, he removed his mask, and little by little, Batman began to trust him. Baphomet once replaced Batman altogether, teaming up with Robin while Bruce was vacationing at Aspen. 

Following these events, Batman trusted Onomatopoeia so much that he invited him to his Batcave and even removed his mask in front of him.

This is the moment where Onomatopoeia uses his sonic powers and reveals himself as the notorious villain. Bruce never had time to react; Onomatopoeia used the distraction to kill Silver St. Cloud, one notable romantic interest of Bruce. 

Onomatopoeia is not a metahuman, but he does have interesting superpowers 

Onomatopoeia’s most notable superpower is the fact that he can mimic various environmental sounds like gunshots, sirens, dripping taps, crashes, etcetera. His powers were potent and convincing enough that he managed to fool Superman.

Onomatopoeia likewise has superhuman durability, although the origin of this power is unknown since he is not a metahuman. He managed to tank serious damage in the comics, including bullets, which did little harm to him.

We don’t know to what extent this will transfer to Superman & Lois TV series, but we’re going to know about the nature of this character in the upcoming episodes.