Warning: SPOILERS for the Superman & Lois episode “Of Sound Mind” are ahead!
Although we knew going into Superman & Lois Season 3 that Arrow alum Chad L. Coleman would play Bruno Mannheim, the season premiere threw a surprise villain into the mix: Onomatopoeia, who, among the things you should know about the character, was created by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester. As of last night’s episode, “Of Sound Mind,” we now know that this version of Onomatopoeia is Daya Vaidya’s Peia, Bruno’s wife, and whom Clark Kent met in “Head On” as a cancer patient at the hospital where Lois Lane was doing chemotherapy. However, Vaidya shared with CinemaBlend that there had been talk about introducing Onomatopoeia to Superman & Lois way earlier.
Along with showering Chad L. Coleman and Tyler Hoechlin with praise, the actress went over with me how one of Superman & Lois’ writers had been looking to include Onomatopoeia since the show’s first season. As she explained when we talked before “Of Sound Mind” aired to the public:
… I want to talk about Jai Jamison, who’s one of the writers, and he actually pitched the idea in Season 1. So I found this out later, Jai is one of our directors and he’s a writer on the show, and he pitched in Season 1 and it didn’t happen, and then Season 2, it came up, and they were like, ‘Let’s do it.’ He’s a Black writer on the show and he really was instrumental in bringing the Suicide Slums and Hob's Bay, and just what that meant to make Bruno Mannheim an African American man married to a woman of color. It really took on a life of its own in that way and very cutting edge, I feel like.
While the comic book Onomatopoeia is an athletic assassin who his namesake sound effects out loud and primarily battles Green Arrow, Daya Vaidya’s Onomatopoeia is capable of manipulating sound, like when she mimicked a shotgun blast to kill former Smallville mayor George Dean. It’s unclear if Jai Jamison had envisioned this specific twist with Onomatopoeia back in Season 1 or if he’d been looking to bring a more faithful version of the character to life, but regardless, when Season 2 was unfolding, the producers were game to make the idea happen. Granted, that season was already filled with baddies like Bizarro Superman (whose corpse has reentered the picture) and Ally Allston, but then when the time came to put Season 3 together and feature a different take on Bruno Mannheim, that’s when it was decided that the trigger should be pulled on a live-action Onomatopoeia.
While the origin of Peia’s sound powers have yet to be revealed, she proved last night that she can hold her own against the Man of Steel, although said powers were revealed to be fading following the battle. That said, like the other villains we’ve seen on Superman & Lois, it’s not like she and Bruno Mannheim are just straightforward, one-dimensional villains. Daya Vaidya noted that her character is “complex” and “layered,” and we’ll get a better idea of what she and her husband are hoping to accomplish with their mysterious plan as we get further into the season, though Bruno has made it clear that every action he takes, illicit or otherwise, is meant to help better his community.
New episodes of Superman & Lois drop Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on The CW, and while Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia are enough to keep Clark occupied in his superhero life right now, don’t forget that Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor will also be stirring up trouble eventually. Scan through our 2023 TV schedule to learn what other shows are currently airing or will premiere/return in the coming months.
