Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Superman & Lois season three, episode one, “Closer.”

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Superman & Lois season three already had an impressive selection of villains for season three, and adding Onomatopoeia to this list just sent it over the edge. Lex Luthor, Bruno Mannheim, and Atom-Man will all be in attendance this season to trouble the Man of Steel as Clark balances his superhero life and his career as he returns to journalism. Now that multiple people know his secret identity, he has more backup on his team, but it still won’t be easy.

The CW series is known for surprising fans with villainous twists. In season one, Morgan Edge was actually Superman’s brother Tal-Rho, and in season two, fans expected Doomsday to appear and instead it was his multiverse doppelganger Bizarro. In the first episode of Superman and Lois season three, Superman comes face to face with Onomatopoeia — the sound-based supervillain — and it doesn’t end well for the Man of Steel. Onomatopoeia is more of a street-level criminal and a surprising choice to use for a Superman villain, but that doesn’t mean that the Super-family should let their guard down.

Onomatopoeia was created by writer/director Kevin Smith and Phil Hester. He first appeared in Green Arrow #12 (2002) and wears a trenchcoat over a black costume that covers his entire body with concentric circles on his face mask. He’s not much of a talker, as his name would suggest. He can mimic voices and sound effects, however, which can disorient his prey, giving him the opportunity to strike. Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who went around murdering low-level superheroes. He kills Virago and Buckeye, but when he goes after the Green Arrow family, Oliver Queen sets his sights on him.

While Green Arrow and his son Connor Hawke are out in Star City fighting crime, the younger archer chases a criminal into a stairwell and finds the man has been decapitated. Onomatopoeia comes from behind swinging an axe at Connor (while doing his own SFX), and he knocks Connor down. When Oliver finds his son, he’s lying on the ground with a bullet wound in his head.

Connor is taken to the hospital and things are looking dire for him because he’s lost a lot of blood. Oliver wants to go back to the streets and find the villain responsible, but he’s told to stay so he can give Connor a blood transfusion. Oliver obliges and after he’s done and recuperating, he sees a strange figure all in black walk through the hospital followed by the sounds of gunshots and screams. Oliver springs into action and stops Onomatopoeia before he gets to Connor in the operating room.

Oliver draws his bow back and points the arrow at Onomatopoeia to ensure he doesn’t attack his son. Oliver wants to know who the man is, but Onomatopoeia only lifts up his mask halfway, mocking the hero. Once the operation is over, Onomatopoeia bites the arrow and kicks Oliver back. The two fight and the serial killer holds his own against the well-trained Oliver, which confirms he has impressive combat skills.

Oliver hits him with arrows and the fight leads to the rooftop of the hospital. Onomatopoeia fires his gun at Oliver and the archer falls off of the roof, hanging onto the ledge. Onomatopoeia comes close and Oliver stabs his foot with an arrow and climbs back up while Onomatopoeia falls over the edge, seemingly to his death. When Oliver goes down to check on him, he’s nowhere to be found. They don’t know his name, how he survived, or why he’s doing this. Onomatopoeia is still very much a mystery by the end of the story.

In Superman & Lois, Onomatopoeia is just as mysterious. Clark has to leave his sons Jordan and Jonathan‘s birthday party early to handle a situation in Metropolis. Atom-Man is terrorizing the city and this time he has superpowers for an as-of-yet-unknown reason. They battle in the air in epic fashion until they crash-land in an alley. Atom-Man is struck by a hail of projectiles and he falls down dead.

Onomatopoeia appears for the first time in live-action and creates all sorts of sounds, including people screaming, sirens, explosions, and radio chatter. Superman flies into the air to locate the source of the sounds, but it seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. When Superman comes back down, Onomatopoeia and Atom-Man are gone.

Later, Atom-Man is lying in a lab as he’s being operated on under the direction of Intergang crime boss Bruno Mannheim. Onomatopoeia watches as this is happening, and it’s looking like the two of them are working together. The dead supervillain is injected with a yellow liquid and his vital signs return. They’ve just resurrected Atom-Man.

Onomatopoeia in Superman & Lois doesn’t seem to speak in full sentences, similar to his comic book incarnation. And his ability to mimic sound has gotten a major upgrade. In the comics, it was more of a special skill, whereas in the TV series, it could either be a metahuman ability or advanced technology, perhaps something Mannheim has provided. He’s able to replicate multiple and complex sounds all at once strong enough to confuse the likes of Superman.

It’s still unclear what Onomatopoeia and Mannheim are up to, but they’re using experimental inventions so it’s not going to turn out well for the Super-family. Lois Lane is investigating Mannheim, which could put her in the crosshairs of some dangerous foes.