The following contains MINOR spoilers for the fifth season of "Smallville."

Part of what makes "Smallville" one of those shows you just have to watch is the way it borrows the best from the pre-established Superman mythos and is able to weave its own plot-arcs around it. It is for that reason that many fans of the series will be more excited than ever, as the show will be exploring a rather large slice of that mythology and will be throwing a few more Kryptonian's into the mix.

To that effect, a few familiar faces will be making an appearance during the fifth season, including Brainiac, played by James Marsters, best known for his role as Spike, the somewhat evil British vampire in both "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off "Angel." But only this time, he will be missing the British accent and blond hair that shot the actor to fame on both shows, according to the Comics Continuum website.

"Joining us this season will be another famous character from Superman lore, Milton Fine, also known as Brainiac," series star Tom Welling said at a press event for the WB network.

Executive producer Al Gough has confirmed that the character of Brianiac will be introduced this season, and that he and the other writers have been thinking about Marsters for the part from the beginning.

"We always thought he was fantastic in 'Buffy' and then in 'Angel,' and he just felt like he'd be a good fit for this character," he said. "He was always sort of the first guy we wanted, and we met with him and told him the arc for what we wanted for Milton Fine as Brainiac."

The character will be introduced as a college professor tutoring Clark, but will begin working to turn the would-be super hero against the human race in order to fulfill his Kryptonian destiny.

"He's a wonderful actor beyond being Spike, so I think he'll bring all of that to the role," added Gough. "We've talked about it, and what's nice is, he's going to be one of Clark's college professors. It's more of the grand seduction of Clark Kent rather than someone coming in and them throwing each other around. And I think James is really up for the challenge."

The character of Brainiac is described as having a superior knowledge and has come to Earth with a deadly secret regarding the true fate of Krypton and of Clark's biological heritage. His mere presence will be enough to deteriorate the already degraded relationship between Clark and his soon-to-be rival Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum).

In addition to Brainiac, Aquaman will also be skipping through Smallville and stirring up trouble through his relationship with Lois Lane, played by Erica Durance. So far, there has been no announcement of who will be playing the character.

Smallville returns to the screens on Thursday, September 29.