Left-arm speedster Johnson will line up at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night fresh off his $1.78 million payday at the IPL auction.
Heat captain Colin Munro will unleash Johnson and his 150kmh thunderbolts early after winning the toss and electing to send the winless home side in to bat.
"His pockets are pretty heavy, I think ... It's a credit to him and how hard he's worked to get to that point," Heat allrounder Michael Neser said of Johnson, 28, who had been plagued by injuries until his meteoric rise this year.
"He's had injuries and I think everyone knew how talented he was, but it was just injury after injury that held him back.
"He's just found that sweet spot now and he's had an incredible 12 months.
"It's an accumulation of everything and he's been rewarded with a nice pay cheque."
Before looking ahead to an IPL campaign with the Gujarat Titans, Johnson will seek to keep Brisbane's unbeaten start to the BBL season alive against the winless Renegades.
The Heat received a boost when batters Matt Renshaw and Josh Brown overcome minor fitness concerns from last week's win over the Sydney Thunder.
Both trained without incident in recent days.
The Renegades have regained international spinner Adam Zampa after his extended break, while veteran paceman Peter Siddle is out.
MELBOURNE RENEGADES: Quinton de Kock (wk), Joe Clarke, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Nic Maddinson (capt), Aaron Finch, Jonathan Wells, Will Sutherland, Tom Rogers, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
BRISBANE HEAT: Colin Munro (capt), Josh Brown, Matt Renshaw, Sam Billings (wk), Nathan McSweeney, Paul Walter, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann.
