Ricky Church looks back on Superman & Lois…
For a character who has existed in popular culture for over 80 years, there is certainly no shortage of Superman material to explore. Whether it is the comics, the old serials, Christopher Reeve films or the many TV series ranging from Superman: The Animated Series to Smallville there are plenty of options for fans of the Man of Steel. The most recent series Superman & Lois, however, is among the best representations of Superman and his world with its character driven stories, acting and its desire to push new boundaries within the Superman mythology.
Unlike most adaptations of Superman, Superman & Lois abandoned the classic tropes of Clark keeping his identity a secret from Lois Lane. Instead, the pair have already been married for close to two decades and are parents to teenage twin boys. After very sudden career and life changes the Kent family move back to Clark’s hometown of Smallville where Clark continues his job saving the world as Superman, Lois begins working for the local paper and one of their sons develops the same Kryptonian powers as his father. For all four its seasons, the series examined what it means for Clark and Lois to be parents and what Superman’s appeal continues to be in this modern age.
Right from the very beginning, the series held nothing back on its emotional beats or character development as it opened up with Clark giving a quick recap of his upbringing on Earth, how he became Superman, met and married Lois and became a father. The biggest emotional moment in the premiere though involved Clark and his mother Martha, where upon hearing she suffered a stroke Clark doesn’t hesitate flying from Metropolis to Smallville to see her. The next moments remain some of the series’ most powerful as Clark, the strongest man on the planet, hesitated entering Martha’s bedroom and had to brace himself to look at her body. Though Tyler Hoechlin had already acted as Superman in several episodes of Supergirl and other Arrowverse shows, this was the moment that cemented how great of a Superman and Clark Kent he was capable of being.
That was just the start of the journey the series would take viewers on. It never sacrificed its character moments for action or reverted to the typical CW romance drama, even when it came to the relationships Jordan and Jonathan Kent were in. Another show might have created romantic tension between Clark, Lois and his high school sweetheart Lana Lang, but not only was Lana already married (granted, with her own marital problems), but Clark and Lana remained friends and Lois and Lana developed a strong friendship too. Also of note was the reveal John Henry Irons was married to Lois on the world he came from but there was never any real romantic tension between them, only the begrudging acceptance and grief that the Lois on his world had died and could never be brought back.
Despite all the character moments on the show, when it came to the action it really knocked it out of the park for a CW series shooting on a much smaller budget than any of the Superman films. The enemies he fought with, like his half-brother Tal-Rho, Bizarro and eventually Doomsday, were done excellently with tense, pulse-pounding action and superb effects and cinematography, making this small screen show feel as cinematic as possible. Even Superman’s battles with some of the lackeys he’d face or the incredible saves he made around the world were well done and exciting.
Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Alex Garfin, Jordan Elsass and Michael Bishop (Bishop played Jonathan Kent after Elsass’s departure in season two) were all terrific as the Kent family. As already mentioned, Hoechlin made a great Superman right from the start with his charisma, confidence and kindness, but shined as the father to his two boys, providing them with unconditional love and compassion while holding his own uncertainty navigating fatherhood, especially when Jordan developed his own powers. There are many moments where Hoechlin sells Superman’s compassion and willingness to do the right thing, seeing every life as special and worthy of saving. From saving a young kid with unstable powers, trying to reach through to a villain dying of cancer or even attempting to find common ground with Lex freaking Luthor, Hoechlin never made Superman’s belief in people feel naïve but one of the hero’s greatest strengths.
Tulloch meanwhile quickly rose to one of if not the best Lois Lane actresses in all Superman media. She captured Lois’ tenacity in journalism, her sense of truth and the love she has for her family and community. Tulloch was given very strong material to play off of, particularly in her season three story arc where Lois was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through the full season undergoing chemo and the struggles that came with it. Combined with Lois’ family drama involving her sister, the tension with her father or her previous miscarriage, many of Lois’ problems were incredibly relatable and done with the utmost respect to people who have suffered through the same or similar issues rather than creating these storylines just for the sake of drama. Tulloch rose to the challenge and delivered a beautiful performance of Lois throughout these tough stories.
Similarly, Jordan and Jonathan’s storylines were utilized in a more serious manner than other CW shows. Aside from the teenage romantic stuff as mentioned, Superman & Lois made a point to dig into Jordan’s social anxiety and what it meant for someone like him to suddenly gain powers. Over the course of the series Jordan’s confidence grew, but so did an arrogance that made him impatient and desperate to receive validation from the rest of the world, culminating in the third and fourth seasons where his recklessness put the Kent family in the spotlight, unintentionally revealing their secret to Lex Luthor. Jonathan, meanwhile, went from the family’s star athlete to a regular kid and though it didn’t bother him at first the pressure eventually built to feeling he had to take enhancement drugs on the football field. Garfin, Elsass and Bishop’s portrayal of the Kent twins was one of the most intriguing aspects since they were characters created strictly for the series and had great chemistry with Hoechlin and Tulloch, making the Kent family dynamic fun and emotional.
The supporting cast of Dylan Walsh, Wolé Parks, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Tayler Buck and Sofia Hasmi all contributed to great stories and emotional beats. On the villains side Adam Raynor, Rya Kihlstedt, Chad L. Coleman, Daya Vaidya and Michael Cudlitz were all exemplary in humanizing Superman’s enemies and bringing sympathy to them, particularly with Coleman and Vaidya as the Mannheim’s who were dealing with their own cancer struggle. Cudlitz, however, might be among the best as the series saved Superman’s arch nemesis for last as Lex’s anger, ego, pride and utter ruthlessness was on full display as he tried to ruin both Superman and Lois’ lives when he had every chance to put it behind him and start anew.
Superman & Lois had the potential to go on for several more seasons and while it is sad this is the end, it is best the show went out in top form and delivered a beautiful and bittersweet conclusion to Superman and Lois’ story. Instead of having Superman die again in a huge battle against Doomsday, outliving everyone on Earth or going into a self-imposed exile after the death of his loved ones, Superman & Lois did something no other Superman story has done: have the Man of Steel die a normal, human death as Clark Kent, years after Lois finally succumbed to her cancer, surrounded by his family. It was an excellent call-back to the premiere where Clark dictated the events of his life up to that point, this time telling us the years before his death and how much more special he viewed life in his twilight years.
If nothing else, the series finale and those final 10 minutes proved just how well the team behind Superman & Lois understood these characters to such a great degree. For anyone who still thinks Superman is boring and out of touch with the modern world, unable to stand with heroes like Batman, Spider-Man and others, point them to this show where the emphasis on Superman and Lois Lane’s love and dedication to truth, justice and a better tomorrow are all the reasons one needs for why the pair remain such iconic heroes in pop culture.
Where do you think Superman & Lois will stand in the Man of Steel’s legacy? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
