The history of superhero television shows on the CW began and ended with Superman. The very first, just as the channel rose from the ashes of UPN and the WB, was “Smallville,” which set a standard for telling superhero origin stories on television without big budgets or blockbuster level visual effects, and continued until become a Guinness World Record holder.
23 years later, The CW said goodbye to what will likely be the network’s very last superhero television show, “Superman & Lois.” Rather than being another origin story, however, this series was a bold and exciting new take that began 20 years after Clark Kent first dressed as the Man of Steel, fought enemies like Lex Luthor, married Lois Lane and became the father of twin boys. Rather than examining Superman’s early career, the series explored Clark Kent’s life as a middle-aged superhero until his later years.
The result was an incredible series that stood out from other DC shows on The CW. “Superman & Lois” struck a healthy balance between its superhero and family drama, giving the supporting characters and the larger community around the Man of Steel a feeling of fleshing out and importance. Even in the visual department, the show’s 2.2:1 widescreen aspect ratio made it feel more like a movie than the network’s other offerings.
With James Gunn now rebooting Superman on the big screen as part of its new DC universe (a franchise that will prioritize synergy above all)it’s a great time to look back at what could become the last standalone Superman TV show for quite a while and rank the best seasons of “Superman & Lois.”
4. Season 2
The second season of “Superman & Lois” had some very good things going for it. On the one hand, it introduced Bizarro and his upside-down world. On the dramatic character side, the story of the Cushing/Cortez/Lang family is captivating and poignant, with the storyline of Lana and Kyle’s relationship breakdown being handled with nuance and care for all parties involved. It’s rare for a superhero show to make non-superpowered things as exciting as superpowered action, but this season showed that it could be done. Likewise, in Season 2, Tal-Rho, Clark’s biological brother, has become a sympathetic Hannibal-style villain, and he is absolutely delightful to watch.
Unfortunately, the balance between drama and superheroes is not handled as well this season as in others. The overall narrative also seems rather scattered, with the season’s various subplots mostly disconnected until the very end in contrived ways. The whole story with Ally, the cult leader, never really feels cooked either, as she’s neither interesting enough as a character nor disturbing enough as a cult leader.
3. Season 1
The opening scene of “Superman & Lois” alone should be studied as one of the best superhero shorts ever made. In just a few minutes, this sequence manages to tell Superman’s familiar origin story while also making it clear that this is a different take on the character. It’s pretty exciting to see Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel recreate the cover of Superman’s very first appearance in Action Comics #1 by lifting a car, complete with his charming old-fashioned 1938 costume. However, the moment that really sells it is the one where a kid compliments his super-suit and Clark enthusiastically (and proudly) proclaims, “My mom made that for me!” with a big stupid smile on his face. It’s Hoechlin’s relentless sincerity that allows this scene to truly capture the heartwarming, endearing, relentless optimism of the series’ source material.
Even though it takes a little time for the series to find its footing (especially with Lois’ story), the fact that “Superman & Lois” works as well as it does is a testament to the writing, the production and especially the acting of the actors of the series. right from the start and sells this version of Superman so well. This isn’t a brooding, gritty retelling of Man of Steel, even though it’s painfully obvious from the start that his role as a symbol of truth, justice, and a better future has cost Superman dearly and he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. . Rather, it’s the story of an extremely polite Superman, who learned every language on the planet just to better understand the people he protects, who is vehemently against white supremacists, and who protects immigrants.
More importantly, the first season shows that “Superman & Lois” really portrays the essence of Clark Kent as a genuinely good guy, and the fact that Lois falls in love with him rather than Superman makes it even more refreshing. Season 1’s subplot about Lois fighting giant conglomerates who acquire newspapers simply to throw them into the ground is also thrilling, as is its big General Zod twist (which is different enough to avoid feeling derivative or tired ).
2. Season 3
The third season of “Superman & Lois” ramps up the personal drama by presenting a bold and powerful storyline in which Lois is diagnosed with breast cancer. This is the season where Bitsie Tulloch truly shines as Lois Lane, dramatically portraying the heartbreaking emotional journey the character goes through and making it a moving story about what chemotherapy does not only to someone’s body but also to his mind. Seeing not only her, but also Clark, a beautiful, otherwise invulnerable being, have to go through this together is heartbreaking and a highlight of the entire series.
The other side of the season deals with the resurgence of Intergang and Metropolis gangster Bruno Manheim and how he and his wife Peia become friends with Clark and Lois. It is through Manheim that the series asks important and crucial questions about the role Superman plays in society. Manheim, a black man, claims to be doing what needs to be done for the less fortunate people of Metropolis, arguing that Superman ignores people’s everyday problems because solving them is much less flashy than fighting against inter-dimensional invasions and alien attacks. As Manheim says, Superman always reacts to problems rather than trying to solve the everyday problems that ordinary people face on Earth.
Add to all that Lois’ cancer storyline, and “Superman & Lois” Season 3 finds Superman at his most human. Here, the character’s main conflict has less to do with supervillains and more to do with what comes with simply being a person, whether it’s social injustice, illness, or his own inability to do enough to change the world.
1. Season 4
“Superman & Lois” really came out with a bang. Despite fewer episodes and a smaller cast, season 4 delivered one of the best Superman stories of all time. It also featured many firsts for the character in live-action. On the one hand, we finally obtained a Doomsday faithful to the comicscomplemented by a phenomenal adaptation of “The Death of Superman” which managed not to focus on the question of whether Superman would come back to life, but on how and the heavy sacrifices that lead to his return, and how life It’s never the same for him afterward.
Even before that, there was a time when Superman revealed his secret identity to the worldanother live-action first and a perfect encapsulation of this vision of the character (as well as the superhero genre’s broader themes of secret identities and the cost they have on superheroes). From the beginning of the series, it was painfully obvious that Clark Kent had lost a lot due to the need to keep his powers a secret and had sacrificed countless relationships for the sake of it. This includes his friendship with Jimmy Olsen, who is played phenomenally here by Douglas Smith.
Additionally, having fewer episodes meant that Season 4 of “Superman & Lois” had to be more focused on spending time on its non-Superman characters, leading to moving and emotional closing moments for everyone from Kyle and Chrissy to John Henry Irons and Nathalie. Meanwhile, on the villain front, in Season 4, Michael Cudlitz delivered an extremely terrifying version of Lex Luthor, who is less of a ruthless, sophisticated CEO and more of a gruff biker who will beat you to death with his bare fists. Rather than obsessing over Superman, this time Lex’s vendetta is against Lois for speaking out about sending him to prison, leading to a thrilling game of cat and mouse between Lex and the Kents.
But what truly makes this the best season of the series, and one of the best Superman stories of all time (in any medium), is that “Superman & Lois” went ahead and did the unthinkable: Clark Kent actually lost his powers and became mortal. . This, in turn, led to a perfect finale, bringing this specific Superman story to a definitive end while encapsulating everything that makes the character great in the first place.
