The series was originally part of theArrowverse'sEarth-Prime in itsfirst season, developed as aspin-off ofSupergirl, with Hoechlin and Tulloch respectively reprising their roles fromSupergirl andThe Flash, and the conclusion of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event serving as abackdoor pilot. As the series went on, following the cancellation of planned crossovers withSupergirl andBatwoman due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, showrunner Todd Helbing andWarner Bros. decided to keep the show separate, with the series instead set in its own separatecontinuity; taking place on a different Earth to Earth-Prime, which was confirmed in thesecond season finale.
Superman & Lois was announced as apilot in October 2019 and was ordered to series in January 2020. The series aired on The CW for four seasons, from February 23, 2021 to December 2, 2024.
In thefirst season,Clark Kent / Superman andLois Lane return toSmallville with their sons Jonathan and Jordan, where they are reacquainted withLana Lang, her husband Kyle Cushing, and their daughter Sarah. Their idyllic lives are upended by the Stranger's entrance, as well as by the secret experiments ofMorgan Edge.[1]
In thesecond season, Superman's painful visions lead him to an encounter withBizarro while also butting heads with Lt. GeneralMitch Anderson. Meanwhile, Lois deals with the Inverse Method cult led byAlly Allston, who swayedLucy Lane to her side and has made an enemy of Bizarro for her supposed conquering of hisworld.
In thethird season, Superman contends with the plots ofIntergang, as Lois suffers from stage threeinflammatory breast cancer. Following the death of Peia Mannheim and the surrender ofBruno Mannheim,Lex Luthor is released from prison when the Mannheim's frame-up of him killingBoss Moxie is exposed. He proceeds to plan his revenge on Superman and Lois that involves a resurrected Bizarro.
In thefourth and final season, Superman continues his fight with the mutated Bizarro, now known asDoomsday, as Luthor begins his next plot that involves setting up a new base where the Manning Farm is. Things go worse for the Kent family when Doomsday gives Superman's heart to Luthor as he ordered.
Tyler Hoechlin asClark Kent / Superman: A superhero from Krypton and husband of Lois who defends Earth.[2]Dylan Kingwell portrays a teenage Clark in season one, Josh Zaharia portrays a teenage Clark in season two, Lennix James portrays a four-year-old Clark, Thomas Hoeving portrays Clark in his childhood, and Parker Cousineau portrays Clark in grade school. In an interview withMichael Rosenbaum onInside of You following the series' finale, Hoechlin admitted that he accepted the part of Superman without fully understanding the character and that he had grown up being more of a fan ofBatman andIndiana Jones.
Jordan Elsass (seasons 1–2) and Michael Bishop (seasons 3–4) asJonathan Kent: The modest, kind-hearted and athletic son of Clark and Lois who, unlike Jordan, initially did not inherit any Kryptonian superpowers, though they manifest after an emotional outburst in season 4. He is named after Clark's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent.[3] Elsass departed the series prior to the third season due to personal issues, and the role was recast to Bishop.[4][5] Brady Droulis portrays a seven-year-old Jonathan Kent.
Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent: The introspective son of Clark and Lois, who is an outcast with social anxiety.[3] Unlike Jonathan for the first 3 seasons, Jordan has inherited their father's powers, though early in season 1 his abilities only appear in "small bursts" but he manifests more powers and in season 2 he has grown powerful enough to fight Tal-Rho for a brief time. He is named after Clark's biological father, Jor-El. Dawson Littman portrays a seven-year-old Jordan Kent.
Erik Valdez as Kyle Cushing (né Cortez): Ex-husband of Lana Lang and Smallville's fire chief. Callous, abrasive, and a former alcoholic. A man always looking to do the right thing for the people he cares for. However, Cushing carries a chip on his shoulder about living in a small town.[6]
Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cortez:[7] Kyle and Lana's "wild child" daughter who befriends the Kent boys and serves as Jordan's love interest.[8] In the season 2 episode "Girl... You'll Be A Woman, Soon" she celebrates herquinceañera and changes her name to Cortez, which was her family's name before they changed it.[9]
Wolé Parks asJohn Henry Irons: A soldier and talented engineer from an unidentified parallel Earth who is hellbent on proving to the world that it no longer needs Superman. He eventually accepts Superman as the savior of Earth and teams up with him to protect people from Morgan Edge.[10]
Adam Rayner asTal-Rho / Morgan Edge /Eradicator (season 1; special guest season 2): An "intelligent, eloquent, and impassioned self-made mogul whose innate ability to motivate is the means to his success and others' demise."[11] He is later revealed to be Kal-El's half-brother known as Tal-Rho through Kal's mother Lara Lor-Van and Zeta-Rho with plans to restore the Kryptonian race.[12] Jack Rehbein and Ben Cockell portray a 10-year-old Tal-Rho and a 19-year-old Tal-Rho, respectively.
Dylan Walsh asSam Lane: Father of Lois and grandfather of Jonathan and Jordan, a no-nonsense, workaholic army general who is determined to keep America and the world safe from all threats.[13]
Emmanuelle Chriqui asLana Lang:[14] An old friend of Clark Kent and the former loan officer at Smallville Bank. In season two, she becomes the new mayor of Smallville.[15] Milano Hryshchenko portrays a childhood Lana, Sara Rizk portrays a grade school Lana, and Emma Newton portrays a teenage Lana.
Tayler Buck asNatalie Lane Irons (seasons 2–4;[16] guest season 1): John Henry Irons's daughter from his Earth with an alternate version of Lois Lane.
Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy Beppo (seasons 2–4;[17] recurring season 1): A "go-getter" journalist at theSmallville Gazette who has a "chance encounter" that changes her life.[18]
The series was announced in October 2019 withTodd Helbing,Greg Berlanti,Sarah Schechter andGeoff Johns executive producing, and Helbing penning the script.[2] On January 14, 2020,The CW officially orderedSuperman & Lois to series.[76] The first season consisted of 15 episodes.[77] The seriesEverwood andFriday Night Lights served as inspirations for the show, given they were also family dramas. Helbing explained many aspects ofSuperman & Lois were approached as if it were a feature film, such as the aspect ratio, cinematography, and production design, saying "We are competing with shows on cable and streamers...we wanted to be able to do that and offer audiences something of equal quality".[1] In March 2021, The CW renewed the series for a second season which premiered on January 11, 2022.[78] In March 2022, it renewed the series for a third season.[79]
In January 2023,DC Studios CEOsJames Gunn andPeter Safran said they expected the show to continue for "one to two more seasons".[80] Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment at The CW, stated in May 2023 that the business model of the show was no longer feasible for the network due to the show being expensive to produce, adding that it did not directly generate any profits and The CW did not have the rights to previous seasons.[81] In June 2023, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season consisting of ten episodes. Under the renewal agreement, the series reduced the number of its regular cast members and writers, in addition to reducing action scenes and gearing more towards a family-focused drama, in an effort to reduce production costs.[82] Production was however delayed due to the 2023Writers Guild of America andSAG-AFTRA strikes.[83] On November 2, 2023, it was announced that the fourth season would be the series' last.[82] Schwartz stated in an interview that the decision to end the show was made byWarner Bros. Discovery to avoid competition with the upcomingDC Universe (DCU) filmSuperman (2025).[84]
In October 2020,Sofia Hasmik andStacey Farber were cast in the recurring roles of Chrissy Beppo and Leslie Larr, respectively.[18][85] In December 2020,David Ramsey was revealed to be reprising hisArrow role ofJohn Diggle in addition to directing at least one episode in the series.[86] In June 2021, Hasmik was promoted to a series regular for the second season.[17] In August 2021,Tayler Buck, who guest starred in the first season, was promoted to a series regular for the second season.[16] In October 2021,Ian Bohen was cast in a recurring role as Lt. Mitch Anderson for the second season.[87]Jenna Dewan, who previously played Lucy Lane onSupergirl reprised her role in the second season.[88]
In August 2022, Elsass departed the series ahead of the third season for personal reasons.[4] The following month, his role was recast to Michael Bishop[5] andChad L. Coleman was cast asBruno Mannheim.[19]Lex Luthor appears in the show where he is now portrayed byMichael Cudlitz instead of a reprisal fromJon Cryer, who played his doppelgänger on Earth-Prime.[89]
Seven of the twelve cast members were cut as series regulars following the renewal of the show for the fourth and final season. These included Dylan Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck and Sofia Hasmik. Michael Cudlitz joins as a main cast member following his guest appearances in the previous season,[20] receiving "special appearance by" credit.[citation needed] Navarrette confirmed in July 2023 that she would return as a guest star for at least three episodes.[7] Ultimately, each member of the supporting cast that appeared in the previous season reprised their role and retained main cast billing for the episodes that they appeared in.
Production on the pilot was expected to begin on March 23, 2020, inVancouver, British Columbia, and conclude on May 14.[90] However, on March 13, 2020, plans to shoot a pilot were delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, to either June or July of that year.[91][92] In late July 2020, Warner Bros. Television planned for the Vancouver-based production to restart in late August.[93] Filming of season 1 began on October 21, 2020, and concluded on July 2, 2021.[94][95][96] The series is filmed on location inSurrey, British Columbia.[97][98] The second season began filming on September 15, 2021, and concluded on May 5, 2022.[99][100] Filming of the third season began on September 6, 2022[101] in Vancouver, and concluded on March 14, 2023.[102] Filming for the fourth season began on January 11, 2024 and concluded on April 24, 2024 with Hoechlin receiving a supportive letter from upcoming Superman actorDavid Corenswet as production wrapped up.[103][104][105][106][107] The cast and crew held awrap party on April 25, 2024 to celebrate the conclusion of four seasons of filming.[108]
In November 2020, series writer Nadria Tucker announced she was fired from the show, claiming it was for "pushing back on racist and sexist storylines." She also claimed she worked on all 15 episodes of the first season, but was only paid for 13 of them.[109][110][111] In a statement, WBTV claimed that "Warner Bros. Television did not exercise its option to extend her [contract] for additional episodes" and that "WBTV was transparent and told her why it was not picking up her option."[112]
Speaking of the lack of greaterArrowverse connections in the first season, showrunnerTodd Helbing felt that there was "this weird set of circumstances where, because of production or timing or COVID, everything in the show that was related to the Arrowverse has gotten pulled out". He added that, as development progressed further away from the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, "it felt like we were opening a can of worms every time we had to explain the connection", though he was hopeful more connections or proper crossovers could occur in the second season.[113]
Though the multiverse,Oliver Queen and the Arrowverse's version of the League[b] were mentioned in the first season, the second season finale establishes that the series takes place adjacent to Earth-Prime, with different iterations of the characters compared to their Earth-Prime counterparts and a different continuity with Superman being that Earth's only hero, though the change of setting itself is never fully explained. Helbing later revealed that the show's setting was separate from Earth-Prime, a decision he andDC Entertainment made. He further added that the Superman, Lois Lane, Lucy Lane and John Diggle in the series are doppelgangers of the ones on Earth-Prime.[114]
Superman & Lois premiered on The CW on February 23, 2021.[115] After a delay in production caused by COVID-19, the series went on hiatus after the fifth episode, during which thesixth and final season ofSupergirl took over the series' timeslot.[116] The second season premiered on January 11, 2022.[117][118] The third season premiered on March 14, 2023.[119] The fourth and final season premiered on October 7, 2024.[120][121]
CTV Sci-Fi Channel aired the series in Canada.[122] TheBBC acquired theUK broadcast rights to the show. The series premiered onBBC One on December 4, 2021, and was made available to stream onBBC iPlayer.[123]
Beginning March 5, 2021, extended versions of episodes ofSuperman & Lois started streaming on The CW's app and website a day after the release of an episode.[124] The entire first season became available onHBO Max on September 17, 2021.[125] The second season was made available on July 29, 2022.[126] The third season was released on the rebranded Max streaming service on July 28, 2023.[127] The fourth season was released on January 1, 2025.[128]
Season one of the series was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.S. on October 19, 2021.[129] Season two was released on September 27, 2022.[130] The third season was released on June 11, 2024.[131] The fourth season as well as the complete series was released on April 1, 2025.[132]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 88%.[133] The website's critical consensus reads "Though it may be a bit too grounded for some viewers,Superman & Lois draws strength from unexpected places – without skimping on the action – to carve its own path in a crowded superhero universe." OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[134]
DC Comics publishedEarth-Prime, a six-issue comic event set entirely in the universe of DC's superhero shows. Each of the first five issues spotlight a different CW/DC superhero series, with the sixth issue serving as a crossover finale. The comic series is considered part of the superhero television shows' canon.Earth-Prime #2 featuresSuperman & Lois, written by Adam Mallinger, Jai Jamison and Andrew Wong with art byTom Grummett andNorm Rapmund and was released on April 19, 2022. The comic includes Clark and Lois trying to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, Clark remembering his father Jonathan onFather's Day, and the origin story of the Superman from John Henry Irons's unnamed Earth. By the sixth issue, the Superman from Irons' unnamed Earth was used byMagog to help attack Earth-Prime's heroes while Earth-Prime's Superman was seen in the final story with the Justice League.[148]
^Cudlitz is listed among the main cast but receives "special appearance by" credit in the opening titles.
^Informally established at the end of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, although the term "Justice League" has never been mentioned in-universe.
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