Danielle Solzman
Superman and Lois might be the newest addition to the Arrowverse but Superman fans in general are no strangers to the adventures of Lois and Clark.
I grew up watching Superman on TV in various iterations. I watched both 1993-97’s Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and 2001-2011’s Smallville. Because of this, I’m no stranger to these characters. There are also the films starring Christopher Reeve. The rest is history. Superman and Lois follows the characters in a different point of their life. The big difference is that they are part of the larger Arrowverse.
When we last left the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Earth-1, Earth-38, and Black Lightning’s Earth were all merged into Earth-Prime. A quick opening montages catches viwers up on Clark/Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch). They only had a very young son, Jonathan, going into the Crisis. Following the crisis, they had they had two teenage sons. In this series, their sons are set of twins, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alexander Garfin). My best guess is that it’s been some time since the Crisis. I especially think so because there is no other way to explain why the two are now parents of teenagers.
If you’re familiar with Smallville, Lana Lang Cushing (Emmanuelle Chriqui) will be very familiar. Granted, the role is being portrayed by someone else but still. She’s married to Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez) and they have two children, Sarah (Inde Navarrette) and Sophie (Joselyn Picard). You cannot have a Superman series without Lois’s dad, General Samuel Lane (Dylan Walsh) having some kind of involvement. Dylan Walsh takes over for Glenn Morshower.
When Clark’s mom dies, the Kents head back to Smallville for the funeral. It is no surprise that they eventually discuss moving back to Kansas. The small town environment works for them with where they are in life. This will likely have repercussions for Jonathan since he has a girlfriend and is the starting quarterback. For Jordan, however, things are different. He is just beginning to manifest his own superpowers. But family life aside, I’m curious to know more about what The Stranger (Wolé Parks) wants with Superman. The closing minutes of the pilot lead me to believe that if it isn’t Lex Luthor, it’s one of his descendants. Or maybe he is from a different Earth?
I feel that the pilot is giving us the right amount of action and family drama. Fans also get a nice mix of both Clark Kent and Superman. Some of this is the classic showing off but that’s perfectly fine. One of the things that I like about the pilot is that they are not afraid to touch on current issues so to speak. Morgan Edge is standing in for so many companies acquiring media companies. Moreover, the Daily Planet is no different than other newspapers with having to layoff journalists. This is sad but it is reality.
There aren’t any references to the other Arrowverse series. Is this series going to be a standalone series or will any superfriends show up at some point? Given the pandemic, I am inclined to believe we won’t get any major cameos aside from David Ramsey’s John Diggle. Whether he shows up as a full-fledged Green Lantern remains to be seen.
Superman and Lois brings back the characters we love while also filling a void in a world without Arrow.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Greg Berlanti, Todd Helbing, Sarah Schechter, and Geoff Johns
CAST: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, Alexander Garfin, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Adam Rayner, with Dylan Walsh and Emmanuelle Chriqui
