Superman & Lois

Who else watched the pilot?

I liked its tributes to the history of the character, particularly in the opening, and I thought it balanced the real-world and TV-soap elements with the superheroics reasonably well. The show's creators understand the characters and their histories in a way that a certain other recent depiction of Superman does not. It's unclear how much of the Arrowverse has been reimagined both post- and since- the DCTVU Crisis. The plot involving the sons' lack of awareness of Clark's true identity would have made more sense if they were younger, and the sons themselves would have made more sense if the actors playing 14-year-olds were younger (though at least the actors are still technically teens).

We're going to watch, at least for awhile.

I don't quite get why Clark/Superman has to have a permanent 5 o'clock+ shadow. I kept hearing the Smallville theme in my head as, "Somebody shave me...."

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  • JD DeLuzio wrote:

    The show's creators understand the characters and their histories in a way that a certain other recent depiction of Superman does not.

    Ain't that the truth.

    Also:

    • One clear change in the Arrowverse (which The CW is trying to re-brand as "The CWVerse"; good luck with that), is the mere fact Clark and Lois have twin sons who are teenagers. Going into the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, they had just one son, and he was a baby.
    • This retelling keeps the conceit introduced in Richard Donner's first Superman film that Jonathan Kent died of a heart attack and Martha Kent lived for years as a widow, which has been slavishly followed by most incarnations of Superman ever since. I suppose them both dying together of "Caribbean Fever Plague" is too much to expect.
    • Entertainment We Still Call It Weekly But It's Really Not tells us that scene set in the Daily Planet newsroom was filmed in the Vancouver Daily Sun newsroom, which was conveniently available and vacant because, y'know, COVID.
    • The sight of people getting laid off at the Daily Planet because of some corporate raider was a little painful coming after the news here on Earth-Prime about Tribune Company.
    • All along, I had the feeling Clark was making the wrong decision about not telling the boys about his origins because he was afraid of hurting the feelings of the angsty son for not having powers. He should still be afraid of hurting the feelings of the confident son for not having powers. But, as was well brought out, Jonathan and Martha Kent didn't have a playbook for rearing a superpowered child.
    • So, even in idyllic Smallville, there are families making crystal meth? *sigh*
    • I liked that Gen. Sam Lane was an ally here, and not a xenophobic smurfhole. That's Luthor's job.
    • Loved the nod to Action Comics #1, right down to the green vehicle. And Superman wearing the costume from the old Max Fleischer cartoons -- and saying "My mom made it" -- wonderful!
    • I gave Superman & Lois a chance, and I may give it more chances. Supergirl hasn't been much fun the past couple of seasons, and it's going away, so this might give me my dose of superheroics.
  • Just one more thing (as Lieutenant Columbo is wont to say): Superman's 5 o'clock shadow bugs me, too.



  • ClarkKent_DC said:

    JD DeLuzio wrote:

    The show's creators understand the characters and their histories in a way that a certain other recent depiction of Superman does not.

    Ain't that the truth.

    Also:

    • One clear change in the Arrowverse (which The CW is trying to re-brand as "The CWVerse"; good luck with that), is the mere fact Clark and Lois have twin sons who are teenagers. Going into the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, they had just one son, and he was a baby.

    Maybe it's a memory trick, but I'm pretty sure the son became twins post-Crisis in a throwaway line. I'm assuming that time has passed since Crisis, allowing them to grow up. Alternatively, this is DC, so we probably shouldn't worry too much about continuity.

    On that note, I'm very curious if (1) something has developed with Lex since his post-Crisis incarnation or (2) if there's an alternate universe involved or (3) if we're being misled by a certain cliffhanger  piece of information.

    I'm okay with the exploding meth lab as part of Smallville's recent history. They're trying to show it's basically a good town, but one which has experienced its share of recent real-world small-town problems. And meth/opioid issues have hit the heartland hard in the last couple decades. 

    Did anyone else catch the "Call Shuster and Siegal" scribbled on the message board by the phone? Was Clark's mom (what's her name again?) trying to help them, too? Or was that board left ignored at the DC office until someone finally noticed it in the late 1970s?

    Thanks for the Vancouver info. Yeah, it's great how that city can be every single Arrowverse-opolis.

    Anyone taking the odds on whether they'll dare put a Chloe Sullivan in this version of Smallville? 

  • JD DeLuzio said:

    Maybe it's a memory trick, but I'm pretty sure the son became twins post-Crisis in a throwaway line. I'm assuming that time has passed since Crisis, allowing them to grow up. Alternatively, this is DC, so we probably shouldn't worry too much about continuity.

    Your memory is correct; we never actually saw the twins at that moment. I'm assuming the Crisis also aged them to teenagers instead of us looking in on the Kent family nearly 15 years later, but it's hard to know which explanation is correct.

    (The Crisis also explains why Gen. Lane doesn't look like the man we saw in Supergirl a few seasons ago.)

  • Ok, so, the 5 o'clock shadow didn't bother me at all (I was reminded of a very old italian tradition; whereby, men forgo shaving before attending a funeral as a sign of greif and respect. Clark did just that; although, I doubt for the tradition's sake).

    As much as I really enjoyed the first episode, the prospect of yet another alternate world storyline (just use John Cryer as Luthor for Pete's sake!) Is getting old, again. (One of the many reasons I stopped reading comics, years ago, was the apparent need to create unending alternative realities, shoehorning them into an already tenuous main continuity and proclaiming "it's all good", right before another "start all over at square one). I can only hope that's not the route being taken.

    The family dynamic makes th show for me. Superman as an insecure, regular guy, parent is quite a fresh take. At last, Clark Kent is not an act; it's who he is. Lois too, is quite different than her traditional self. No doubt she's now the breadwinner, preserving her independant, career woman image; but also, she proves herself to be a caring wife and mother, while making it look easy.

    The series took the high road with the kids, avoiding the already done Aquaman/Orm dynamic. I can't say I was surprised by the powers reveal, happily so in this case. Didn't Mr. And Mrs. Kent adopt Zod's son in the comics? At certain points it felt like the phanton zone was suggested, so I had wonder if the twins were really twins at all.

    In the end, this show is off to good start. I'll be sure to stay tuned.
  • An imaginary story in which Superman had two sons, one with powers and one without, appeared in Superman #166.

     8593443086?profile=RESIZE_710x


    Mike's Amazing World says the story was reprinted a couple of times back in the 00s.

  • According to an article at Screenrant, that is indeed Lex Luthor in the suit, but it's not the Arrowverse Earth's Lex Luthor.

  • ClarkKent_DC said:

    • This retelling keeps the conceit introduced in Richard Donner's first Superman film that Jonathan Kent died of a heart attack and Martha Kent lived for years as a widow, which has been slavishly followed by most incarnations of Superman ever since. I suppose them both dying together of "Caribbean Fever Plague" is too much to expect.

    I am reliably informed that the backstory on The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves was that Jonathan Kent died of a heart attack.

    I am filled with shame.

  • Hey, maybe in this version Kryptonian men (not our species) can't grow beards, just stubble. Have we seen a Kryptonian in the Arrowverse with an actual beard?

    I had a problem with Clark taking off his glasses and fiddling with his hair to get his sons to see that he had Superman's face. He's your father and you don't know his face?

    I had stopped buying the Weisinger books in the early 60s. I went back to Superman briefly after Schwartz took over. In recent years I had wondered when they established General Sam Lane. Now I understand that Lois' father was originally introduced as a (non-Smallville) farmer in Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #13 (NOV59). Apparently, in 1987 following Crisis he was reinvented as an Army general.

    I was surprised to hear the name Foswell in the newsroom. Now I understand that Sam Foswell, an assistant editor, had made appearances in the Superman comics over the years. When I hear the name Foswell, I think of the villain-turned-hero Frederick Foswell in the earliest years of Spider-Man.

  • JohnD said:

    As much as I really enjoyed the first episode, the prospect of yet another alternate world storyline (just use John Cryer as Luthor for Pete's sake!) Is getting old, again. (One of the many reasons I stopped reading comics, years ago, was the apparent need to create unending alternative realities, shoehorning them into an already tenuous main continuity and proclaiming "it's all good", right before another "start all over at square one). I can only hope that's not the route being taken.

    Most people seem to interpret Captain Luthor as yet another character who escaped a Crisis-destroyed Earth. I think we will see Jon Cryer in the last season of Supergirl and, hopefully, in this series.

    The family dynamic makes th show for me. Superman as an insecure, regular guy, parent is quite a fresh take. At last, Clark Kent is not an act; it's who he is. Lois too, is quite different than her traditional self. No doubt she's now the breadwinner, preserving her independant, career woman image; but also, she proves herself to be a caring wife and mother, while making it look easy.

    I also like the portrayal of Clark as the real person, not a disguise. He was reared by Jonathan and Martha to be a boy from Kansas and that's what he is. Elizabeth Tulloch's portrayal of Lois is also very good. I had previously enjoyed her in Grimm. For most of the run she was portraying "the girlfriend" and wasn't given much to do. Later her character was killed and brought back as a non-human, a much more impressive character.

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