Superman & Lois is an American superhero drama television series developed for The CW by Todd Helbing and Greg Berlanti, based on the DC Comics characters Superman and Lois Lane, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch star as the title characters Clark Kent / Superman and Lois Lane, respectively. Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin portray the couple's twin sons Jonathan and Jordan Kent, with Michael Bishop replacing the former in the third season. The series also stars Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Adam Rayner, Dylan Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Tayler Buck, Sofia Hasmik, Chad L. Coleman, and Michael Cudlitz.
The series was originally part of the Arrowverse's Earth-Prime in its first season, developed as a spin-off of Supergirl. Hoechlin and Tulloch respectively reprise their roles from Supergirl and The Flash, and the conclusion of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event initially served as a backdoor pilot. As the series went on, following the cancellation of planned crossovers with Supergirl and Batwoman due to the COVID-19 pandemic, showrunner Todd Helbing and Warner Bros. decided to have the show set in its own continuity, taking place on a different Earth to Earth-Prime, which was confirmed in the second season finale.
Superman & Lois was announced as a pilot 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.
Premise In the first season, Clark Kent / Superman and Lois Lane return to Smallville with their sons Jonathan and Jordan, where they are reacquainted with Lana 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 of Morgan Edge.
In the second season, Superman's painful visions lead him to an encounter with Bizarro while also butting heads with Lt. General Mitch Anderson. Meanwhile, Lois deals with the Inverse Method cult led by Ally Allston, who swayed Lucy Lane to her side and has made an enemy of Bizarro for her supposed conquering of his world.
In the third season, Superman contends with the plots of Intergang, as Lois suffers from stage three inflammatory breast cancer. Following the death of Peia Mannheim and the surrender of Bruno Mannheim, Lex Luthor is released from prison when the Mannheims' frame-up of him killing Boss Moxie is exposed. He proceeds to plan his revenge on Superman and Lois that involves a resurrected Bizarro.
In the fourth and final season, Superman continues his fight with the mutated Bizarro, now known as Doomsday, 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.
Cast and characters
Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent / Superman:A superhero from Krypton and husband of Lois who defends Earth. 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 with Michael Rosenbaum on Inside 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 of Batman and Indiana Jones. Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane: A journalist and wife of Clark. Jordan Elsass (seasons 1–2) and Michael Bishop (seasons 3–4) as Jonathan 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. Elsass departed the series prior to the third season due to personal issues, and the role was recast to Bishop. 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. 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. Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cortez:Kyle and Lana's "wild child" daughter who befriends the Kent boys and serves as Jordan's love interest. In the season 2 episode "Girl... You'll Be A Woman, Soon" she celebrates her quinceañera and changes her name to Cortez, which was her family's name before they changed it. Wolé Parks as John 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. Adam Rayner as Tal-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." 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. Jack Rehbein and Ben Cockell portray a 10-year-old Tal-Rho and a 19-year-old Tal-Rho, respectively. Dylan Walsh as Sam 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. Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana Lang:An old friend of Clark Kent and the former loan officer at Smallville Bank. In season two, she becomes the new mayor of Smallville. Milano Hryshchenko portrays a childhood Lana, Sara Rizk portrays a grade school Lana, and Emma Newton portrays a teenage Lana. Tayler Buck as Natalie Lane Irons / Starlight (seasons 2–4; 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; recurring season 1): A "go-getter" journalist at the Smallville Gazette who has a "chance encounter" that changes her life. Chad L. Coleman as Bruno Mannheim (seasons 3–4): The leader of Intergang, the widower of the late Peia Mannheim and the father of Matteo Mannheim. Michael Cudlitz as Lex Luthor (season 4; guest season 3): A business mogul who seeks revenge on Lois Lane and her family.
Episodes
Season 1 (2021)
Season 2 (2022)
Season 3 (2023)
Season 4 (2024)
Production Development The series was announced in October 2019 with Todd Helbing, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Geoff Johns executive producing, and Helbing penning the script. On January 14, 2020, The CW officially ordered Superman & Lois to series. The first season consisted of 15 episodes. The series Everwood and Friday Night Lights served as inspirations for the show, given they were also family dramas. Helbing explained many aspects of Superman & 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". In March 2021, The CW renewed the series for a second season. In March 2022, The CW renewed the series for a third season.
In January 2023, DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran said they expected the show to continue for "one to two more seasons". 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. On June 12, 2023, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season consisting of ten episodes which was announced to be the last one on November 2, 2023. Under the renewal agreement, the series had the number of its regular cast members and writers as well as action scenes reduced while gearing more towards a family-focused drama in an effort to reduce production costs. Production was however delayed due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with the season being scheduled for a 2024 fall-premiere. Schwartz stated in an interview that the decision to end the series was made by Warner Bros. Discovery to avoid competition with the upcoming DC Universe (DCU) film Superman (2025).
Casting Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch were signed on to reprise their roles as Clark Kent and Lois Lane from Supergirl. In February 2020, Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin were cast as Clark and Lois' sons Jonathan Kent and Jordan Kent, respectively. In April, Dylan Walsh was cast as Samuel Lane. Walsh replaces Glenn Morshower, who previously recurred in the role on Supergirl. Emmanuelle Chriqui was also cast as Lana Lang, along with Erik Valdez as Kyle Cushing. The next month, Wolé Parks was cast as "The Stranger" while Inde Navarrette was cast as Sarah Cushing. Additionally, Adam Rayner portrays Morgan Edge, who was previously portrayed by Adrian Pasdar in Supergirl.
In October 2020, Sofia Hasmik and Stacey Farber were cast in the recurring roles of Chrissy Beppo and Leslie Larr, respectively. In December 2020, David Ramsey was revealed to be reprising his Arrow role of John Diggle in addition to directing at least one episode in the series. In June 2021, Hasmik was promoted to a series regular for the second season. In August 2021, Tayler Buck, who guest starred in the first season, was promoted to a series regular for the second season. In October 2021, Ian Bohen was cast in a recurring role as Lt. Mitch Anderson for the second season. Jenna Dewan, who previously played Lucy Lane on Supergirl reprised her role in the second season.
In August 2022, Elsass departed the series ahead of the third season for personal reasons. The following month, his role was recast to Michael Bishop and Chad L. Coleman was cast as Bruno Mannheim. Lex Luthor appears in the show where he is now portrayed by Michael Cudlitz instead of a reprisal from Jon Cryer, who played his doppelgänger on Earth-Prime.
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, receiving "special appearance by" credit. Navarrette confirmed in July 2023 that she would return as a guest star for at least three episodes. 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.
Filming