I Am Not Ready For It To Be Over

Next Monday, on my birthday, The CW will air the series finale of Superman & Lois, “It Went by So Fast.” I am not ready for this show to be over, and I am not ready to say goodbye to this cast and these characters. Four seasons just weren’t enough.

But I am so thankful that we had them.

Almost 20 years ago, I rediscovered my love of comics thanks to a coworker who told me all about an upcoming sequel to one of my favorite story arcs of all time. After dipping my toes back in, I started picking up collected editions and graphic novels from the library and once again I was hooked.

As a kid, Superman was never my favorite superhero. Back then, it was a tie between Captain Marvel (the Shazam one) and Green Lantern (the Hal Jordan one). Around the same time that I got back into comics, I started watching Smallville, a show about Clark Kent’s pre-Superman years. Immediately, I fell in love with the show, especially Tom Welling’s portrayal of Clark Kent.

What Smallville got right that so many other adaptations, comics, and people miss is that what makes Superman so special is that Clark Kent is a good person who wants to help people.

Where this is showcased best in the comics is in Superman: Secret Origin # 6, p. 26.

In this scene, Superman is trying to prevent a violent conflict between US military soldiers and the citizens of Metropolis. When people ask him what he wants them to do he says,

“I want you to stop looking for a great savior. Lex Luthor isn’t it. I’m not it.”

“You are. All of you. I do what I do because I was given a gift, but all of you were given gifts, too. Use them to make each other’s lives better.”

That right there is the essence of Superman.

As I mentioned previously, Superman & Lois is a show on The CW that is in its fourth and final season. Originally intended to be a direct spinoff of Supergirl, plans changed thanks to our good friend COVID-19.

The series was intended to be part of the Arrowverse's Earth-Prime in its first season, developed as a spin-off of Supergirl, with Hoechlin and Tulloch respectively reprising their roles from Supergirl and The Flash (and the conclusion of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event serving as a backdoor pilot), but 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 keep the show separate, with the series instead set in its own separate continuity taking place on a different Earth to the Arrowverse's Earth-Prime, which was confirmed in the second season finale.

This change ended up being a blessing in disguise, allowing the creators of the show to take the story where they wanted without worrying about other continuity issues. That having been said, I knew that they had something special with Tyler Hoechlin right from his first scene in Supergirl.

Within 30 seconds, they perfectly established Clark Kent as the humble, loveable, dorky guy that he is. That’s not to say that he isn’t also confident, serious, and strong because he absolutely is. He can be both at the same time and that’s why Hoechlin’s take on the character is the best that I’ve ever seen. It is that added layer of nuance that puts his performance above that of Tom Welling in Smallville and Christopher Reeve in the films from 1978-1987. Both Welling and Reeve added bumbling and dorky tendencies to their portrayals of Clark, but in both cases, they were put-ons for show, a mask. They made Clark the disguise and Superman the reality. With Hoechlin, it’s the opposite; Superman is the disguise and Clark is the reality.

The key to a great Superman story is knowing that Clark is a good person who wants to help others because he can. An exceptional Superman story adds nuance and understands the humanity of Clark Kent.

Superman & Lois is an exceptional Superman story.

Two of the series’ best episodes, season one’s “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events” and season four’s “A Regular Guy” are all about the humanity and heart of Clark Kent. Subsequently, they are some of the best Superman stories ever to be put on film…or digitally recorded or whatever it is that they do nowadays.

That is what I am going to miss most about this show. The heart and the humanity.

As I write this, James Gunn is working on his take on the Man of Steel. Superman is slated for release in 2025, starring David Corenswet in the titular role. Corenswet certainly looks the part and I have confidence in Gunn, especially considering what he is using as inspiration for the film.

Gunn said the film would take specific inspiration from the comic book All-Star Superman (2005–2008) by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely,^[4] and the next day that comic appeared on Amazon's list of best-selling comic books.^[81] The film was also inspired by the animated Superman short films from Fleischer Studios (1941–1943),^[82] and by these comic books: the Superman: Birthright (2003–04) limited series by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan; the 2008 "Brainiac" story arc from Action Comics by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank; the crossover event Superman: Ending Battle (2002) by Johns, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Mark Schultz;^[83] the Superman for All Seasons (1998) limited series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale;^[84] the Elseworlds limited series Kingdom Come (1996) by Waid and Alex Ross; Morrison's Action Comics run; and the story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" (1986) by Alan Moore and Curt Swan.^[82]

While I think the future is bright for the Last Son of Krypton, I still mourn the ending of Superman & Lois, the greatest onscreen adaptation of the Man of Tomorrow.