The Arrowverse expands: ‘Superman and Lois’ is coming to The CW
The DC Arrowverse on The CW has given us everything we wanted from the DC Movie Universe. It’s a perfect blend of campy and sweet and serious, and a welcome palate refresher whenever we think of the bloated mess that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Or Justice League. Or Suicide Squad. Or anything that wasn’t Wonder Woman.
The CW’s Arrow ended with ten final episodes, and served as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff focusing on Green Arrow and the Canaries, featuring Katherine McNamara (Shadowhunters), Katie Cassidy Rodgers, and Juliana Harkavy.
However, the network is clearly in need of another square-jawed superhero. We’ve had some form of Superman on our screens for more than a decade, but we’re still excited about The CW’s planned show, Superman & Lois.
Enter Superman (and Lois)
It’s a series about Superman. Not a prequel where he never ever ever puts on the dumb suit, nor about his estranged family members, nor about the complicated politics of Krypton, nor about his work on the Justice League – it’s just about Superman acting really super, man.
The CW’s Superman & Lois series is in active development and is expected to follow “the world’s most famous Super Hero and comic books’ most famous journalist” as they “deal with all the stress, pressures, and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society”, according to Deadline.
There have been 2,598 Supermen on TV in the last decade, who’s Superman this time around?
Tyler Hoechlin put on the combination of stretchy tights and nerd glasses to portray Superman in the Arrowverse and on Supergirl, both on The CW, and he’ll be joined by Elizabeth Tulloch as fearless reporter Lois Lane.
Tulloch debuted as Lois in the 2018’s “Elseworlds” crossover event, which will be interesting since during the television event, Lois was revealed to be pregnant and the couple went off to live on Argo.
Parenthood & marriage
According to IGN, Superman & Lois is expected to focus on that pregnancy and raising a child when you are A) a world-famous superhero B) a world-famous reporter or C) both. The series is expected to follow Lois & Clark as they attempt to balance professional responsibilities, parenthood, marriage, and nefarious evildoers bent on world domination.
Showrunner Todd Helbing told Digital Spy that the series will be set in Smallville, but that it will be different from the series of the same name. “”Obviously, there was the Smallville series,” Helbing said. “We wanted to tell a story where you have the parents, after this tragic event happens, move back to Smallville and really find that it’s easier, maybe, to raise kids in a place where life isn’t so hectic, as it is in Metropolis.”
Superman & Lois will also feature tension between the eponymous couple and Lois’s father. “His relationship with [his daughter] is a little fraught because of the way he took his job when he was a parent vs. the way that Clark is doing his job,” Helbing said of the new character. “So all of that messiness is really fun.”
Who else is expected to show up on the program? Mister Mxyzptlk?
Sadly, we still have to wait and see what supervillains Superman will face during the new series. There has been no news about any of our favorite Superman villains, including Mister Mxyzptlk, Microwave Man, the Mole Man, and Richard Pryor (playing Gus Gorman.)
Helbing, the former showrunner for The Flash, is expected to write the series and will serve as an executive producer alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Geoff Johns.
If that means we get Superman v Gorilla Grodd: Dawn of Justice on the Planet of the Apes, we can’t wait.
