While the world waits for the next Superman reboot film in 2025, it’s easy to forget there’s been a magnificent TV version of the Man of Steel. Since 2016, when he first appeared in Season 2 of Supergirl, Tyler Hoechlin has been playing Superman across various CW TV series, the last of which — Superman & Lois — is airing its final season right now.
While fan chatter about the future of the shared DC universe is at an all-time high, Superman & Lois is the present of DC action, and Season 4 has kicked off in a shocking way. Not only did it just adapt a classic (and infamous) 1990s comic book story, but it also seems the show is set to bring back one of Supe’s greatest enemies. Spoilers ahead.
In its two-episode Season 4 debut — “The End & The Beginning” and “A World Without” — Superman & Lois depicted Superman’s demise at the hands of this show’s version of Doomsday. This, of course, is an adaptation of a well-known 1993 comic book storyline in which Superman is slain but later returns from the grave. Starting the final season of Superman & Lois with Supe out of the picture is somewhat jarring, but the showrunners have already teased that it's not a question of if Clark returns, but when. “We tried really hard not to take shortcuts ... in the bringing of him back,” showrunner Brent Fletcher told tvInsider.
Fletcher’s co-showrunner, Todd Helbing, added, “There’s a lot of freedom when you know that it’s the last season. So our philosophy going into it was just to cram as much story and have as many twists and turns and emotional punches as we can for the last season and hopefully pay back the fans for sticking with us for this whole time.”
Interestingly, the Season 4 debut also name-dropped a classic DC villain who isn’t Lex Luthor or Doomsday. After Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) gets Superman’s heart following the Doomsday fight, he mentions that someone named “Milton” has designed a special box to contain it. Lex also comments that Milton is a “brainiac.” This means Superman & Lois is introducing a version of the cosmic supervillain Brainiac, but in the guise of Milton Fine, who, in various comic book storylines, had Brainiac’s consciousness put into his body.
Speaking to Comicbook.com, Brent Fletcher made it clear this isn’t just an off-hand reference. There will be more Brainiac, but he clarified that fans shouldn’t expect this to be exactly like the Brainiac of the so-called “Triangle Era” of Superman comics. “Considering what we needed for our story when the opportunity presented itself to use Milton, it worked out great,” Fletcher said. “This is a completely different version of this guy, so that was exciting...I don't know if I would say 'Triangle era,' though.”
The “Triangle Era” refers to a period in Superman comics, starting in 1991, in which various issues had numbered triangles on their covers, allowing readers to follow interconnected Superman storylines across different titles. This was an influential period that brought in a new wave of fans, and it featured both the Doomsday storyline and at least one version of the Milton Fine Brainiac.
While Superman & Lois may not have time to do justice to all these classic characters and scenarios, the opening of its final season has made it clear it’s certainly going to try. This little-Superman-show-that-could is proving to be surprisingly steeped in DC lore, so if you’ve slept on this version of the Man of Steel, now’s the time to leave your Fortress of Solitude and check it out.
