How Superman & Lois Quietly Redefined An Immortal Hero
Nobody ever made Clark Kent quite like this.
In 2021, DC finally brought a version of Superman to our screens that everyone had wanted for years. This was a vision of the Man of Steel that had been teased a few years prior, but not entirely fleshed out. But, despite airing just before the Snyder Cut of Justice League made headlines everywhere, this wasn’t Henry Cavill’s Superman in the all-black suit. Because just one month before the Snyder Cut dropped and stirred up a whole bunch of Superman discourse, an entirely different and enduring version of the Man of Steel debuted as part of the CW’s larger Arrowverse. Except, of course, this wasn’t really like the rest of the Arrowverse at all. This was Superman & Lois, a show that was a kind of mashup of the romance sensibilities of Lois & Clark and the initial groundedness of Smallville.
Debuting on February 23, 2021, Superman & Lois feels like a recent memory, but with so much chatter about different takes on the Man of Steel since then, it feels like a lifetime ago. Technically, Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman, not Henry Cavill, was the incumbent live-action Superman when David Corenswet took over the role in 2025. And, looking back on Superman & Lois, it’s clear that this series proved that audiences were ready for a kinder, brighter version of Kal-El. Rewatching the debut of Superman & Lois today feels like an earlier draft of what the big-budget 2025 blockbuster pulled off just a few years later.
Technically spun out of the larger Arrowverse, Tyler Hoechlin's Superman first appeared in the 2016 episode of the CBS/CW show Supergirl, titled “The Last Children of Krypton.” At the time, Supergirl was moving from being a standalone series to entering the larger Arrowverse, which, ironically or not, predicted the reverse outcome from the series Superman & Lois. Though the titular characters, played by Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch, were part of the massive Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event for the CW in 2019, the series Superman & Lois was, just as Supergirl began, a self-contained series, set in a different universe without binding connections to the larger Arrowverse. Though some references to Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) were made in Superman & Lois Season 1, the show eventually, formally, and retroactively established itself to be in a parallel universe, in which Superman was the main hero of Earth, and all that Arrowverse stuff only counted in our memories, not in the memories of the characters.
This is a long-winded way of saying Superman & Lois was a warm Superman reboot, not unlike what is going on with the DCU right now. In the opening scene of the first episode, we get a recap of Superman’s origin, which eventually results in a 21st-century recreation of the cover of 1938’s Action Comics #1, in which Superman holds a green car above his head. After saving a child from certain doom, the kid compliments Superman’s costume, which is intentionally crafted to look like the Golden Age version of Supe, complete with the “S” on a black background, not yellow. Superman’s response to this compliment is also the encapsulation of what the show was trying to achieve. With a grin, Hoechlin says, “Thanks, my mom made it!”
Tyler Hoechlin discusses his Supergirl debut in 2016.
Referencing the occasional comic book origin that Martha Kent, Superman’s mom, stitched together his famous costume was more than just an Easter egg. Quickly, the basic plot of Superman & Lois revealed itself to be very much connected to Supe’s Earth parents. In the pilot episode, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and their two young sons, move back to Smallville to live a more grounded lifestyle. Like the new 2025 Superman film, this show made it clear that Lois is aware of Clark’s secret identity, making their relationship one that was very much on equal footing. (In fairness, Zack Snyder did this, too. In 2016’s Batman v. Superman, Lois Lane, as played by Amy Adams, is very much aware that Clark is Superman.)
The larger point is that Superman & Lois didn’t invent the idea of a kinder, more grounded Superman, but the show did redefine Superman as something that had rarely been attempted outside of the comics: It made him a loving and present father. Superman & Lois dared to turn the Super mythos into a family drama, as well as an action-packed sci-fi series, replete with references to the character’s long history. It may not have been the most iconic take on Superman ever, but it is certainly the most underrated. And, in the modern era, had we never gotten David Corenswet’s Supe in 2025, this series would have been regarded as the most uplifting version of Kal-El since Christopher Reeve put on the tights.
