‘Superman And Lois’ Land by Premiere is awesome

I have to admit, I’ve been skeptical of the Superman and Lois concept from the start, as the CW’s Arrowverse seems to be coming to an end, and starting a new Superman show from the beginning didn’t seem to be need to revive it.

Plus, we had already seen both this Superman and Lois in action in Supergirl and various crossover events, and while Tyler Hoechlin is definitely watching the part and has been well in the role, it never crossed my mind that he would direct his own series.

And yet, here we are, and I am very surprised to say that Superman and Lois were there excellent premiere, and something I hope the Arrowverse could fully enhance if a future series is similar to what we saw last night. Although I worry about eating in the back of my mind.

The idea here is that we are well into the future now, past where the rest of the Arrowverse is, with a couple of teenagers at Superman and Lois to start in high school, Jonathan, the jock that goes out, and Jordan, shy and confused. No one really knows who their father is.

The show seeks to refresh the world of Superman in ways that feel real. A billionaire, Morgan Edge, has bought the Daily Planet and is retiring journalists, including Clark Kent. Back in Smallville, for some reason, Edge is doing damage there as well, behind a rise in risky mortgages, buying up half of the city. Smallville in general feels empty with closed houses and stories about meth fires. This isn’t a “gritty and dark” show, necessarily, it’s still pretty much PG overall, but nonetheless the world created here feels pretty established.

All of this also feels… somewhat detached from the Arrowverse, despite the fact that this is a character drawn directly from him. I don’t just mean there are no Flash or Black Canary cameos, I just mean the whole show just right feeling different, the way it’s burned, scored, written, it’s all about. I get a lot of Man of Steel series from the filming style, and above all else, it feels like Superman and Lois have what many of the other Arrowverse series have, budget, and the whole production feels high-end and cinematic. I don’t know how many programs should be running in season 1 here, but this is fewer events with a higher budget majority Arrowverse demonstrations are needed, and I hope that ‘s what we’ll see here, and they did not blow all the money making this excellent pilot.

By the end of the episode, if you’ve seen the draws, it’s no surprise when the boys find out who their father is and go head-to-head. What is surprising (spoilers continue) is which couple are ruling to have powers, not the top athlete Jonathan, but Jordan, who is protecting his brother from falling metal and exploding unknowingly for a teenage party with a heat scene. I see the whole angsty angle of Jordan getting a little old, because I understand he’s crazy at first, but if he’s going to continue to be so brutal after getting literal superpowers that’s going to start with a little grating.

One of the strangest mysteries of the program is to find out (sort of) who the big bad guy is, a guy in a Doom Slayer-like weapon set who can go to Superman’s toe, and stab him with Kryptonite biodag. At the end of the section he returns to a spaceship-like scene and chats with AI whom he calls “Captain Luthor.” Now, it is clear that Lex Luthor has taken up arms against Superman in the past and fought with Kryptonite in the comics or other media. And yet this is strange, because this universe deserves to have its own Lex Luthor, the one we met in Supergirl played by Jon Cryer. So whoever this guy is, he’s from another side, the future, or somewhere in between. I also think this version of Luthor is black, though I don’t know who is playing it.

I was so intrigued by this first sight, and I had no expectation of this show going in because I thought I knew what I was getting. But this feels like a more budget, more campy, taller version of the Arrowverse, and I hope it can sustain that feeling at all times. More to come.

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