Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Superman & Lois season 4, episode 6.Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman is going through a rough time in Superman and Lois the 4th season, and the last episode of the DC series took away Superman’s powers in a savage way. I was really interested in the discussion surrounding the Man of Steel’s powers in Superman and Lois season 4. As this is the show’s final season, the team behind the project has been teasing a possible major status change for Clark Kent by the end of the series. After dying, Superman came back to life with a crucial change.
General Sam Lane’s heart keeps Clark alive; however, as it is not from a Kryptonian, Superman isn’t as powerful as he used to be. I like how the show has used this to continue Superman and Lois‘ focus on legacy, with Jordan and Jonathan Kent using their powers and being prepared to take their father’s place in the future. Despite the decrease in his power levels, Superman still needs to defeat his biggest villain, Lex Luthor, and the character has just invented an incredibly creative way to take away Superman’s powers.
Superman & Lois Season 4 Shows Lex Luthor Using The Wildest Method To Cut Off Superman’s Powers
A fair fight between important DC characters
Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman has had to deal with his fair share of villains over the seasons. The Man of Steel temporarily loses his powers multiple times, being affected by red suns, kryptonite, and more. While I think this trope can be tiresome since Superman is so powerful that just diminishing or taking away his powers allows villains to stand a chance against him, Superman and Lois Season 4 did this in a very exciting way. A fight between Hoechlin’s Superman and Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor had to happenbut I didn’t expect what we got.
Instead of somehow strengthening himself or using his DC Comics warsuit, Lex Luthor devised a plan to have a fair fight with Clark Kent. He did it for using red solar-powered streetlightswhich was a first in Superman stories. I really liked this decision, as it allowed Hoechlin’s Superman to fight as a human – just as Clark Kent – without having to hold back against his biggest villain. It was also an incredibly creative plan for Lex to use, as he knew that trying to assassinate Lana Lang would lead Clark to him, but Superman still won.
Red Sun Twist from Superman and Lois was perfect for the show and its Lex Luthor
Michael Cudlitz’s Superman Villain Has a Comic Book Feature
While I think Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor is scarier than most versions of the DC villain, even when the comics are questioned, he has a key feature of the character’s stories on the page. This characteristic is that Lex Luthor has a dramatic talent. He often comes up with wild, creative plans to take down the Man of Steel in the comics. The same was done in Superman and Loiswith Cudlitz first having Bizarro become Doomsday and now using street lights of all things to strip Superman of his powers.
Superman & Lois Season 4 Cast Member |
Character |
---|---|
Tyler Hoechlin |
Clark Kent/Superman |
Elizabeth Tulloch |
Lois Lane |
Alex Garfin |
Jordan Kent |
Miguel Bispo |
Jonathan Kent |
Dylan Walsh |
Sam Lane |
Michael Cudlitz |
Lex Lutor |
Emmanuelle Chriqui |
Lana Lang |
I guess it makes sense that Luthor acted the way he did. In Superman and LoisLex was sent to prison by the series’ title duo for a crime he didn’t commit. He had to spend more than 17 years locked upnot being able to see his daughter grow up, which made Luthor furious. Lex couldn’t even abandon his revenge plans to get his daughter back in his life. So, I fully believe that Lex coming up with such an expensive and extravagant plan just to fight Superman fits this version of the villain perfectly.
Superman and Lois’ Red Sun Plan Builds on the Best Parts of Superman’s Comic History
The Man of Steel has a long history in DC Comics
Superman and Lois uses comics as inspiration in several ways. Although Lex Luthor taking away Superman’s powers with the help of red sun posts hasn’t been done before, a similar take on this plan was used by Batman in the comics – well, an alternate Batman universe – in Superman: Red Sonwhere the Man of Steel was the “Soviet Superman”. The Batman version of this story came up with a creative plan to take down Superman, with Batman using red lamps powered by the sun to strip Superman of his powers.
Superman and Lois Episode 6 of season 4 is inspired by this plan. However, the DC series offers a very different conclusion. In the comics, Batman wins the fight with the Man of Steel, leaving Superman defeated on the ground. In Superman and Lois, a powerless Clark Kent was still stronger than Lex Luthorbeating the villain in a violent fight that could have ended with Luthor’s death if Superman wasn’t who he is. I loved Lex’s plan and his connection to Superman: Red Sontaking a page from an iconic story to Superman and Lois‘last season.
Superman and Loisthe Arrowverse’s seventh spinoff series, will take the titular characters from Metropolis to Smallville. The CW series is set after the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, which saw the collapse of the multiverse and the merging of worlds into what is now Earth Prime. Superman and Lois sees Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) and Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) dealing with all the pressures of their jobs, as well as being parents to two teenage children. Lois and Clark are no strangers to the Arrowverse, with Hoechlin’s Superman having been introduced way back when. Supergirl season 2. Meanwhile, Tulloch’s Lois made her debut in 2018’s “Elseworlds” crossover. The pair are joined by a growing cast of characters that includes a new iteration of Lana Lang.
- Release date
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February 23, 2021
- Presenter
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Todd helping
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