For the first time in almost a decade DC Comics’ original power couple will be gracing our screens once again, starring in their new CW series ‘Superman and Lois.’ Here’s what you need to know about the show so far.
The CW awarded the new ‘Superman and Lois’ show, along with the Walker Texas Ranger reboot, starring ‘Supernatural’s’ Jared Padalecki, directly to series in mid January 2020.
Starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as the tetilur Lois and Clark, the newest installment to The CW’s superhero franchise will be an historic first for Metropolis’ finest.
This will be the first Superman-themed program celebrating what happens after the pair’s happily ever after. There’s no rudimentary origin story for Superman’s heroics or the Man of Steel’s relationship with the Daily Planet’s ace newshound Lois Lane. All of that backstory has already been established.
In this significantly original Superman and Lois series fans will also get to see the two as parents.
Like all entertainment in production throughout 2020, “Superman and Lois” has experienced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the show is preparing for filming, cast members have all practiced CDC recommended guidelines and participated in self quarantine. Safety seems to be top priority for everyone involved in the series with regular COVID tests taking place.
Confirmed cast and characters
The following is a list of confirmed cast and characters for ‘Superman and Lois’ as of Oct. 8, 2020.
Superman — played by Tyler Hoechlin
Tyler Hoechlin has been playing Superman for nearly half a decade. Hoechlin’s interpretation of the Man of Steel first appeared during the season premiere of “Supergirl’s” season two in 2016. Since then, Hoechlin’s Superman has made numerous guest appearances on his cousin’s show and guest starred on a slew of The CW’s annual crossovers.
Tyler is best known for his work in “Road to Perdition,” “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Teen Wolf.” Zack Snyder once considered Hoechlin for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but Hoechlin lost out to Ben Affleck. Interestingly enough, Tyler’s real life prom date was Katie Cassidy, who plays Dinah Laurel Lance/Black Canary/Black Siren in both “Arrow” and “The Flash,” along with other CW series.
Lois Lane — played by Elizabeth Tulloch
Elizabeth (Bitsie) Tulloch was cast as the spectacular Lois Lane in Sept. 2018 and has since reprised the role for two annual crossovers, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and “Elseworlds.” According to IMDb, “Bitsie” is not a contraction of Elizabeth, but a homage to her oddly-nicknamed grandfather, a World War II and Korean War bomber pilot.
Tulloch was born in San Diego, California, but grew up in Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina. Bitsie attended Harvard University and graduated with a double-major in Literature and Fine Arts. The actress is known for her work on “Grimm,” “The Artist” and more. Tulloch’s first acting credit was as R2-D2’s “girlfriend” in “R2-D2: Beneath the Dome,” a mockumentary produced by George Lucas telling the life story of the fictional robot R2-D2 from the Star Wars film series.
At the end of last year’s crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, we first discovered that Lois and Clark actually have “boys” in this brave new universe. The super boys are twins, Jonathan (Jon) and Jordan Kent.
Jon Kent — played by Jordan Elsass
Jordan Elsass (Little Fires) will star as Jonathan (Jon) Kent, who’s described as a modest, clean cut jock type with a kind heart.
Jon Kent has made numerous appearances in the pages of DC Comics as the latest version of Superboy, recently forging his own legacy with the Legion of Superheroes.
Jordan Kent — played by Alexander Garfin
Alexander Garfin (The Peanuts Movie) will portray an original character to the show, Jordan Kent, who is supposed to be depicted as the complete opposite of Jon. Jordan Kent will be well versed in the art of computer science.
Earlier this year, potential plot points for the pilot were leaked online and revealed that a handful of other familiar DC Comics characters will also make appearances on the show.
Lana Lang (Cushing) — played by Emmanuelle Chriqui
Clark’s childhood best friend and first love, Lana Lang, will also have a strong presence on the show. “Entourage” and “The Passage” star Emmanuelle Chriqui will portray Lana Lang-Cushing, a character that’s reportedly a direct pull from her ‘Smallville’ counterpart.
In many interpretations of Superman lore, Lana Lang was the first love of a young Clark Kent. The two grew up with each other and Lana was Clark’s confidant as he discovered his powers.
Kyle Cushing — played by Erik Valdez
According to the proposed plot leaks, Lana faces family troubles with her problematic husband, Kyle Cushing, played by Erik Valdez (General Hospital), and their two daughters, teen Sarah and kid Sophie. Sarah, their eldest, will be reportedly struggling with mental health.
Sarah Cushing — played by Inde Navarrette
Both Sarah and Sophie are original characters created for the series, providing an unpredictable narrative for to the already complex storyline. It is predicted that both Jon and Jordan Kent will have feelings for Sarah.
The Stranger — played by Wolé Parks
Wolé Parks will be portraying the main protagonist in “Superman and Lois” as the mysterious character, The Stranger. Not much else is known about this mysterious visitor other than his attitude towards the Man of Steel.
Hellbent on proving to the world that it no longer needs Superman, this Stranger will stop at nothing to defame Superman.
It is unclear whether this is an entirely new character or an adaptation of DC Comics’ Phantom Stranger.
Sam Lane — played by Dylan Walsh
Lois’s brutish five star US General father, Sam will be a recurring role on the show.
In the show, General Lane is well aware of Clark’s abilities. Most adaptations of Sam Lane have the character at odds with his daughter due to their very different viewpoints on Kryptonians, vigilantes and Superheroes. In other words, he hates them and she doesn’t. These differences will add a very interesting narrative to the show.
General Sam Lane is a recast of the character and will be played by Dylan Walsh (Congo, The Stepfather). Sam previously appeared during season one of Supergirl and was then portrayed by Glenn Morshower.
Clark’s inspirational mother, Martha Kent, presumably still resides on the Smallville based family farm in Kansas where she has been living for years after the death of her husband, Jonathan. It’s speculated that the family tragedy Lois and Clark will face at the dawn of the series will be her death, but nothing has been officially reported.
“Superman and Lois” will be an action packed superhero show, but like the comics, family relationships will be one of the main components to the series’ strength.
Setting
The show is set in both Smallville and Metropolis, with Lois presumably still distantly soaring strong at the Daily Planet, while Clark Kent is laid off due to some cut backs at the paper (sorry Clark).
Smallville will be playing such a pivotal role in the series that an entire open world set is being created near Cloverdale BC, Canada. Ironically, this is the small town that stood in for establishing shots of Smallville in the hit CW series with the same name.
The $1.5-million project, which includes a newspaper office, train station and post office – all detailed enough to allow filming indoors – will cover over seven acres on the grounds of the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition, about 32 miles southeast of Vancouver.
Smallville is an idilic small Kansas farm town seemingly frozen in time. It’s the home of Lana and her family, as well as the Kent’s.
After being laid off from the Daily Planet, (Sorry again, Clark), and fearing his sons might develop his super abilities, Clark and Lois decide that it’s best for the boys to move to the family farm.
The classic ranch style country farmhouse that appeared throughout the entire series of “Smallville” and various crossovers will presumably be making a recurring appearance in “Superman and Lois.”
This will no doubt create an interesting dynamic between the kids and their super parents, presumably brewing potential resentment in the twins. Especially after a sudden move from the planet’s greatest city to the corn capital of the world will have the two doing farm chores.
The City of Tomorrow is known as the largest American city (by population) in the DC Universe. As one of the main locations of the Superman mythos, Metropolis houses a number of legendary locations, like the Daily Planet, Luthor Corp’s old main headquarters and so much more. It goes without saying that the big apricot will be playing a major role in the show. The possibilities are endless.
When the “Superman and Lois” series posters were shared earlier this summer, our excitement for the reboot continued to grow. Not only did fans receive a preview of the two leads, but we also got a glimpse of the Daily Planet Building.
In August the Daily Planet discovered New York City’s historic Standard Oil Building, which sits in the heart of the financial district at the southern most tip of Manhattan, presumably has been chosen as the stand in structure for the Daily Planet Building in the highly anticipated “Superman & Lois” CW Series.
The famed Metropolis landmark Daily Planet Globe will be modeled after the real life Unisphere Globe.
The Unisphere is located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the New York City borough of Queens. The sphere, which measures 140 feet (43 m) high and 120 feet (37 m) in diameter, was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke as part of his plan for the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
Years of inspiration
Let’s explore previous live action Superman shows and films exploring pivotal inspiration.
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) skipped the entire Lois not knowing Superman’s secret identity thing and jumped right into the romance. The duo’s relationship has been a key factor in much of the storytelling.
“Superman Returns” (2006) gave fans a rare glimpse at what Lois and Superman’s interactions would be post breakup. The couple became estranged interacting with heartache and pain rather than admiration. In 2019’s crisis event we learn that this version of Lois Lane died at the hands of the Joker. This incarnation also see’s the two as parents.
“Smallville” (2001-2011) was a decade-long coming of age story that focused mainly on the strain a super-secret can put on relationships. The series explored a family’s bond over protecting others from a dangerous truth and explained just why a secret identity was necessary.
Young Clark Kent, then played by Tom Welling, had a stress filled existence that placed tremendous amounts of exterior pressure on his early love life before finally settling down with Erica Durance’s interpretation of Lois Lane and their two daughters.
“Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (1993-1997) was heavily romanticised. It is the show that defined the romance that entails superheroics. Dean Cain’s Superman and Teri Hatcher’s Lois Lane spent the first half of the series building a relationship while Clark fought with his dual identity and Lois struggled with loving both counterparts of Clark.
Even though Clark had a strong bond with his parents, the show mainly revolved around Lois and Clark, hence the title of the program. This show was also the first time the couple had a child introduced in a live action portrayal.
“Superboy” (1988-1992) introduced a young, college aged Clark Kent infatuated with the illustrious Lana Lang. Clark juggled classic college life issues that ranged from love to social issues that required immediate justice while also fighting a weekly supervillain or evil foe. He also juggled the Clark/Superman love triangle with Lana, something typically troubling to Lois.
The Superman saga (1978-1987) possessed it all. It popularized the complex love triangle between Lois, Superman and Clark, brought acute action packed situations to the silver screen and conceptualized complex plots to life.
“Adventures of Superman” (1952-1958) was strictly affirmed as an action series that devised solutions to a problem in 30 minutes or less. The target audience were families so the stories were less complex and romance was basically left out of the series.
Set to soar high in 2021
The “Superman and Lois” show will, of course, draw inspiration from all past incarnations. It will literally have it all.
Instead of the series starting right at the beginning, it’s originating after Lois and Clark have already established a concrete relationship. They’re together, with children. They have strong family ties and bold friendships.
The show will also feature two twin teenage Kryptonian-Human offspring set to adapt and learn how to use their powers just as their dad once did. The show will have romance, it’ll have drama, action and it will also be a coming of age story for an entirely new generation of fans.
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.
“Superman and Lois” will be produced by Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter with Todd Helbing executive producing. Gregory Smith from Everwood will be Supervising Producer/Director.
‘Superman and Lois’ is on track to premier Jan. 5, 2021.
Curtis Hendrix of Superman and Lois Updates contributed to this article
