Superman & Lois review: the Arrowverse solves Superman problem

In the opening minutes of the new CW series Superman and Lois, Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) tells the story of his life so far. As a baby, he was sent to Earth from the dying planet Krypton by his father Jor-El. He was raised in Smallville, Kansas by generous farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who helped him figure out how to best use his superpowers. He became a reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis, where he fell in love with superstar journalist Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch). They married and had twins: athlete Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and socially awkward Jordan (Alexander Garfin).

This recap is a quick one, filled with moments meant to remind longtime Superman fans why they love the Man of Steel, from visual reference to first. Action comics cover to a callback to Christopher Reeves’ Clark Kent in the first Superman movie. It’s a mini-tribute to all the artists, writers, editors, actors, directors, and producers who helped shape the mythology of one of the most famous superheroes.

But after the backstory and a short scene of Superman saving a nuclear power plant, under the direction of Lois’ senior military officer father, General Samuel Lane (Dylan Walsh), the tone changes. The hero comes home to find one of his sons too busy video chatting to speak to him, while the other plays a violent video game where he plays a supervillain, crushing Superman. When asked why, the teenager shrugs and says, “Superman is boring.”

Is Boring Superman? There was a time when this question would have been absurd. By the mid-20th century, Superman comics were so popular that publishers pumped out new superheroes by the hundreds, in an attempt to compete. In the 1970s, the first Superman The movie proved that the superhero genre can work on the big screen without looking too campy. The character is always splashed on pillowcases and children’s pajamas.

But in recent DC Universe movies, Superman has felt like a second player like Batman and Wonder Woman – and heck, even Aquaman. On the CW’s DC Comics-derived superhero programming blocks (aka “Arrowverse”), Superman gets the star treatment long after Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Batwoman, Stargirl, and Team Heroes minor leagues on DC Legends of tomorrow.

And even this Superman show doesn’t necessarily look like “a Superman show,” inspired by comic book action and craziness. Based on the two episodes the CW sent to critics ahead of Tuesday night’s long run Superman and Lois First, the Arrowverse writing production team of Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing seems reluctant to tell full Superman stories, with the big sweep, big ideas, and sense of playfulness like classic comics. Their Superman has been packed and squeezed into the Arrowverse’s overall mission: to tell stories relevant to what happens in the real world.

In Superman and Lois, it means adjusting the narrative focus. There are still some supervillains on this show and some dynamic, special effects heavy fight scenes. But through the first two episodes, the general mood is less Action comics and more It’s us.

The story begins with trouble in the Kent / Lois house. The twins bicker because they are so different: the handsome and robust Jonathan is the star quarterback of the football team; Jordan with hairy hair struggles with depression. Lois, meanwhile, is growing unhappy with the Daily Planet culture, where seasoned journalists have been fired as the newspaper’s new billionaire owner Morgan Edge pushes for more sweet news and click-bait. .

The family faces one of his greatest crises – and perhaps one of his greatest opportunities – when tragedy returns Clark to Smallville, where he contemplates a return to simple life in a small town. In 2021, however, nothing is easy in small towns. The farming community is dying and sees a potential savior in Edge, who has purchased land for unknown reasons – though Lois suspects foul play.

All of these issues are compounded by Clark’s larger mission, which sees him being called in by General Lane to face a mysterious masked super-being, determined to drag Superman into a fight to the death. These battles are keeping him away from home at the worst time of boy’s life, one or both of whom may be developing superpowers … something incredibly hard to keep quiet in Smallville. , where everyone scrutinizes newcomers.

Hoechlin and Tulloch have played Superman and Lois in the Arrowverse before, and both have a strong mastery of their characters. Hoechlin plays Clark and Superman as conscientious and a little cheesy. He is an alien with many interests, ultimately bound by a sense of obligation to his loved ones. Lane’s version of Tulloch comes across as the smartest person in all of the room, but she always tries (and sometimes fails) to be sensitive to anyone who doesn’t share her values.

Berlanti and Hebling’s creative team also have a clear understanding of Superman’s lore. The names of the twins matter, with Jonathan named after Clark Kent’s Earth father (reflecting Superman’s sane side) while Jordan is named Jor-el (reflecting an alien feeling of … well, alienation). The show is peppered with more jokey about Superman’s alien powers (like the super-scent); and it includes characters like Morgan Edge and Lana Lang, who may be familiar to comic book fans.

But the general look and feel of Superman and Lois might also be familiar to fans of Dawson’s Creek and CO The Kent boys are adjusting to Smallville either by hanging out with the local teens in a rock quarry or gloomily gazing at the seemingly endless plains of Kansas. It’s long been part of the Superman schtick that Lois flirtatiously (or sometimes derisively) calls Clark “Smallville”. Superman and Lois further explores his connection to where he grew up, showing what it’s like to come of age in a place so wide open that anyone can see you.

Superman and Lois isn’t the first TV series to attempt to humanize Superman. Smallville aired on The CW (and its precursor, the WB) from 2001 to 2011, producing 10 seasons and over 200 story episodes that generally downplayed superheroes in favor of dramatizing a young d’s emotions and relationships. ‘a small town hiding a big secret. Before that, the syndicated action-adventure of the late 80s / early 90s Super Boy featured multiple approaches to Clark Kent’s youth, including portraying him as a college journalism student and then later sending him to work for a X-Files– like a paranormal investigative agency. In the mid-90s, Lois and Clark was meant to be a dramatic workplace comedy, peppered with fantastic interludes and vanished romance.

All these shows – and now Superman and Lois – tried to get around what one might call “the Superman problem”. When a hero is essentially all-powerful, vulnerable only to rare radioactive rock (and sometimes magic), how do you introduce the kind of narrative barriers necessary for a good story? The answer: Focus on what it is can not control, such as the well-being of friends and family.

The CW has taken this route before too, first with Smallville (whose producers have promised “no tights, no thefts”) then with Arrow, which in its early episodes avoided the usual pitfalls of superhero costumes and superpowers. The network’s mistrust of “comics” began to disappear when Flash became a success, how much even Arrow started to be more comfortable with the extra-normal. The shows that followed – including, most aptly, Super girl – got bigger and bigger with comic-inspired storylines and images.

Still, the balance of storytelling in any given Arrowverse series focuses as much, if not more, on relationships and personal issues as it does on saving the world from scary monsters and super-creeps. A lot of these shows tend to be bright and entertaining and then get more and more austere as the heroes and their friends wallow in their woes.

Superman and Lois Actually departures in a fairly dark place, with subplots on economic anxiety and clinical depression. The first two episodes are very promising – if only because Hoechlin and Tulloch are so good and the setting of Smallville is so picturesque. But the parts of the story about Superman dealing with a dangerous global threat so far aren’t as artfully crafted as the parts about his sons growing pains. The superhero scenes seem like an afterthought – and yes, in these sequences, Superman is a bit boring.

There is a rich vein of imaginative and exciting comics from Superman and Lois that Superman and Lois could type – and maybe still. There’s no reason a Superman show can’t be fun and cool, while also working in the social relevance and teen-friendly melodrama that anchor the Arrowverse.

One of the big dilemmas of the first episode is whether Clark should open up to the boys about his secret superhero life. Hopefully the show’s writers had a similar conversation while working on this first season. In future episodes, it would be great to see people Superman and Lois know that one of their main characters is Superman.

Superman and Lois premieres on The CW with a two-hour pilot on February 23 at 8 p.m. EST. The premiere will be available for free online on February 24 at the CWTV website.