Key Takeaways
- Superman & Lois excels at portraying the Death of Superman better than other adaptations.
- The show’s emotional impact is intensified by viewers’ deep connection to the characters over several seasons.
- Superman & Lois beautifully executes the event, showcasing real emotions and a more compelling return.
In the world of DC Comics there have been few moments that have resonated with more fans than when Superman met his untimely end.. The moment started out on the page and was so big that even people who didn’t read comic books raised their eyebrows when they saw the cover that signified the Man of Steel had passed away. The same event was done in the animated movie of the same name, The Death of Superman. It was done again in Superman v Batman and most recently it was done in Superman & Lois.
Each time this particular event is done, it’s carried out in roughly the same way. Superman goes up against Doomsday, and when he fights that particular monster, he ends up not being able to handle it. He has finally met a foe that can beat him one-on-one. Each time the battle between the planet’s ultimate good and the ultimate evil takes place there is at least some emotion tied to it. After all, the earth’s protector has been taken out. But it’s more than a little surprising that the Arrowverse’s version of the event pulled it off best of any that is on television or was in theaters. While Superman & Lois can be campy and goofy and at times, far too earnest one thing is true. It’s not even really a debate at this point that it’s version of the Death of Superman was quite a bit better than when Zack Snyder tried to do the same thing.
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Superman & Lois Allows For Grieving Alongside The Family
It’s not hard to figure out exactly why Superman & Lois carries out this event better than it was handled in the Snyderverse and it’s not even that the Death of Superman was done poorly in Batman v Supermanand then the aftermath in Dawn of Justice.
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Cast |
Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette |
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Showrunner |
Todd Helbing |
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No. of Seasons |
4 |
When it comes to the Snyderverse, the audience might have been allowed to grow attached to Clark Kent and Superman in Man of Steel and then grieve when his battle against Doomsday went wrong in Batman v Superman. But in the larger scope of things, this was a character that was only seen on screen twice. Even those who liked how the character was handled and felt like they might have been attached to him still didn’t really know the person all that well.
On the other hand, the audience got to know the Clark Kent in Superman & Lois over the course of three full seasons. And they didn’t just get to know him as the alter ego of Superman. They got to know him as a husband, they got to know him as a father and they got to know him in ways they’ve never gotten to know him before. There were moments in this Arrowverse show where Clark lost his temper. And this wasn’t a Clark who lost his temper and then silently blew up a couple of police cars. This was a Superman who, when he lost his temper yelled at his kid. Tyler Hoechlin managed to give real humanity to the Clark because he had the time.
We also got to know the Kent family. We got to see what drives Lois and what drives their kids. They even wove in a plot point that one of their twin boys even struggled with a little bit of mental illness. Add in some of the townfolk of Smallville that are the close allies of the Kents and the audience had a better handle on how all of the characters are interwoven. The audience gets to feel as though the main characters are their friends. They are emotionally invested in a way that can’t be done in a couple of movies. Just think about how many movies Tony Stark had to appear in for Marvel fans to really reel his loss in Avengers: Endgame. The Snyderverse wasn’t able to do that kind of thing with its Superman.
Superman & Lois Has Perfect Emotional Pulls
It’s also worth pointing out that Superman & Loisand the characters in the show were already pulling on the heartstrings of its audience for most of Season 3 by giving Lois breast cancer. There were legitimately emotional moments where Clark and the boys had to deal with the idea that Lois was dying. When she eventually finished her treatment, then their version of Doomsday showed up and things went from “healing” to death rather quickly.
It was also a very nice touch that instead of simply showing a battered and beaten to death Superman, the Superman & Lois version literally had his heart ripped out. When Lois runs to the fallen body of Superman, dropped on the street by the victorious Doomsday before he flies off, her revulsion and horror at seeing the hole in his chest looks real. It looks like what any person would do in a similar situation. And when the twin boys run over to see their dead father their reactions seem real as well. And when people in Smallville start to come out to hiding, the viewer can feel the fear and sadness rippling through the community.
Because the series wasn’t over. In fact, the fourth season had just kicked off, everyone knew that Superman was not actually gone forever. Though the audience knew the Snyderverse version of Superman wasn’t gone forever either. And when the Man of Steel returned in Superman & Lois, his return was more emotional as well. It was so much better in fact, one could argue the Snyderverse should have skipped it altogether.
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