Supergirl actor Tyler Hoechlin, who portrays Superman on the CW DC superhero series, wants his Man of Steel to eventually do battle against Jon Cryer’s Lex Luthor. Their comics rivalry is perhaps one of the most well-known in all of pop culture, and usually pits Superman’s brute otherworldly strength against Luthor’s vast human intellect. With only one episode left of season 4 however, as well as confirmation that Superman won’t return during Supergirl‘s fourth season, it’s unlikely that any sort of battle will happen between the two anytime soon.
When Cryer was originally cast as Luthor for Supergirl, some fans weren’t quite convinced that the actor, who’s more known for his comedic roles than anything else, could quite pull off the character. Still, Cryer has nonetheless garnered considerable praise during his stint as the villain, even drawing praise from Smallville‘s own Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum. In spite of this, the villainous character has yet to face off against his arch nemesis Superman, as the Last Son of Krypton is no longer on his Earth due to Lois Lane’s pregnancy. Hoechlin is still holding out hope for a battle between the two in the future, though.
While speaking with Comic Book at his Fan Expo Dallas panel, Hoechlin expressed an enthusiastic interest in his Superman facing off against Cryer’s Luthor eventually. While the actor offered no exact context or time frame for when such a battle could take place, he did admit that it’s one of the biggest rivalries in storytelling history. For Hoechlin’s full remarks, read below:
“I mean, I feel like it’d be ridiculous not to hope to go up against Lex Luthor. So that would be awesome, that would be so cool working with Jon, who I’ve met briefly once or twice. That would be a lot of fun. So in other words, I think it would be a blast to do that. That’s one of the, obviously, the greatest rivalries in storytelling. So it would be very fun.”
Hoechlin definitely seems overjoyed at the idea of bringing a huge comic book rivalry to the small screen for fans, but how a battle would come to be remains unclear. Depending on how season 4 ends, next week could really set up some potential storylines to interject the Man of Steel in the future, but Supergirl obviously centers around Kara and her struggles. The show would have to strike a delicate balance in not giving Superman so much screen time that it ultimately detracts from Kara’s storyline. But with seasons of 20-plus episodes, and a season 5 renewal already greenlit, it’s probably not too much to hope for a one-off battle between Superman and Luthor.
Whether it happens or not remains to be seen, of course, but despite his limited appearances in the role, Hoechlin has really grown into the Man of Steel character. He may not be Tom Welling (who turned down returning to the role in Supergirl) but he’s brought his own old school charm to the role that a lot of fans have warmed up to. Even though a Superman show on the CW doesn’t seem all that likely at the moment due to the network focusing heavily on its Batwoman series, which recently received a series order, hope is not lost for the character to return to Supergirl eventually in a big way. Hopefully that includes a big Superman/Luthor face off as well.
