Warning: SPOILERS for Superman and Lois season 2.
Superman and Lois season 2 continues to ignore the larger Arrowverse, acting like there are no other heroes when Superman goes missing. This has been an on-going problem for the series despite nominally being a spin-off of Supergirl. However, apart from a cameo by ARGUS Agent John Diggle in its freshman season, Superman and Lois has not acknowledged any connection to the CW’s other superhero series.
The Superman and Lois episode “30 Days and 30 Nights” opened with an intense sequence in which Superman chased cult leader Ally Allston into another dimension. After the title card, the episode entered into a montage of the month that followed, showing an anxious Lois Lane going to bed alone and being unable to sleep, intercut with scenes from news broadcasts covering various disasters. The reporters and news chyrons all asked the same question as Clark Kent’s family, “Where Is Superman?“
One month later, John Henry Irons had rebuilt his Steel armor and was helping fill Superman’s shoes. Yet apart from his acting to avert an airplane crash (which prompted a headline asking if there was a new “Man of Steel“) no mention was made of other heroes stepping up to protect the world in Superman’s absence. This continued Superman and Lois‘ disturbing tendency to ignore that there are other superheroes in its world besides Superman who could be called into service in his absence—particularly his cousin, Supergirl.
The Crisis on Infinite Earths event in 2020 condensed many of the superhero series adapted from DC Comics into a single shared world, dubbed Earth-Prime. This was meant to facilitate more frequent crossovers, but Superman and Lois has largely avoided recognizing the other Arrowverse series. This started due to difficulties in production caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but fans had hoped season 2 would begin to change this frustrating tendency. Indeed, various elements of the show (such as its different design for the Fortress of Solitude) seem utterly incompatible with the events of Supergirl season 6.
Superman and Lois season 2 also acted like Superman was the only hero capable of fighting the new Bizarro Superman. This ignored that Crisis on Infinite Earths ended with the establishment of a new team, effectively the Justice League in all but name, which would bring together Earth-Prime’s greatest heroes to face threats they couldn’t handle alone. This approach stood in marked contrast to The Flash season 8, which opened with the five-part Armageddon event that crossed over with all the Arrowverse series except Superman and Lois, and a reference to an off-screen crossover event involving the warlock Felix Faust.
Superman was the first modern superhero and is still, in the minds of many, the greatest superhero in existence. Ignoring his status as a title character, it is only natural that Superman and Lois would want to hold him up as the world’s finest hero. That still does not excuse the series’ continually ignoring its roots and the larger world of the Arrowverse.
New episodes of Superman & Lois release Tuesdays on the CW.
