Warning: SPOILERS for Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 11 - "A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events".
Superman & Lois depicted the origin of the Arrowverse's Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), which bears fascinating similarities and differences to previous origins seen in the Superman movies and TV series like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Smallville. Clark reliving how he became the Man of Steel, met his love Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), and fathered his twin sons Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass), was due to the machinations of Morgan Edge (Alex Rayner), who was revealed to be Tal-Roh, Superman's Kryptonian half-brother.
Every new Superman film and TV series since 1978's Superman: The Movie has rehashed the Man of Steel's familiar origin, and fans know the beats by heart: Baby Kal-El is rocketed to Earth as the doomed planet Krypton explodes, he is raised as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, by Jonathan and Martha Kent, and he moves to Metropolis as an adult, where he dons a red and blue caped costume to fight evil as Superman. The Arrowverse's Man of Steel was introduced in Supergirl season 2 in 2016 and his backstory was only hinted at until he got his own series so that Superman & Lois filled in the blanks. As such, the Arrowverse's version of the Metropolis Marvel is an amalgam of the greatest hits of prior versions of Superman with some innovations unique to Superman & Lois.
Not only is Superman's origin story one of the most famous in pop culture, rivaled by Batman and Spider-Man's beginnings for sheer audience familiarity, but the prior versions of how Clark Kent donned the cape seen in Superman: The Movie, Smallville, and Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, are equally well known. Each origin story incorporates the familiar tropes and adds changes accordingly, updating it for modern audiences and differentiating from what came before.
Superman & Lois' origin tale is compelling both for how it echoes prior origins but also for how the changes made are novel and perfectly suit the Arrowverse's Superman, who stands apart from the others by being a husband and a father. Tyler Hoechlin's Superman is also unique because his origin doesn't launch his story; rather, it's only a look back since this Man of Steel is matured and experienced after 20 years of being Earth's greatest hero.
Superman & Lois' origin echoes what Superman: The Movie established: Clark Kent leaves Smallville at 18 after Jonathan Kent's death. He travels north to the arctic and hurls a Kryptonian crystal (called a sunstone in DC Comics) into the ice, which creates the Fortress of Solitude. Inside, young Clark finds a hologram avatar of Jor-El, his Kryptonian father. Jor-El reveals that Clark's birth name was Kal-El and begins training him how to use his many superpowers, which he derives from the light of Earth's yellow sun.
Just as in Superman: The Movie, Clark enters the Fortress as a teenager (played by a younger actor) and emerges a decade later as a grown man. Christopher Reeve's Clark was taught by Jor-El (Marlon Brando) for ten years and he was instructed not just in how to use his abilities, but in every subject in accordance with Krypton's 28 known galaxies. When Clark is finally ready, he soars off fully formed as Superman. Tyler Hoechlin's Clark spent about 9 years in the Fortress with Jor-El (Angus Macfadyen) and Superman & Lois showed Clark learning how to fly, whereas Reeve already knew how when he emerged as the Man of Steel.
Hoechlin's test flight is reminiscent of Henry Cavill teaching himself to defy gravity in Man of Steel, but Zack Snyder tweaked his origin so that Cavill met Jor-El (Russell Crowe) in a crashed Kryptonian ship. Cavill's Clark spent the least amount of time with Jor-El, who only gave his son a quick download of Kryptonian history and some inspirational words. By contrast, Hoechlin's education seems to have been as extensive as Reeve's, and he learned all of Earth's languages, which he showed off to Lois Lane in his first TV interview. Tom Welling's Clark Kent visited his version of the Fortress of Solitude many times and learned from Jor-El (Terence Stamp), but he spent most of the decade preparing to become Superman living in Smallville and fighting crime in Metropolis.
There was no explanation for Christopher Reeve's costume in Superman: The Movie. He was simply wearing it when he left the Fortress of Solitude to begin his adventures as Superman. Tyler Hoechlin got his Superman suit from his adoptive mother Martha Kent (Michele Scarabelli), who sewed it for him during his years away. This is similar to Dean Cain's Superman in Lois & Clark, whose costume was also sewn for him by his Ma Kent (K Callan). Amusingly, Hoechlin's first Superman suit, with his yellow bordered S shield on a black background, is identical to the one seen in the classic 1940s Max Fleischer Superman cartoons. There's no explanation yet as to where the Superman costume Hoechlin's Clark currently wears came from.
In Smallville, Tom Welling's Clark received his Superman suit from Jor-El in the Fortress of Solitude, which was identical to the costume Brandon Routh wore in Superman Returns. Man of Steel provides a more elaborate origin for Superman's suit; his costume is a traditional Kryptonian bodysuit, but it's meant to be worn underneath protective armor. Zack Snyder's Justice League established that there were multiple Superman suits in the Kryptonian ship, including the black costume Henry Cavill wears after Clark Kent is resurrected.
Like Superman: The Movie and Lois & Clark, Tyler Hoechlin's Clark meets Elizabeth Tulloch's Lois during his first day of work at the Daily Planet. However, all three have differences. In Superman: The Movie, Lois (Margot Kidder) doesn't take Clark seriously as he fumbles around in his guise as a mild-mannered reporter. As they work closely together, Hoechlin's Clark and Elizabeth Tullock's Lois quickly form an office romance, which is similar to the flirtatious working relationship between Dean Cain's Clark and Teri Hatcher's Lois, which also blossomed into a romance.
The outlier for Lois and Clark meet-cutes is Smallville, where Erica Durance's Lois was the cousin of Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) who came to live in the Kent Farm in season 4. Clark and Lois didn't get along at first, and Lois also wasn't initially a reporter like Chloe was, but inevitably, the Smallville farm boy and Miss Lane also became romantically involved. Like Superman & Lois, Tom Welling and Erica Durance's Lois and Clark were married and raising a family in Smallville during Crisis on Infinite Earths when Welling met Hoechlin and Tulloch's Clark and Lois.
Superman & Lois' biggest and most interesting deviation from the classic Superman and Lois trope is that Lois fell in love with Clark and she was never romantically fascinated by Superman. In fact, Lois was wary of the Man of Steel even though he saved her life. Lois and Clark became a couple after one year and they quickly married after Clark brought Lois to Smallville to meet Martha. Clark also told Lois that he was Superman because he didn't want to keep secrets from his future wife.
This is wildly different from how Christopher Reeve's Clark kept his secret from Margot Kidder's Lois, who discovered the truth in Superman II. However, after briefly giving up his powers so he could be with Lois, Clark resumes being Superman and wipes her memory with a Super Kiss. Instead, Superman & Lois has more in common with Smallville since Erica Durance's Lois eventually fell for Clark, who didn't become Superman until years later. But afterward, Lois encouraged his career as the Man of Steel when they worked together at the Daily Planet.
Superman & Lois' Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) also factors into Clark's decision to move to Metropolis and become Superman. After he returned to Smallville, Clark was hoping to reconnect with Lana but he found she was in a relationship with Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez). Lana is traditionally Clark's high school girlfriend but she didn't date Clark in Superman: The Movie and had no impact on his becoming Superman. Christopher Reeve's Clark later reconnected as adults with Lana, played by Annette O'Toole, in Superman III. However, Smallville's Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) was a major character and love interest who eventually learned Clark had superpowers, and she even married Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and gained powers of her own.
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