Superman and Lois are joining The CW’s Arrowverse lineup next season, but Crisis on Infinite Earths already unleashed a major plot twist ahead of its premiere. The CW’s 5-hour event became the franchise’s biggest adventure as the DC TV shows changed the status quo to move the shared universe forward. Based on the iconic DC comic series of the same name, Crisis on Infinite Earths brought the current series together onto the same world known as Earth-Prime. As the continuity got reshaped, the Arrowverse was officially rebooted, paving the way for more seasons of the veteran series and arrival of new shows. After being granted an early series pick-up, Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel will be the latest incarnation to get his own Superman project.
Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane will join Hoechlin in Superman and Lois, which will tell a new chapter that hasn’t been explored in previous live-action versions of the iconic couple. As this incarnation of Clark and Lois gave birth to Jon Kent, the spinoff will explore them handling parenthood. With Crisis on Infinite Earths causing changes across all the shows, the Kent-Lane family felt its effect too. During the final hour, Superman was stunned when Lois calls him to ask to return to Metropolis for their boys. What was previously a family with a baby son is now a family with two sons, a surprise to the Last Son of Krypton.
Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths’ airing, casting for Superman and Lois had begun for two teenage boys. Under the code names “Matthew” and “Ethan,” one part fit the characterization of DC’s current Superboy. Speculation began to circulate about “Ethan,” with suggestions that he might be Batman’s son, Damian Wayne (aka Robin). Despite a potential Super-Sons setup, the crossover debunked any chances of “Ethan” being the Boy Wonder. While one of the sons is certainly Jon, the identity of the second son is a mystery. This twist certainly skips a major component in Lois and Clark’s parenting adventures, but the age-up actually benefits the series in the long run. Had Superman and Lois started with them being parents to a baby Jon, it’d come with its pros and cons.
The upside is that it’d have allowed the writers to put Lois and Clark in challenging, amusing, and compelling scenarios involving the half-Kryptonian/Human baby. However, there’s only so much that can be done with baby storylines before it loses its effect in the span of multiple seasons. Jon wouldn’t be able to serve as an actual character until season 4 or 5 when he is 4-5 years old. The CW is no stranger to family dramas with teenage settings - Black Lightning currently being one of them. The twist now allows the aged-up sons to partake more in the overall series. Even though the boys aren’t mentioned by name, it’s hard to imagine one of them not being a teenage Jon.
But it’s the other son that leaves the door open for several possibilities. While they have two sons, one of them could be a foster child, paralleling how Martha and Jonathan Kent found and raised Kal-El. In the current DC canon, Jon is Lois and Superman’s only son. However, the pre-New 52 era had Clark and Lois adopt General Zod and Ursa’s son, Lor-Zod, who they named Christopher ‘Chris’ Kent. While the DC Rebirth version of Lor-Zod is portrayed as Zod’s loyal son, Superman and Lois could utilize the character’s more popular iteration. There’s always the possibility of the second son being an original character altogether.
With the Arrowverse known for utilizing the DC library as much as possible, introducing Chris would be a strong move. The “Ethan” part would certainly be a departure for Chris’ known character traits. But it’d still allow for a powerful Super-Sons story to be told, maybe with them as Superboy and Nightwing, and portraying them as a powerful brotherhood, with Jon teaching Chris that being a Zod by blood does not mean his destiny is already determined. If Superman and Lois choose to explore that, it would be a refreshing layer for the Arrowverse and help this Superman series make its own mark.
