Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Superman & Lois’.With its fourth and final season,Superman & Loisis pulling out all the stops. Not only did the show both kill and resurrectTyler Hoechlin’s Superman in the span of only a few episodes but it’s made Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) a more frightening and calculating villain than ever before. We never know what Lex is going to do next, and that’s part of what makes him so effective as a supervillain. But perhaps the most mind-blowing aspect of Season 4 is thatLex Luthor now knows that Superman and Clark Kent are one and the same, and that’ll no doubt make things even worse for the Man of Steel.
The Way Lex Luthor Discovers Superman’s Secret Is More Meaningful
The show’s decision to make Lex’s discovery of Superman’s identity based entirely on Jordan’s (Alex Garfin) poor life choices is especially interesting. We’ve seenJordan make some serious mistakes before, but accidentally blowing the biggest secret in this corner of the DC Universe is by far the worst of it. What’s even more interesting in this whole debacle is thatLex doesn’t seem to care too much. He’s pocketed that information for now and continues to harass and attack Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) as he searches the globefor his daughter Elizabeth. The fact that mild-mannered Clark Kent was secretly Superman right under his nose doesn’t seem to bother him, at least not on the surface.
In other pieces of Superman media, such asSmallvilleor some of the more recent DC Comics, Lex’s discovery of Clark’s secret is a major revelation for him. It helps him to better make sense of his world and leads him into a jealous rage, ultimately retaliating for years of humiliation. In some ways, it makes Lex Luthor feel that Superman is more human than he is (ironically, there may be some truth to that onSuperman & Loisnow that Clark has a human heart). But in this series, Lex — instead of being obsessed with discovering the truth about who Superman is behind closed doors (or, behind a pair of glasses in this case) — discovers the truth as a byproduct of his revenge quest against Lois, Superman, and the whole world.It’s not his heightened intellect or his vast resources that give him this advantage,it’s through someone else’s weakness that he learns the truth.
The Strongest Character on ‘Superman & Lois’ Isn’t the Man of Steel
The breakout star of the series isn’t Clark Kent!
Before his death, Clark always took painstaking care to keep a lid on his secret. In every case except perhaps with Kyle (Erik Valdez), Clark chooses to reveal his identity as Superman to those in his life. It’s something he hides very well, to the point where Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh) doesn’t believe Clark at first. But after dying and leaving his family to deal with Luthor in the aftermath, he no longer has control over how his secret is kept, leaving it open for Luthor to discover. Despite that, it changes nothing for the LexCorp figurehead; not his end goal and not his (albeit temporary) victory over Superman. In some sense,it doesn’t matter who Superman is behind the cape, it only matters that he can now hurt him more personally, which makes this version of Lex all the more dangerous.
‘Superman & Lois’ Revolutionizes the Superman & Lex Luthor Relationship
Though not every incarnation of Superman gets his identity discovered by Lex Luthor, it works particularly well here.Superman & Loishas taken a few of the themes explored inZack Snyder’sBatman V Superman: Dawn of Justice— such as Lex’s discovery of Superman’s identity,the release of Doomsday, and the impact the Man of Steel has on the world — and taken them in a different direction with Season 4. Most notably,they’ve made Superman and Lex Luthor legitimate rivals whose battle no longer just affects them, but their families. Now that Superman has returned, Lex has the upper hand. He could reveal the truth about Clark Kent to the world at any time, which would effectively nuke the Kent’s lives. On the other hand, he could keep this knowledge close to his chest to better torment the Man of Steel. Only time will tell how he uses what he knows.
Superman & Loishas already established how terrifying this Lex Luthor can be.Fueled entirely by hatred and vengeance, there is nothing keeping him at bay,especially since he has Doomsday at his beck and call. Now knowing what he does, it’s likely that Lex is spending his time plotting his next move against the Kent family. It only took him a month after being released from prison beforehe unleashed Doomsday and killed Superman, but the sky’s the limit concerning whatever he has planned next. And if Lex Luthor has proven anything prior to now, it’s that he’s not one to be underestimated.
Superman & Loisairs Mondays on the CW and can be streamed on Max in the U.S.
Superman and Lois
Based on the characters from DC Comics, Superman & Lois follows Clark Kent and Lois Lane, attempting to live a quiet life in Smallville with their twin sons Jonathan and Jordan. Unfortunately for the couple, their lives continue to be effected by Clark’s superhero identity and powers. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch star as Clark and Lois, with Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin portraying the couple’s sons.
