Superman & Lois S3: Spoilers, Speculation, and Discussion

[Vordan]

S3 debuts March 14th, 2023.

The third season of Superman & Lois opens weeks after Superman’s blowout defeat of Ally Allston. Clark (Hoechlin) and Lois (Tulloch) now are working at the Smallville Gazette together and enjoying small town life. But the Kents’ romantic bliss only shines a light on how isolating “the secret” can be, as Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik) struggles to balance a new love interest and her friendship with Lois. However, Lois’ own work-life balance is put to the test when an undercover assignment reveals a deadly foe that promises to change the Kent family forever. Superman would move heaven and earth for his family, but with a villain this merciless, even that might not be enough. Meanwhile, the Kent boys find themselves being pulled in opposite directions as Jordan (Alex Garfin) discovers what a superhero-identity really means and Jonathan (Michael Bishop) searches for purpose beyond the football field. Amid all this upheaval, John Henry (Wolé Parks) is haunted by his doppelgänger’s past, leading to dangerous consequences for him and Natalie (Tayler Buck). Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and Kyle (Erik Valdez) redefine their family post-separation, while Sarah (Inde Navarrette) explores what the future holds for her and Jordan now that she knows the truth about his powers. Having learned the hard way that no one else can be trusted to work with Superman, General Samuel Lane (Dylan Walsh) reclaims his post at the Department of Defense, only to face his own conflict in working with his grandson, Jordan.

And a new Lex Luthor will be cast too:

LEX LUTHOR FOR SUPERMAN AND LOIS
He’s hellbent on destroying those who he feels are responsible for ruining his life. A chilling businessman, who’s rogue and amoral.

The casting calls for someone who’s late 40s, white, and male.
So for those who are thinking this might be a one-off appearance or something else, the information also states that this is for a recurring guest star with an option to be bumped up to regular for season four. So not only are we getting Lex Luthor, but it sounds like he’ll be a significant focus for the third season of Superman and Lois.

From the looks of that description, Luthor is not messing around. It also means we’ll get a more dangerous and brutal character version from Jon Cryer’s portrayal. We’ll have to see how much it features Lex Luthor among the other characters on the show when Superman and Lois season three comes out.

[Frontier]

It looks like they're planning for season 4, but one way or another we're finally getting Lex Luthor.

So probably out for Lois and Superman's blood.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I guess Intergang would be in play because of Manheim's appearance. I'd be up for the Invisible mafia and the Red Cloud making an appearance. More grounded threats fit the show better to me. Season 2 struggled with the Multiverse shattering stakes of Parasite's plan.

[Vordan]

It looks like they're planning for season 4, but one way or another we're finally getting Lex Luthor.

So probably out for Lois and Superman's blood.

Does make me think there’s a chance S&L could keep going until the next proper Superman movie is ready, like I had been speculating for a while. Especially if Gunn & Safran want to hard reboot the character, that would mean the next movie might not be ready until 2026.

The show has the barn on rent for three seasons, if they do a fourth I hope the Kents move back to Metropolis at the end of S3. Would fit with Lex becoming more of a problem.

I guess Intergang would be in play because of Manheim's appearance. I'd be up for the Invisible mafia and the Red Cloud making an appearance. More grounded threats fit the show better to me. Season 2 struggled with the Multiverse shattering stakes of Parasite's plan.

Lowering the stakes is to the show’s benefit, they just don’t have the budget to be going all high concept like they tried last season. I’d love to see Red Cloud and the Invisible Mafia but the writers involved don’t have any love for Bendis that I’ve seen lol. Maybe we could get the 100 given their love of the Triangle Era.

[SuperX]

I wish they would just create a clutter earth with all the live shows being in the same earth,just different places in the se universe.

Lex on Titans here would be cool.Conner would be even cooler

[superduperman]

S3 debuts March 14th, 2023.

And a new Lex Luthor will be cast too:

Beard or GTFO!

[Vordan]

I wish they would just create a clutter earth with all the live shows being in the same earth,just different places in the se universe.

Lex on Titans here would be cool.Conner would be even cooler

That was the Arrowverse for a little while, but at this point I don’t see any new shows getting greenlit that aren’t in the DC Films verse. Titans is probably going to end this season and S&L I think has at most one more season left in it.

[SuperX]

That was the Arrowverse for a little while, but at this point I don’t see any new shows getting greenlit that aren’t in the DC Films verse. Titans is probably going to end this season and S&L I think has at most one more season left in it.

Thry need to fold Conner into the movie verse then before Titans ends,I would hate "another" version of kon/conner/SB just tossed again.

[The Frog Bros]

... and Jonathan (Michael Bishop) searches for purpose beyond the football field

Huzzah to more Jon development.

(Other than being the fall guy for his gf, that is )

[Vordan]

Huzzah to more Jon development.

(Other than being the fall guy for his gf, that is )

At this point I’m not holding my breath waiting for Jon to get much attention from the writers, it’s clear their priorities lie with Jordan, but maybe Jon can do more than sit on the sidelines.

[Mistah K88]

I guess Intergang would be in play because of Manheim's appearance. I'd be up for the Invisible mafia and the Red Cloud making an appearance. More grounded threats fit the show better to me. Season 2 struggled with the Multiverse shattering stakes of Parasite's plan.

I'll agree. While I understand that it's Superman, the world doesn't need to be ending every time he steps out of the door. Smaller stakes can definitely feel more personal. The concept of the Invisible Mafia is a great one for a hero like Superman, the self awareness that they aren't going to beat him, but just working around him is something that one could really toy with.

[manofsteel1979]

While I would have loved to seen Tyler's Supes take on Cryer's Lex, I understand them wanting to hire a new actor.


With all the uncertainty surrounding Supes on the big screen, hopefully we can get at least 4 or 5 seasons of this show to fill the gap before we see what Gunn has in store. Last season was rocky in places but overall I enjoyed it.The sun dipping in the finale put a big grin on my face.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'll agree. While I understand that it's Superman, the world doesn't need to be ending every time he steps out of the door. Smaller stakes can definitely feel more personal. The concept of the Invisible Mafia is a great one for a hero like Superman, the self awareness that they aren't going to beat him, but just working around him is something that one could really toy with.

These shows tend to have a tendency to try and top themselves in scale which isn't always the best move. So coming at its heroes with a different type of threat would be better. The Invisible mafia also gives Lois more to do as an investigator.

[Vordan]

While I would have loved to seen Tyler's Supes take on Cryer's Lex, I understand them wanting to hire a new actor.


With all the uncertainty surrounding Supes on the big screen, hopefully we can get at least 4 or 5 seasons of this show to fill the gap before we see what Gunn has in store. Last season was rocky in places but overall I enjoyed it.The sun dipping in the finale put a big grin on my face.

Show is in a weird position because it’s at the mercy of several big shake ups:
1. Gunn’s Superman reboot which is probably coming in 2025 and Zaslav has mentioned not wanting multiple versions of the same character running around
2. The Nexstar buy out of CW with them saying the CW has never been profitable essentially, and they want to pivot their programming focus
3. The streaming wars are coming to an end and companies are pulling back on just throwing money around to get shows for their services

S&L is popular and does good numbers streaming wise I understand, is in a set up that Zaslav likes where - as I understand it - they’re not directly funding production of it but they get to throw the latest season on HBO Max after it’s done airing on CW, and it keeps Superman in the public eye while they work on their film reboot. For those reasons I think it might get a fourth season but whenever Gunn’s reboot is ready to go I expect it will end. Just like how the Flash movie finally being ready to release meant the end of the Flash show.

[Frontier]

While I would have loved to seen Tyler's Supes take on Cryer's Lex, I understand them wanting to hire a new actor.

It still gets to me that we could get plenty of scenes with Kara and Cryer's Lex but Cryer's Lex and Hoechlin's Supes, who have legitimate history between them, never exchanged a single line of dialogue towards each other during Crisis.