Superman & Lois season 2 just tricked fans in the best way

Superman & Lois season 2, episode 3 spoilers follow.

Superman is unfairly considered to be quite boring in comparison to other big names like Batman and Spider-Man. Some fans argue that eight decades in, there are no new Clark Kent stories to tell.

But just because Superman has just been around a while doesn't mean that the mythology which surrounds him has been tapped out completely. Sure, it's not easy to challenge one of the most powerful heroes ever written, but that's the kind of challenge that creatives like the team behind Superman & Lois have risen to so admirably.

From season one's John Henry Irons twist to the show's new take on Morgan Edge, Superman & Lois has consistently subverted our expectations to keep things fresh, all while grounding these adventures with a relatable family dynamic.

So knowing all this, we should have suspected that something was up when season two introduced one of Superman's most powerful foes ever at the end of the first episode. Sure, no one on the show ever uttered the name "Doomsday", but pretty much everyone was convinced that the guy who killed Superman was back, this time on the small screen.

Monster in a containment suit? Check. Little glimpses of him pounding away at the walls of his subterranean prison? Check. Unimaginable strength, the kind that could even rival Superman himself? Triple check. For all intents and purposes, the monster's reveal played out exactly like Doomsday's introduction in the comics.

And who would mess with such a legendary story like this anyway? It's not been that long since Zack Snyder CGI'd Doomsday to an inch of his life in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, so it's been gratifying to see this show tackle a more comicbook-faithful version of this run.

Yet, as we now know, this wasn't actually Doomsday at all. When the creature finally escaped the mines, complete with a Doomsday lookalike suit, Irons managed to chip off a piece of his headgear, revealing something far more monstrous than the classic villain.

Despite the messed-up skin and glowing blue eyes, it quickly became obvious that this "thing from the mines" was actually another version of Superman, a "bizarre" one, as the show puts it.

Bizarro Superman flees the scene right after that, barely giving us time to gasp at the masterful way that this show tricked us with his reveal.

And what's particularly impressive is that, in hindsight, this all works perfectly. As Bizarro Superman and our Superman are essentially the same person, the emotional connection they've shared these past few episodes now makes a lot more sense, even if the mechanics behind it are still slightly unclear.

Chatting about this reveal with TVLine, Tyler Hoechlin said: "With TV, there’s always the fear that sometimes you’ll get locked into doing the same thing over and over to the point where you feel like it’s Groundhog Day. This was a really cool chance to do something different."

While Tyler's talking more about his performance(s) at the end there, these quotes tap brilliantly into the spirit of this reveal as a whole, proving yet again that Superman & Lois has become adept at keeping the mythos fresh still after all these years.

What remains to be seen now is how the show will reinvent Bizarro Superman's origin. Has he been created in a lab somewhere? That would certainly make sense if we're building up to a new Big Bad reveal, perhaps one of the Luthor variety?

However, we suspect that this Bizarro might hail from another dimension instead. Previous Arrowverse shows like Supergirl and Batwoman have established that doppelgangers from other worlds can't exist together for long in the same plane of reality. Too much time in each other's company causes headaches and eventually death. Perhaps this could explain why Bizarro Superman and our Superman have both been in pain throughout this season.

And what was up with that final scene in the Fortress of Solitude? During their battle, Bizarro said something incomprehensible, which we suspect was a regular word pronounced backwards. But at the end, the word he utters here is unmistakable because it sounds the same forwards and backwards: "Mom."

Superman's family dynamic is about to get a whole lot messier, and we suspect that the show will be even better for it.

But whatever happens, we're almost certain that this won't be the last twist season two throws our way. Don't be surprised if this misdirect eventually turns 180 and sets up the real introduction of Doomsday.

When asked about this possibility, Hoechlin told TVLine: "Only Todd and the writers have that answer." That's just fine with us, because these surprises are precisely why Superman is now the most exciting he's been in years.

Superman & Lois airs on The CW in the US, and BBC One in the UK. All episodes of season one are now available on BBC iPlayer.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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