It's finally here, something that many of us have been waiting on for quite a while now: a true, modern Superman show. While I am a massive fan of Smallville, the show was mainly about Clark Kent (something the actors/creators always hammered home about), and never fully embraced Superman. After Smallville, Supergirl and Krypton were the next Superman-adjacent shows, and while both were good shows, it seemed like DC was adamant that Superman was preserved for the movies. Well, when Tyler Hoechlin's Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch's Lois Lane played such a pivotal role in the Arrowverse's Elseworlds crossover a few years ago, rumors started flying that they would get their own show. To everyone's joy, in the midst of Crisis On Infinite Earths, it was confirmed that that would be the case. And man was the wait worth it.
Speaking of Smallville, there's definitely an influence from that here. The obvious one is the farm, which is the exact same one from the show. Lana Lang also looks like she's gonna have a big role to play as well, though this time not as Clark's on-and-off girlfriend. To me though, the decision to have the family move back to the farm when Clark leaves it in Smallville makes it seem like a definite spiritual continuation of that series. I for one appreciate all of this and am not complaining, as it lets us know that the creators are taking influence from what's worked in the past.
Outside of Smallville, the writers are also turning to the comics for a lot of inspiration. There's the flashback with the classic Superman suit, as well as a nod to the original Action Comics #1 cover. More importantly, though, the show is taking a page from the recent Superman Rebirth storyline, by focusing on Superman and Lois as parents. In the comics, they have one son, Jonathan Kent, but here they have two: Jonathan and Jordan. It seems like this was done simply in order to have a changeup from the comics, which I don't necessarily mind if they do it right.
The cast is fantastic so far. Tyler makes a charming, believable Superman while Elizabeth portrays Lois's fiery personality well. Both Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin surprise as Jonathan and Jordan Kent (respectfully), delivering a great brother dynamic while both having unique personalities, though there's definitely some room to grow. We have yet to see the official debut of Morgan Edge and we only got a Luthor covered in armor towards the end, but hopefully, we'll get to see how their actors fare sooner rather than later. I'm very curious as to how this show utilizes characters that have already been portrayed in both Supergirl and Smallville.
One of my main concerns going in (that I'm sure many others shared), was that the budget of a CW show would hinder the visual quality of the series. While watching it I was pleasantly surprised that the visuals were pretty great, and overall the show has a very cinematic aesthetic, which makes even more sense when you learn HBO is helping with the development of this show. The cinematography and production have a little bit of that Snyder grit to it, which I'm sure will please that Snyder fans out there (personally I would like a little bit more color but it's still well done). All-in-all, it seems like a lot of thought, care, and money has been put behind this and I would want nothing less for the Man Of Steel.
In terms of the plot of the episode, there was nothing too earthshattering or game-changing here. The show spent the near-two hour runtime mainly setting up the pieces for what's to come, though doing it exceptionally well. We get some flashbacks regarding Clark's arrival on Earth, life growing up, his father's death, his first meeting with Lois, and their eventual marriage. In the present day, we get a cool Superman scene involving him flying an iceberg into a nuclear reactor (cool!), before shifting to the Daily Planet where we see Clark get fired because of Morgan Edge's take over. Clark then takes his family to Smallville after his mother's tragic death. It's here where we meet Lana, her husband Kyle, and their daughters Sophie and Sarah (who befriends Jordan). We also get the first hint that the boys have powers after pipes collapse on them in the barn. The boys soon after discover Clark's pod.
Of course, it's revealed later that Jordan is the one with powers after he lasers a flaming barrel at a party. This is a changeup from the comics, where Jonathan has the powers. It's an interesting change (though he might yet get powers in the future), but I definitely see the potential here, with Jordan being more of an outsider akin to his father, as opposed to the popular-jock-type that is Jonathan. After this whole incident, Clark reveals to the boys that he is Superman, which makes me happy that we don't have to see yet another long-drawn-out secret identity story for the billionth time. Elsewhere, we get an exciting Superman battle involving who we now know to be a powered-up Luthor. This is obviously going to be a slightly different take on the classic villain, but I for one am excited to see what the show has in store for him.
Though the episode didn't break much new ground, it gives me hope for this series going forward. It feels more epic and grandiose than all of the other Arrowverse shows, while also having the heart and joy that you'd expect a Superman show to have. If this season delivers on a level equal to The Flash or Arrow's first seasons, I could see this easily becoming the world's next superhero family show.
Rating: 8/10
Well, what did you guys think of Arrowverse's new superhero show? Let us know down in the comments!
