Superman & Lois: SPOILER Dies in “Anti-Hero”

There’s a few levels to the title of tonight’s episode of Superman & Lois. “Anti-Hero” could refer to Mitchell Anderson, who finds himself opposed to Superman on a philosophical, almost primal level. It could refer to Bizarro being Superman’s opposite — literally the “anti-hero.” But ultimately what it boils down to is a little more nuanced than that. Bizarro steps into the role of being a straightforward hero in the episode, which in turn means that the anti-Superman is a real hero. Confused yet? Well, in that case you probably didn’t watch the episode yet.

If that is the case, please be aware that we’re going to be discussing spoilers ahead. The episode was a huge one not just for a few cool fight scenes and the direction of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD star Elizabeth Henstridge, but for the season as a whole.

Last chance to turn back, folks…!

In “Anti-Hero,” Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) awakes to find that Lt. Anderson (Ian Stuart Bohen) has had him imprisoned alongside Tal Rho (Adam Rayner), his brother from last season. Stuck in a red sun chamber, the two are powerless as they are interrogated and tortured by Anderson and those under his command.

Soon enough, both Superman and Tal find themselves at Tal’s fortress, where the Lara AI simulation is holding Bizarro. Dosing himself with X-Kryptonite inhalers and wielding red sun radiation and kryptonite weapons, Anderson tries unsuccessfully to force Superman or Rho to release Bizarro so that he can be taken into military custody. 

At a key moment in the argument, Anderson attempts to murder Superman, using kryptonite bullets that would certainly prove fatal to a Clark who has been without yellow sunlight, and constantly bombarded by red sun rays and kryptonite for a full day. He is saved by Tal Rho, who dives in front of his brother. As Clark tries to use his powers to “operate” on Tal and save his life, Lara lets Bizarro loose to save her sons.

Fueled by hatred and a desire for revenge, Anderson doses himself with X-K and fires some kryptonite rounds off at Bizarro — but they have no impact. It takes him a while to realize the whole “opposite” thing, and so Bizarro does pretty well in the fight at first. But once Anderson realizes that X-Kryptonite is harmful to Bizarro, he uses up his supply of inhalers, smashing them against the Superman doppelganger’s head over and over until he is finally too weak to fight back, and then murdering Bizarro.

Anderson makes off into the night, and as the episode ends, Superman confirms that Bizarro is gone, while Sam Lane says that Anderson is a wanted fugitive now, having stolen gear from the anti-Kryptonian armory the DoD had set up. 

In spite of Bizarro’s early appearances as a rampaging monster, the humanity within him shone through in the last few appearances. It’s reminiscent of the character’s appearances in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe. There, he wasn’t from a “Bizarro world,” but a genetic experiment gone wrong. And each time he would show up, the Frankenstein’s monster metaphor would hit hard. Did he have to be stopped from rampaging? Sure. But you would find out that he was at his heart a gentle giant, whose intentions were good.

And, usually, the one behind his killing was a human who turned out to be “the real monster.” Certainly Anderson fits that bill, as this week’s episode sets him up as one of the big bads for the rest of the season.