Superman & Lois Casts The Orville Star as Season 3 Villain

Superman & Lois has reportedly cast The Orville star Chad L. Coleman as a major villain for Season 3 of The CW series. According to The Direct, during the “Arrow Guests: Saving Star City” panel at DragonCon on Saturday, David Ramsey — who plays John Diggle across the network’s DC series and has directed episodes of Superman & Lois as well — confirmed that Coleman will be appearing next season as a major villain. Ramsey did not confirm exactly which villain the actor will portray or any specific plot details.

For fans of The CW series, it may not be too difficult to guess which villain Coleman may be playing. The Season 2 finale set up for the next big bad in the series, with one of the final scenes of the episode seeing John Henry Irons (Wole Parks) meeting with Diggle at Smallville’s diner after they had previously interreacted when ARGUS was involved in previous events in the small town. Diggle confronted John Henry about one particular person, Bruno Manheim, who is involved with a wide variety of illegal activities and suggested that Manheim may well have been responsible for the death of this Earth’s version of John Henry, who had died under mysterious circumstances years ago.

Coleman’s casting is just the latest update about Superman & Lois. The series experienced a bit of a shakeup last month when it was announced that Jonathan Kent actor Jordan Elsass would not be returning to the series for Season 3 with the actor not reporting back to Vancouver where the series films by a deadline set by the studio. Elsass later opened up in a Cameo recorded for a fan, indicating that he is putting his mental health as a priority and may be leaving the acting profession altogether.

“It’s been a tough few weeks, as you might imagine, with everything going on with the show,” Elsass said in the video. “It’s sad, it’s a real shame. I know that I was pumped for Season 3, for sure, but what are you going to do? Anyway, mental health is definitely 100 percent priority. It’s pinnacle. It’s got to take precedence. And mine has been … the last couple of years … it’s been rough.”

He continued, “I need some time to myself. I’m still debating whether I’m even going to act for a while. I may go in a different direction. I know that’s definitely going to be disappointing to some people.”

Warner Bros. Television has indicated that the Jonathan Kent role will be recast, though no announcements as to who will be taking on the character have yet been announced.

Superman & Lois is expected to return for Season 3 on The CW in 2023.