Superman & Lois Showrunner Confirms That Season 2 Premiere Villain Tease

Superman & Lois returned for its second season last week and while the Man of Steel and his family will be facing quite a few challenges in The CW series' sophomore season, there's also a deadly and iconic villain coming to Smallville as well and now series showrunner Todd Helbing confirms that if you thought the final scene of the premiere was teasing Doomsday, you're right. Helbing confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the scene was the show's take on a classic Doomsday comic book cover and that the full reveal of the villain is coming sooner than you might expect.

In the episode, Smallville is struck by a strange earthquake coming from the nearby mines. Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) arrives to help but discovers that he's not the only person there. Lt. Mitch Anderson (Ian Bohen) has sent officers from his Supermen of America program—and Superman is having some issues with his powers as well. Superman leaves to confront Anderson, but it's not the last we'll see of the mines in the episode. The episode ends with a spike-covered hand bursting through the walls of the mine—our first tease of Doomsday.

"That is our homage to a classic Doomsday cover," Helbing said. "Then in episode 2, you're going to see him a little bit more. In episode 3, you'll get the full reveal."

There's so much lore and mythology in the Superman universe that we feel it's our obligation to tell a unique story," Helbing continued. "We take inspirations from the comics as much as possible, and then we try to twist it. We did the same thing here."

Doomsday was first introduced in comics in 1992 and is a nearly indestructible Kryptonian who actually killed Superman in the infamous Death of Superman story arc. The character's upcoming appearance in Superman & Lois isn't the first time he's been utilized in live-action television, either. Doomsday was the primary antagonist in Season 8 of Smallville and, more recently, Doomsday appeared in Krypton. That version was a super-weapon created by the Zods and the Els and kept in a cryogenic stasis to keep him from destroying Kandor.

Doomsday being a major threat in Season 2 lines up with something Helbing said ahead of the season premiere about fans being able to tell pretty quickly about what direction the new season would be heading.

"The fans are going to know the path we are going down really quickly," Helbing said. "In a really good way, the Superman issue he has is driving the issues he has as a dad. This is a particular villain, the more I talk about the more people are going to figure out who it is. But Superman is dealing with an enemy that is going to be a massive headache for him."

Helbing continued, "There are multiple villains, really. Both villains affect Clark and Lois personally. We start out with one villain that is really more Superman, while setting up the Lois villain. They are not working together, but they hand off in a cool way this season. One of them comes to the forefront and, in a lot of ways, is more powerful than the other one. It will take the whole team, in a different way than last year, to stop this person."

Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.