Superman & Lois debuted Tuesday night on The CW with a special extended pilot presentation. Starring Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, the series follows one of the most iconic couples in comics on a new adventure: that of busy working parents trying to balance the responsibilities of work and family along with the extra challenge of Clark being Superman. The series also takes the action from Metropolis back to Smallville, bringing into the picture various characters from the larger Superman story into play including Lana Lang, played by Emmanuelle Chriqui.
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While the episode is not exactly an origin story — both Superman and Lois have appeared in the Arrowverse before, most recently in 2019’s crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths” — the episode sets the stage for not only Lois and Clark’s life until now, but also shows why the family returns to Smallville — and some of the new challenges that will offer.
Miss out on seeing the series premiere of Superman & Lois? Here are the major plot points for the series premiere, but warning: full spoilers for the episode beyond this point. Read on only if you want to know.
A mysterious threat
After a charming opening montage of Clark’s life — including a nice homage to Action Comics #1 — Superman responds to an imminent meltdown at a nuclear power plant. He manages to stop the catastrophic meltdown at the very last moment but reveals to General Lane that the issue was deliberately created — and matches to something that happened recently at another nuclear power plant. This comes up again later when General Lane reveals they found a message written in Kryptonian and meant for Superman at the scene of one of the near-catastrophes. The message refers to him by his birth name of Kal-El.
Family life and Metropolis
Lois and Clark are busy juggling their lives in Metropolis, particularly the challenges of their sons. Jonathan is a star athlete while Jordan has anxiety issues. Lois wants to tell the boys about their Kryptonian heritage, but Clark does not. Clark is also struggling to relate to Jordan and be a father more generally.
At work, things aren’t great either. Morgan Edge has bought the Daily Planet and is cutting staff left and right. Clark ends up being one of those cuts, something he finds out at the same time he gets a call that his mother is gravely ill.
Smallville
Martha Kent dies from a stroke, prompting Lois and Clark to bring their boys to a dying Smallville for her funeral. While there, Jordan reconnects with Sarah Cushing, daughter of Lana Lang and Kyle Cushing. Lois and Clark have a tense conversation with Lana and Kyle in which it’s revealed that Morgan Edge is also trying to buy the coal mine in town, presumably to convert it to alternate energy sources. An accident happens in the barn, but both Kent boys are mysteriously unhurt.
Lois and Clark also later find out that Martha had taken out a reverse mortgage on her home to use the money to help neighbors in need as well as put together a college fund for the twins. In order to keep the farm, Lois and Clark will have to pay the mortgage otherwise, the bank will buy the house.
Questions and the truth
After the incident in the barn, Jordan has major questions about how they walked away unharmed and go snooping in the barn where they find Clark’s arrival pod. They confront Clark who admits to them the truth: he’s Kryptonian, he’s Superman, and they might have powers. They’re upset about this, especially Jordan after he realizes that his parents think his brother has the powers. Jordan later goes to a party with Sarah that gets a bit out of control when he kisses her and angers her boyfriend. A fight ensues, Jonathan comes to help his brother, but it’s Jordan who ends things when his heat vision causes the bonfire to explode.
Tough choices and family things
Lois discovers that Morgan Edge bought the Smallville bank a few years ago, something that surprises Lana. Clark and Lois decide that they need to move to Smallville and save the family farm. When they discover that it’s Jordan who has the Kryptonian powers, Clark vows to be there for his son, something that he’s been not so great about up until now.
A villain revealed
Superman heads off to another issue at another nuclear power plant and discovers that the person responsible for things has lured him there. The pair fight and it’s evident that this stranger knows a lot about Superman. He also claims his own world was destroyed as was Krypton. He tries to kill Superman by stabbing him with a shard of Kryptonite, but Superman is able to pull it out and save himself at the last minute.
At the end of the episode, this stranger returns to his ship/base where his A.I. greets him as “Captain Luthor.”
