Superman & Lois: More Details About The Stranger Revealed in “Heritage”

Last week’s series premiere of Superman & Lois ended with a stunning reveal. The mysterious armored Stranger (Wole Parks) that had been antagonizing Superman throughout the episode was revealed — at least by name — to be someone named “Captain Luthor”. It was a revelation that set off lots of speculation among fans, but tonight’s episode, “Heritage”, gave fans a bit more information about this mysterious threat and exactly why he knows so much about Clark (Tyler Hoechlin).

Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of Superman & Lois, “Heritage”, below.

Through the episode, more about Captain Luthor is revealed. We find out that his armored suit is low on power and his ship isn’t in the best condition, but we also find out that he’s from another world. It’s not exactly clear if he’s from another planet or another Earth, but the latter appears to be the most likely. We also learn that on his world, Kal-El wasn’t a hero. He was a villain and a threat, one that ultimately destroyed the whole world. In “Heritage”, Captain Luthor ends up face to face with General Lane (Dylan Walsh) and Luthor seems to know him — he refers to him by his first name, Sam, as he tries to convince the general that Superman is a threat that has to be stopped.

While it seems a little odd, we soon discover why. A flashback shows Captain Luthor serving in the military with that world’s General Lane, who is apparently cut down by the evil, black-suited Kal-El of that world right in front of Luthor. The reveal sheds a lot of light on Luthor’s motivations, which is something that showrunner Todd Helbing himself previously teased.

“What Jon Cryer does on Supergirl is awesome and I think the way they presented this version of Lex Luthor is fantastic, and we wanted to present a villain or an adversary to Superman at the beginning that just felt different and threatening, but could also lead us in ways that you can’t necessarily go with like a Jon Cryer version of it,” Helbing told Entertainment Weekly. “So, all I’ll really say is you’re really going to get this guy’s backstory, where he’s from, what he’s like, where he comes from, his professional life, his personal life. You’re gonna get to know why he’s going after Superman. Once you understand his motivation, it’s like what Wole said at TCAs: it’s like every villain is the hero of their own story. It’s true. once you start to understand who this guy is and what his motivations are, I think people are going to look at him differently.”

Where do you think Captain Luthor is from? Let us know in the comments.

Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.