Superman & Lois: Easter Eggs and DC References in the Pilot

The Arrowverse expanded in a big way with Superman & Lois, a new series that features Supergirl and Crisis on Infinite Earths veterans Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch in the title roles. In the show, Superman and his family move to Smallville, after Martha Kent passes away and Clark is fired from the Daily Planet. The series is kind of the Arrowverse by way of Everwood, and has a distinctly rural flavor, as opposed to the urban feel of all the other Arrowverse shows. Along the way, though, they managed to cram in bunches of Easter eggs — and that’s even above and beyond the introduction of characters like Jonathan Kent, making his live-action debut on the series.

Throughout the episode, there were shout-outs to other versions of the Superman mythology onscreen and in the comics, and it’s always fun to take a look for these…

…but even more fun becuase this time, after ours, we have an “official” Easter egg list that came out just as we were preparing to publish this story. So anything we might have missed should be picked up at the end.

You can see what we caught — and let us know if we missed anything huge — below.

Echoes of ‘Man of Steel’

The Kryptonian ship — both in the way it melts away when the baby lands, and in the way it interacts with Jordan when he touches its surface, has visual echoes of Man of Steel. So, too, does the ice cavern where Superman and Lois hug and then float into the sky. 

Lee Toland Krieger, who directed this episode and the next, is a really stylized director, having filmed the pilot for Riverdale and much of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina during his time in Vancouver. He brought a very cinematic flair to the show, and between the color palette and the epic shots, it can’t help but feel like there’s some overlap with Man of Steel.

Clark’s flashback jacket

Red plaid is pretty much omnipresent in modern iterations of Clark Kent, but the jacket worn by teenage Clark definitely evokes the fleece jacket he wore in Superman: The Movie and the extremely similar one he wore in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 

The Fleischer Costume

The costume seen in an early scene — the one where Clark is rescuing a falling PT Cruiser in an obvious homage to the cover of Action Comics #1 — isn’t the Golden Age Superman costumer from the comics, but rather the costume he wore in the Fleischer cartoons of the ’40s.

His comment that “my mom made it!” was likely a nod to the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman stories of the comics, where his costume was designed by Jonathan Kent and sewn by Martha, as opposed to being something passed down from Krypton. A variation on that line made it into the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman pilot, since that show was heavily influenced by the post-Crisis era.

The first meeting

Lois’s wardrobe, Clark’s stammering, and the general vibe of the first meeting between Clark and Lois has a very Richard Donner’s Superman feel to it. Aside from the visual aesthetic matching Zack Snyder and the tone being pretty Arrowverse-friendly, there’s a ton of Donner here, just as there was in the early episodes of Supergirl. 

Clark’s chalkboard

Just about everything on the chalkboard at Lois and Clark’s house is an in-joke. There’s “Dr. Donner,” a reference to Richard Donner, who directed Superman: The Movie, at the top. On the bottom, “Reschedule with Dr. Reeve,” a reference to Christopher Reeve, who starred in that film. In between them? “Call Siegel & Shuster,” referencing Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman.

Ace Chemical

In one of the news clips on the Daily Planet TV monitors, Superman is with a crisis at Ace Chemical. In recent years, Ace Chemical — where The Joker and Harley Quinn were born — has appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Shazam!, among other movie, TV, and video game projects.

Ron Troupe

In the Daily Planet scene, we see that Ron Troupe is being laid off. Troupe, a creation of Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett, was the most notable person of color on the Daily Planet staff and came in to replace Clark Kent when he was missing following Superman’s battle with Doomsday.

Superman III

If that bit with using his super-breath to make an iceberg so he can cool things down felt a little bit familiar to you…well…!

Smallville water tower

While it’s far from the only direct reference to Smallville, the Smallville water tower seen in one flashback has the name of the town painted on it in a way that looks just like the logo of the old CW series.

…Was that a Shazam! Joke?

When Superman is falling helplessly from the atmosphere, only to wake up at the last moment and brace himself with his hands over the hood of a car, it felt very reminiscent of a similar scene in Shazam!.

…and in case we missed anything…

…The Superman Twitter account did some for us!