Superman & Lois Premiere Features the Live-Action Debut of Fan-Favorite DC Villain

The season 3 premiere of Superman & Lois kicked off with a bang…almost quite literally. The episode featured the live-action debut of Onomatopoeia, a supervillain created by indie film icon Kevin Smith and fan-favorite comics artist Phil Hester. The character, who debuted during Smith and Hester’s run on Green Arrow, is one fans have been waiting to see in live action for years now. In the comics, Onomatopeia is a serial killer. He targets non-powered, costumed superheroes and speaks in comic book-style sound effects, which raised questions as to how such a character would be adapted to live-action. It seems Superman & Lois‘s producers think the have cracked the code.

We didn’t learn much about the character in this episode, aside from the fact that Onomatopoeia is working with Bruno Mannheim and Intergang. And yes, in a move that might surprise some longtime DC TV fans, the character’s look is pretty comics-accurate, with his mask being even more creepy in live action.

“It’s cool [to introduce this character], but that wasn’t the reason why we chose it,” executive producer Todd Helbing told ComicBook.com. “Jai Jameson, one of the writers on staff — and he directed one of the episodes this season — pitched Onomatopoeia very early season one, and it’s a villain where you’re like ‘How do we translate that to television?’ Right? We didn’t have a firm grap on it right away. It took a while, but it percolated in all our minds. And then when we got to this season, it seemed to fit perfectly with what we wanted to do.”

“Especially as it unpacks, I think you’ll find there’s more depth to that character than maybe it initially presents,” executive producer Bernt Fletcher added. “And it’s part of the story that we’re trying to tell. We have a definite story flow, and a definite theme that we’re  doing for the whole season, and we wanted everything to kind of feed into that. We felt like this character really worked well with the ensemble that we’re building.”

“So we certainly hope Kevin [Smith] enjoys it,” added Helbing.

“Well this is a huge surprise!” Smith told ComicBook.com. “My Green Arrow villain, that I’ve mostly successfully kept from being used without my involvement for decades, is now being used without my involvement. I hope Phil Hester and I have a ‘created by’ credit somewhere on the show. And if the character continues, I hope that they at least call me to direct an episode with Onomatopoeia in it. Because I have been know to direct stuff from time to time. Not well, mind you, but still.” 

Are you excited to see Onomatopoeia finally come to live-action? Expect to see more of the character next week, when Superman & Lois airs the second episode of the new season on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.