Spoilers "Superman & Lois": The Fourth and Final Season

[The Realist]

It may be a little early, but I'm gonna go ahead and start this thing. We have this pretty cool new promo image, and apparently a trailer may be incoming shortly.

 

[USS Firefly]

Cool poster!
I can't wait

 

[The Realist]

It is a cool poster, though I have to question the wisdom of going down the "Death of Superman" road considering the show's present circumstances. (The blurb accompanying the tweet was, "What is a world without Superman?") It's not like the show's co-lead would stay "dead" long in any event, but with only ten episodes this season, will he be resurrected before the premiere's second act? Just seems like they don't have time to do it any real justice.

But maybe I underestimate the creativity of the writers and showrunners, who have given me plenty of reason to have faith in them.

 

[theenglish]

I am going to guess that Clark will appear by the end of the first episode, then spend the next 8 episode depowered before getting them back at the end of episode 9.

 

[Christopher]

Didn't they already do a "Death of Superman" riff in season 2, when he was stuck on Bizarro World? For that matter, the whole series has kind of grown out of that one story arc, since we've got John Henry Irons as a regular (or used to) and the Eradicator figured in season 1.

 

[theenglish]

We've got a Superboy--but no Cyborg Superman yet. Which may be the plot of the season?

 

[Tosk]

I am going to guess that Clark will appear by the end of the first episode, then spend the next 8 episode depowered before getting them back at the end of episode 9.

That was my first thought too. A way of further stretching the budget.

The de-powered hero is usually one of my least fave plots, but in the case of S&L I actually wouldn't mind it. The vast majority of best Kal moments in the show come via Clark rather than Superman.

 

[Christopher]

I hope they don't go that route. One of my main issues with the show is that it doesn't let Superman be Superman enough. My favorite parts of Superman stories are the rescue scenes. Superman should get to save people and make a positive difference. But the demands of season-arc serialization mean that he usually loses over and over again until the finale -- and in the most recent case, he didn't even get to win in the finale.

And budget shouldn't be a factor there. Multiple previous Superman and Superboy series have gotten by without a fraction of the FX technology S&L has at its disposal, by focusing on Superman's cleverness and his compassion rather than just his superpowers. You can get great character moments from Clark being Superman as well as Clark being Clark.

 

[The Realist]

Okay, so apparently all we get today is a trailer for the trailer. (This is our world now. ) Still, what little there is looks pretty cool. Luthor's line is the most Luthor S&L's version has sounded yet.

 

[Tuskin38]

I was going to say Saturday is an odd day for a trailer, but Comic-Con is still going that day, is there a Panel that day that would premier it first?

Edit: Yes

 

[Samurai8472]

Okay, so apparently all we get today is a trailer for the trailer. (This is our world now. ) Still, what little there is looks pretty cool. Luthor's line is the most Luthor S&L's version has sounded yet.

Now the teaser for the trailer is out

 

[The Realist]

Looks heartbreaking, intense, exciting. Cannot wait.

Thanks for posting!

 

[Drunk Superman]

I hope Clark isn’t dead for long. It’s a short season.

 

[Christopher]

Confirms my worst fears. I was really hoping they wouldn't do a second "Death of Superman" riff. I like this show least when it goes dark and depressing, which is not what I want in a Superman show. I like it most when it focuses on the chemistry between Clark and Lois, which we can't have if they're not together. Hopefully the stuff in the trailer is just from the first episode or two, but there are things suggesting a longer arc.

Incidentally, I think my favorite thing about the recent TrekBBS software upgrade is that we can finally enlarge embedded videos to full screen without having to hit "Watch on YouTube."

 

[The Realist]

I can't imagine Clark will stay "dead" for long, especially given the reduced episode count. I was skeptical about the wisdom of them going there at all for that reason, but it looks like they're going to milk it for all it's worth. This show has rarely let me down, and I think this looks like great stuff.

 

[Christopher]

I can't imagine Clark will stay "dead" for long, especially given the reduced episode count. I was skeptical about the wisdom of them going there at all for that reason, but it looks like they're going to milk it for all it's worth.

That's part of why I was hoping it wouldn't go there. The show's called Superman and Lois. It's supposed to be about the two of them together.

I assume that Hoechlin won't actually be absent, that if this is more than one episode, they'll probably reveal Clark alive at the end of the season premiere but they'll contrive some way to keep everyone else from finding out he's alive. I wouldn't be surprised if they went the amnesia route like the classic George Reeves episode "Panic in the Sky," or the less classic radio storyline where Clark got amnesia due to kryptonite and ended up becoming a baseball star. (And when Lois and Jimmy went to interview this new baseball sensation, they saw him without glasses, talking in his Superman voice, and pitching with superhuman speed and strength, and immediately recognized him... as Clark Kent! Huh?)

This show has rarely let me down, and I think this looks like great stuff.

This show has definitely let me down on occasion -- the second season was pretty bad, and though most of the third season was excellent, they fumbled the landing by ending the Mannheim arc prematurely and starting a new storyline that wasn't remotely as good or interesting. Unfortunately, season 4 will evidently continue that storyline, which is not surprising but not encouraging.

 

[The Realist]

I choose to be more optimistic than you. I haven't been wowed by this version of Luthor so far, but it's early days. These showrunners have given me many more reasons to trust them than not.

Re: your earlier comment about the show being "dark and depressing" -- I adore this series, but I'll readily admit my preference is for Superman stories with more light and humor. (The first four seasons of Supergirl are pretty much my tonal sweet spot for a Super-show -- dramatic and emotional at times, but also funny and warm and bright, and bursting with charm and optimism.) So it isn't necessarily the show I would have made. But it's been very true to its own creative choices, and its darker moments have felt organic and earned, not arbitrarily imposed for the sake of some superficial "edge." The characters have remarkable depth and humanity, and Tulloch has given us the all-time best live-action Lois, and Hoechlin a top-three Clark (the best in decades). I think the show has overall been a triumph, and has done it very much on its own unique terms. I have high hopes and anticipation that this final season will only cement the series' stellar place in the legacy and legend of these characters.

 

[Sketcher]

It would be a ballsy move if, contrary to every other Death of Superman story, they keep him dead, and Clark only appears in flashbacks through the other characters' eyes.

 

[Christopher]

I choose to be more optimistic than you. I haven't been wowed by this version of Luthor so far, but it's early days. These showrunners have given me many more reasons to trust them than not.

So far I've been completely uninterested in this "Evil Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters" version of Luthor, and the trailer just looks like more of the same. Jon Cryer's Luthor was as perfect an embodiment of the comics' Luthor as I've ever seen in live action, but this guy is just a generic violent mobster. Luthor is more than just a bald head.

Re: your earlier comment about the show being "dark and depressing" -- I adore this series, but I'll readily admit my preference is for Superman stories with more light and humor. (The first four seasons of Supergirl are pretty much my tonal sweet spot for a Super-show -- dramatic and emotional at times, but also funny and warm and bright, and bursting with charm and optimism.) So it isn't necessarily the show I would have made.

Agree completely. I wanted a show about that Clark and Lois in that universe. That doesn't invalidate the good stuff S&L has done, but there's a lot of stuff I regret not getting to see, like a real confrontation between Hoechlin's Superman and Cryer's Luthor, or Supergirl visiting Superman's show (there could've been some interesting conversations about secret identities once Kara outed herself), or more League team-ups, or wrap-ups of some dangling Arrowverse threads like what happened to the Legends.

But it's been very true to its own creative choices, and its darker moments have felt organic and earned, not arbitrarily imposed for the sake of some superficial "edge."

In some cases, yes. In other cases, it did feel to me like they were trying to be Snyderesque for its own sake and making things grittier than they needed to be. Heck, that's been a pervasive issue with the cinematography and color timing throughout.

The characters have remarkable depth and humanity, and Tulloch has given us the all-time best live-action Lois, and Hoechlin a top-three Clark (the best in decades).

Oh, absolutely, but that's why I wish the writing had been more consistent, worthier of them. And it's why I wanted to see more of the Clark I knew from the Arrowverse and had grown attached to, and more of his relationships with Kara, J'onn, and the other heroes.

I think the show has overall been a triumph, and has done it very much on its own unique terms. I have high hopes and anticipation that this final season will only cement the series' stellar place in the legacy and legend of these characters.

I think season 3 was a triumph until they cut it short and started this unappealing Luthor/Doomsday storyline, and season 1 was good, but season 2 was a disappointing mess. That's why I'm worried -- the show's been too uneven for me to expect the best. I hope season 4 is good, but it's a continuation of something that I did not enjoy the start of, and the trailer, as I said, reinforces my worst fears about its emphasis. I just hope that, like many trailers, it's misleading or focused mainly on the first part of the story.

 

[The Realist]

there's a lot of stuff I regret not getting to see, like a real confrontation between Hoechlin's Superman and Cryer's Luthor or Supergirl visiting Superman's show (there could've been some interesting conversations about secret identities once Kara outed herself), or more League team-ups, or wrap-ups of some dangling Arrowverse threads like what happened to the Legends.

Very much the first, and progressively less so the further down the list you go. I personally prefer Superman stories to stick with him and his family of characters, and not bring in other DC players.

Heck, that's been a pervasive issue with the cinematography and color timing throughout.

Have to agree with this. I dislike the modern idea that it's inherently artful to leach all the color and light from a show/movie. I'm hoping to God James Gunn lets his new Superman suit look as vivid and colorful on screen as it does in location photos.

or focused mainly on the first part of the story.

Likely this. Probably everything in that trailer is from the first episode -- or maybe the first two, since they're showing those back-to-back as a "two-hour premiere."