Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Superman & Lois Season 3 episode "The Dress." Read at your own risk!
Superman & Lois Season 3 has been a gauntlet for its main characters, as each wrestles with some big issues in their life. Lois and Clark are navigating treating her breast cancer diagnosis, all while trying to uncover how Bruno Mannheim is connected to the dangerous happenings around town. John Henry Irons is also intent on bringing Mannheim to justice, but a dark moment in "The Dress" had Clark wondering if his ally might've lost his way.
When John Henry Irons refused to let Bruno Mannheim see his dying wife Peia, who Superman & Lois recently revealed as the villain Onomatopoeia, Mannheim attempted to have Irons killed. He reactivated the meta-human Henry Miller, who he brought back to life using his experimental serum that seemingly cheats death.
Miller caught John off-guard and without his suit, which made him easy pickings for the physically superior metahuman. Fortunately for John, he was able to access his hammer remotely, and before Clark could step in and intervene, John killed Miller with a blow from the hammer as he rushed him.
Clark was shocked to see John take such drastic measures, while John maintained he had no choice but to kill Miller. The Man of Steel informed his friend that there's "always a choice," and it seemed like there was some tension between the two allies. Actor Wolé Parks spoke to TVLine about the scene and shared his perspective on John's decision:
I’m biased towards my character, but I understood what [John] was saying. One of Superman’s greatest strengths, but also his greatest weakness, is that he only sees the good in people. In that situation, it’s really easy for Superman to say John had a choice. I’m like, 'Dude, you have superpowers. You’re invincible! This guy broke into my house and was beating me up, throwing me into walls and was going to kill me.' In my mind, John didn’t think he had a choice, especially combined with Natalie getting attacked earlier in the episode. It’s easy to talk from a high horse when you’re invulnerable.
Superman & Lois Season 3 already exposed how Clark's classic optimism can be a weakness, and Wolé Parks might've exposed another flaw in Superman's character. It's very easy for someone in his position to make the decision not to kill. John Henry Irons, however, could've died or been seriously injured had he not taken his chance to take out Henry Miller. Superman could've taken many punches trying to pacify Miller, while an unarmored John could've taken maybe two if he was lucky.
It will be interesting to see if Clark keeps that same stance if Bruno Mannheim somehow reactivates Bizarro after stealing his body. We saw in the previous season and know enough about Bizarro in the comics to know he could easily take out Clark should he be manipulated into doing so. Perhaps his lecture for John Henry Irons was done to lay the groundwork to set him up for a similar situation later on.
There's so much drama building on Superman & Lois, and we still have yet to see Michael Cudlitz's debut as Lex Luthor. We'll just have to keep tuning in for new episodes on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET and maybe checking out some of the other shows on the 2023 TV schedule to see what else is popping up as summer approaches.
