Although the main Arrowverse continuity wrapped up in 2023 with the conclusion of The Flash, there is a holdover tied to The CW franchise that’s still airing. Superman & Lois premiered on February 23, 2021, and while it was originally believed to take place in the same universe as The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Supergirl and Black Lightning (those last two being post-Crisis retcons), the Season 2 finale revealed this show actually took place in a different reality. Nevertheless, S&L collected a lot of fans over its first three seasons, and they can look forward to a fourth season airing on their small screens.
So what’s on the docket for Superman & Lois Season 4? That’s what we’re here to go over, as a decent amount of information has been shared with the public about what’s in store for this next batch of episodes.
What Is Superman & Lois Season 4’s Premiere Date?
It was reported by outlets like THR in June 2023 that Superman & Lois Season 4 was moving forward. However, at the time of this writing, an official premiere date hasn’t been announced yet. Like so many film and TV show productions in Hollywood, the show has been impacted by the 2023 writers and actors strikes. While the former has concluded, meaning that the writers (more on them later) can finally start crafting Season 4’s story, obviously shooting can’t begin until the actors are back at work.
Perry Sook, CEO of Nextstar Media Group, the company that now controls The CW, discussed the program and more during a quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts that took place in August 2023 (via Deadline). The exec stated that the longer these strikes went on, Superman & Lois, as well as fellow renewed series All American, All American: Homecoming and Walker, would “get pushed further and further into 2024.” Then the following October, THR stated that the earliest S&L Season 4 would premiere is sometime in summer 2024 “to allow time for visual effects work.”
The Core Superman & Lois Cast Will Return
You can’t have Superman & Lois without its titular two protagonists, so naturally, Tyler Hoechlin and Elisabeth Tulloch will respectively reprise Clark Kent/Kal-El and Lois Lane in the new episodes. The two actors originally played the main Arrowverse’s versions of Clark and Lois, most notably in the "Elseworlds" and "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossovers, but now, they keep busy the days playing these other versions of the characters.
It would also be weird if the drama series continued but the main protagonists’ sons weren’t around anymore. Well, fans don’t have to worry about that either, as Alex Gavin and Michael Bishop will be back as twin brothers Jordan and Jonathan, respectively. Bishop took over as Jonathan in Season 3 following Jordan Elsass’ departure after Season 2.
Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor Has Been Upgraded To Series Regular
Michael Cudlitz debuted as Lex Luthor in Superman & Lois Season 3’s penultimate episode, with this version of the longtime comic book villain being freed from prison after 17 years following the discovery that he’d been framed by for the murder of Boss Moxie by Bruno and Peia Mannheim. Luthor didn’t waste anytime enacting his revenge plan not just on Superman (which we’ll talk more about in the next section), but also on Lois, whose reporting on this crime played a big role in him being thrown behind bars.
So much groundwork was laid for Lex Luthor in the final chunk of Season 3 that it would’ve been weird if he hadn’t returned for Season 4. Fortunately, not only will that not be the case, but Michael Cudlitz will be a series regular alongside Hoechlin, Tulloch, Garfin and Bishop.
Season 4 Will Resolve The Doomsday Fight
In Superman & Lois Season 2, a character fans initially thought was Doomsday because of the bodysuit he was wearing actually ended up being the Supes from the Inverse World, i.e. this show’s version of Bizarro. This version of the Man of Steel was killed by Mitch Anderson when he was juiced up on X-Kryptonite, but Intergang later stole his corpse on Bruno Mannheim’s orders and managed to revive him. After Mannheim’s incarceration, this now-feral Bizarro was found by Luthor and captured yet again, and the bald antagonist learned that each time he killed the creature with X-kryptonite weapons, it would keep evolving into something that became even harder to kill.
The result was, ironically, the creation of Doomsday, whom Luthor sent to kill the main Superman as revenge for all the times the Man of Steel had interfered in his criminal pursuits. The battle became so intense that Doomsday carried an unconscious Kal-El out into space, but the hero woke up in the nick of time and managed to get them onto the Moon by the end of Superman & Lois Season 3. Needless to say, this fight will be resolved at the start of Season 4, though what’s unclear is if Doomsday will continue to appear or if he’ll be permanently defeated.
Season 4’s Budget Has Been Significantly Trimmed Down
Remember when I said that Nextstar now controls The CW. Well, the change in ownership resulted in a major overhaul that, as also previously mentioned, resulted in all but four of the network’s originals being cancelled as The CW starts pivoting to more unscripted shows, syndicated content and other cheaper programming. But those remaining shows aren’t escaping entirely unscathed either, as they’ve had their budgets significantly trimmed down. This resulted in the writers room being cut down to just five people rather than eight, according to Deadline, but the audience will notice the smaller budget reflected in more noticeable ways.
Season 4 Will Have A Much Smaller Main Cast
Shortly after Superman & Lois’ Season 4 renewal was announced, Leslie Borque Walsh posted on Instagram that her husband Dylan Walsh’s character, Sam Lane, had been cut from the main cast due to “budget.” A day later, Deadline reported that six more actors were cut from the main cast: Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck and Sofia Hasmik. A few weeks later, Navarrette shared on TikTok that she and some of her casemates are set to appear in three Season 4 episodes as guest stars, but it’s unclear which other actors will return and which ones won’t be.
Season 4 Has Fewer Episodes Compared To The Previous Seasons
Superman & Lois’ first two seasons consisted of 15 episodes each, whereas Season 3 consisted of 13 episodes. Because of the budget cuts, Season 4 will consist of just 10 episodes, making it one of the shortest seasons for a CW show ever. Still, that will ideally be enough time to accomplish the final item on this list.
The Show Is Ending With Season 4
On November 2, 2023, The CW announced that Superman & Lois was ending with Season 4, though this move wasn’t entirely surprising. Along with the budget reduction, The CW’s been drastically changing the kind of content it offers following the Nexstar acquisition, which includes moving away from scripted shows and delivering more unscripted programming, sports and shows acquired from other sources. Additionally, the new DC Universe franchise is launching in the next few years, and all the shows tied to that continuity are available exclusively to Max subscribers. So the chances of this show continuing into Season 5 were slim, but at least the writers have enough time to craft a definitive ending rather than leave fans with any unresolved plot threads due to a sudden cancellation.
So with the beloved show ending, we’ve reached the end of an era, as this will officially mark the end of the Arrowverse. Still, there’s plenty left to be revealed about final outing, so we here at CinemaBlend will let you know when more details about Superman & Lois Season 4 are shared.
