Warning! The Following Contains Major SPOILERS for Superman & Lois Season 4.One of the Man of Steel’s deadliest and most formidable enemies will appear in the final season of Superman & Lois. Near the conclusion of the Season 4 premiere, which is titled “The End & the Beginning,” just after Doomsday returns to Earth dragging Kal-El’s (Tyler Hoechlin) lifeless body through the street, Amanda McCoy (Yvonne Chapman) hands Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) a lighted box. “Not much to look at,” Amanda says. “But Milton assured me it would work.” And Milton, aka Milton Fine, is another name for the Last Son of Krypton’s nemesis, Brainiac. S&L co-showrunner Brent Fletcher elaborated on the exciting revelation in an interview with ComicBook.com:
“Considering what we needed for our story, when the opportunity presented itself to use Milton, it worked out great. This is a completely different version of this guy, so that was exciting. We always like to tell our own version of [the story], and it ends up being pretty fun.”
The character of Brainiac dates back to the Silver Age of comic books when the Superman villain first appeared in the pages of Action Comics No. 242 (1958), and the brainy baddie appeared on the cover in his original, green-skinned form. Through the years, Brainiac has evolved significantly, particularly in the way he is visually represented.
For example, the Milton Fine-possessed version of Brainiac wasn’t introduced until a full 30 years later in the Adventures of Superman No. 438, which followed on the heels of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths saga. However, while the villain’s imminent arrival is an extremely intriguing development, a beloved character has been brutally killed during “The End & the Beginning.”
The Death of Superman
The lethal battle with Doomsday ends in Clark/Kal-El’s (Hoechlin) bloodied and battered demise. However, the Last Son of Krypton’s death doesn’t unfold quite the same as it does in the comic book storyline, which appeared in the panels of DC’s Superman: Man of Steel, Superman, Adventures of Superman and Action Comics titles published back in late 1992 and January of ’93. But one of the more graphic twists on the classic tale in S&L is that Doomsday rips Superman’s heart out of his chest and gives it to Lex Luthor (Cudlitz). And Todd Helbing discusses killing the Man of Steel during the very first episode of Superman & Lois Season 4 in a brand-new interview with TV Insider:
“It felt like the right story to tell. Like always, we sort of get inspiration from the comics and these iconic runs, and we just wanted to put our Superman & Lois little spin on it. We have the advantage of having 43 hours of people becoming invested in our characters, so we felt like we could do the storyline justice and also tell it in a fresh new way and make it as emotionally impactful as possible.
There’s a lot of freedom when you know that it’s the last season. So our philosophy going into it was just to cram as much story and have as many twists and turns and emotional punches as we can for the last season and hopefully pay back the fans for sticking with us for this whole time.”
Related
Superman & Lois Was Originally Planned for 7 Seasons
The Superman & Lois showrunners wanted the series to run for seven seasons before it was canceled.
The CW’s President of Entertainment, Brad Schwartz, teased that Superman & Lois’ final episodes would be “f—ing awesome,” and the first two installments definitely delivered. In the second episode of the Season 4 premiere, which is titled “A World Without,” Clark Kent’s wife, Lois (Bitsie Tulloch), and his sons Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jon (Michael Bishop) are left with more than just the memory of Superman. Rather, Kal-El had the foresight to create an interactive hologram of himself for the family to visit and interact with during their visits to the Fortress of Solitude. “I’ll always be here at the fortress to help however I can,” Superman’s hologram says, as his grieving family looks on. “But out there, it’s just going to have to be the three of you.” And it’s that somber note in which the two-episode premiere ends on.
Watch new episodes of Superman & Lois on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW and stream for free on The CW’s app and website the following day. Episode 3, which is titled “Always My Hero,” is up next on October 14, while the series finale closes out the season-long Superman swan song on December 2.
Based on the characters from DC Comics, Superman & Lois follows Clark Kent and Lois Lane, attempting to live a quiet life in Smallville with their twin sons Jonathan and Jordan. Unfortunately for the couple, their lives continue to be effected by Clark’s superhero identity and powers. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch star as Clark and Lois, with Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin portraying the couple’s sons.
- Release Date
- February 23, 2021
- Network
- The CW