The series finale of Superman & Lois is set to honor the legacy of the Arrowverse, even as the show moves beyond it. Although the season 2 finale made it clear that the show is no longer part of the Arrowverse, the creators and star Tyler Hoechlin emphasize that the finale will pay homage to the shared universe of DC Comics dramas that ran for over a decade on the CW.
The final, shortened season of Superman & Lois premieres Monday with a two-hour special, kicking off the last eight episodes. Once the season concludes, it will mark the end of an era, as the CW will no longer have any superhero shows on the air. This truly signals the close of the Arrowverse, which began 12 years ago with Arrow and expanded to include The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman, along with spin-offs like Vixen and Freedom Fighters: The Ray.
Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch first appeared as Superman and Lois Lane in Arrowverse crossover events, but by the end of season 2, Superman & Lois had officially detached itself from the Arrowverse. The Arrowverse ultimately ended last year with the conclusion of The Flash, but showrunner Todd Helbing assures fans that there will still be nods to the universe in the series finale.
“With the Arrowverse, I’ve had 10 years of working in these shows and these worlds, and you want to do it justice,” Helbing told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s a responsibility that comes with that. But at the same time, you have to separate yourself from those feelings or it becomes overwhelming.”
Fellow showrunner Brent Fletcher echoed Helbing’s sentiments, explaining that while they felt a sense of responsibility to honor the Arrowverse, the main focus was to create the best version of Superman & Lois. “We can just do what we can do, and I think the best way to honor what has been done for 10 years was to hopefully have the audience watch it and then feel satisfied,” said Helbing.
Tyler Hoechlin, reflecting on his portrayal of Superman, said that the final season wasn’t about saying goodbye to the Arrowverse. “When we started the show, it was very clear that it was going to be different than what we had been doing on the Arrowverse shows,” Hoechlin said. “So I was able to leave that behind from the beginning. When this was coming to an end, it was really just about this show and its journey over the last four years.”
The Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths had initially merged the universes of the various DC shows into Earth-Prime, but by the season 2 finale, Superman & Lois introduced a twist: Superman was the only hero on their Earth. “I don’t know if I would specifically define it as not in the Arrowverse per se,” Helbing said. “Maybe it’s not that binary. It’s more that the events in our show are not taking place on the same Earth as the current Arrowverse.”
Catch the final season of Superman & Lois Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.
