‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Did What Zack Snyder Couldn’t

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• Superman & Lois uses Doomsday effectively to create a devastating threat, unlike Batman v Superman‘s missed opportunity.
• Zack Snyder’s focus on spectacle and lack of character development made Doomsday’s appearance lack stakes.
• Superman & Lois understands the true threat of Doomsday, making his arrival feel apocalyptic and personal, with high stakes for the characters and the audience.

Superman & Lois’ Season 3 finale brought in a big piece of the Superman mythos as Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) revealed his twisted plan to take down the Man of Steel. The final moments of the episode call to mind another recent Superman story — the notorious and controversial Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But where Batman v Superman failed to use this piece of classic Superman mythology in any meaningful way, Superman & Lois uses it to devastating effect.

‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Introduced One of Superman’s Most Deadly Foes

In the final minutes of the Season 3 finale, “What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger,” Lex Luthor confronts Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) in front of his family’s farmhouse in Smallville. Lex has used a device stolen from General Lane (Dylan Walsh) to summon what was once Bizarro Superman (Hoechlin) to attack the Man of Steel. But Bizarro was not what he once was, having been tortured and experimented on by Lex for days in a secret lab to turn him into a hulking abomination that can’t be killed. Fans of Superman will immediately recognize Doomsday, the terrifying creature that is responsible for killing Superman in the comics.

Doomsday was first introduced in late 1992 as part of Superman: The Man of Steel’s “The Death of Superman” storyline. He is a massive, physically imposing figure that emerged from deep within the Earth and immediately began to rampage across the United States, defeating all the heroes that tried to stop him. Eventually, Superman had to intervene, and their fight dragged on until the two of them beat each other to death in front of the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Doomsday was created to be an imposing physical threat to Superman, something that had become rare at the time. His name came from his intended role in the story: he would be a doomsday for Superman. The appeal of the character is strikingly simple: he’s strong enough to kill Superman without needing to use Kryptonite or magic or an elaborate scheme.

Zack Snyder Jumped the Gun on Using Doomsday in ‘Batman v Superman’

It’s easy to see why Zack Snyder would be drawn to a character like Doomsday. Snyder is known for making sprawling and epic films that are determined to be, above all else, cool. His version of Superman (Henry Cavill) is a god among men, somberly bearing the weight of responsibility thrust upon him by his powers. His fight scenes make gratuitous use of slow motion, often lingering on moments of impact and the immediate aftermath. The camera lingers on bones breaking when heroes fight thugs in Watchmen. When Superman fights General Zod (Michael Shannon) in Man of Steel, skyscrapers are destroyed in seconds. Batman v Superman opens with a sequence of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) navigating the wanton destruction caused by that same fight. Snyder seems to relish in rendering carnage onscreen, so it makes sense that he would be drawn to Doomsday as a character. It also makes sense that he’d be unable to truly capture what makes the character so effective.

What Snyder seemed to miss is that Doomsday isn’t a character, he’s a plot device. The real story of “The Death of Superman” is what happens after he dies. Nearly every one of DC’s superheroes came to his funeral. Lois Lane and Supergirl must recover Superman’s stolen body while they’re still mourning. Other heroes step up in his absence to fulfill the role of Superman. It all works because it’s building off decades of Superman stories that endeared him both to his fellow fictional characters and the readers. There’s a real sensation of loss and grief when you see Lois Lane holding Superman in her arms as he dies, with his superhero colleagues sadly watching. Modern adaptations of “The Death of Superman” don’t have the benefit of the shock of the original (which at the time was national news!). Everyone knows what it means when Doomsday shows up. So, any good adaptation has to wield that power carefully and use Doomsday as a catastrophic threat to Superman’s status quo, rather than the end goal.

Dawn of Justice was also merely the second appearance of Henry Cavill’s Superman. He’d only met Batman and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) a few days before his death, and the bulk of his relationship with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) had been developed offscreen between movies. The sense of profound loss that permeates the pages of “The Death of Superman” simply isn’t there. Snyder uses Doomsday for the spectacle, as an enemy capable of taking on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman at the same time. But there are no stakes to his fight because as soon as he shows up, fans know where the story is going, and the prospect of this version of Superman dying isn’t the heartbreaking tragedy it should be. He’s barely established as Superman, he hasn’t had a chance to form the relationships that define Superman’s life in the comics, and he’s not had enough screen time for his death to be anything more than a speed bump in the narrative. Doomsday doesn’t promise anything other than a fight in Batman v Superman: he’s all flash and no substance.

‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Understands the True Threat of Doomsday

Doomsday’s arrival on Superman & Lois is far from too soon — some might even go so far as to call it late. At the beginning of Season 2, the show introduced a mysterious figure in a heavy protective suit beating its way out of the Smallville mines. The visuals used directly referenced Doomsday’s first appearance in the comics, but it was revealed after a few episodes that this was Bizarro Superman, not Doomsday. But now that twist has been reversed, with Lex Luthor twisting Bizarro into a monster capable of killing Superman. And by waiting until the end of Season 3 to bring in Doomsday, Superman & Lois makes his arrival feel appropriately apocalyptic.

Already, this version is far more personal than Snyder’s version. Lex created Doomsday to kill Superman so that the hero won’t be there to stop him from enacting revenge on Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch). Then, shortly after the fight began, Superman and Doomsday briefly crashed onto Main Street in Smallville. Superman’s friends and family move to try and help, but he holds out a hand to tell them to stay back before continuing the fight. This moment reminds us of what’s at stake. For three seasons, Superman & Lois has focused on Superman’s life as Clark Kent just as much (if not more) than his life as Superman. The audience is attached to his family, his friends, and their relationships. If Superman dies, then Lois, Jon (Michael Bishop), and Jordan (Alex Garfin) will have to go on without him. Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) will lose her best friend. And the world will lose Superman, who is always running off to avert disaster across the globe throughout the series no matter how inconvenient the timing. And most importantly of all, there have been three seasons for viewers to get attached to this version of Superman. His death may not have the same cultural impact as “The Death of Superman,” but there’s enough buildup for it to be devastating to fans of the show. If he dies, something will be lost, and that loss will be felt.

We’ll have to wait for the next (and final) season to see if Superman & Lois commits to killing one of its titular characters. But from what we’ve seen so far, the show has a firm grip on what makes Doomsday such an imposing character in a way Zack Snyder never quite seemed to. This version of Superman is defined by his humanity rather than his god-like power, which completely shifts the way Doomsday fits into the narrative. Snyder used Doomsday to kill a god. Superman & Lois is poised to use him to kill a loving husband, father, and friend. If Superman dies, Clark Kent does, too, and only Superman & Lois seems to know how losing Clark is just as catastrophic as losing Superman.

Superman & Lois is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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