When Superman & Lois finally returns from its lengthy hiatus, fans will get to experience a world without the Man of Steel. 

The newest trailer unleashed for the drama’s fourth and final season reveals Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) is dead and gone, while showing his family, Lois Lane (Bitsie Tulloch), Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Michael Bishop) mourning the loss of the patriarch. 

Of course, the death brings about some complex feelings, as Clark’s death has more significant implications as planet Earth is now left without its protector—a crucial piece of information that benefits this season’s big, bad villain, Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz). 

Amid the mourning, there’s also tension between the brothers, as Jonathan places blame on Jordan, who is trying to rise up in his father’s absence to avenge his death, despite his powers not being “ready.”

And there’s the belief that Superman will come back—“he always does”—and it’s only a matter of time before he returns to save his loved ones, though, for now, it’s unclear why exactly he’s “dead” in the first place. 

Either way, it’s an interesting concept and one that will surely entice audiences—many of whom may have turned away from The CW after it nixed most of its beloved dramas and alienated its core viewers—to tune in for the last season to see how it all wraps up. 

With the cast shrinking this season, it’s unclear what other familiar faces will return, but we do hear Sarah’s (Inde Navarrette) voiceover in the trailer, as well as a brief cameo from Dylan Walsh’s Sam Lane, who was kidnapped by his girlfriend (and one of Lex’s goons) at the tail end of the season.

Superman & Lois returns with a supersized 2-hour premiere on Thursday, October 17. 

Get a refresher and read our previous reviews right here!   

If you’ve been following what’s been happening at The CW for the past few years, it comes as no surprise that Superman & Lois will be ending with the fourth season. 

The network has been scrapping most of its pre-sale programming, allowing only a handful of shows to return and finish out their run with a proper conclusion, the superhero drama being one of them.

The upcoming fourth season of the Tyler Hoechlin-led series will be its last, with the 10 final episodes airing sometime in 2024. 

“Over the last three seasons, Superman & Lois redefined both the superhero genre and family drama as Tyler, Elizabeth and the entire cast effortlessly portrayed these classic characters with new layers of depth and complexity that had never before been explored in the Superman universe,” CW president Brad Schwartz says in a statement. “We are grateful for the years of hard work and graceful storytelling from the show’s writers, producers, actors and crew, as well as our terrific partners at Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions. As Superman embarks on his final flight, the team is leaving us with an absolutely epic 10-episode must-watch-every-minute farewell to one of the most legendary CW families ever.”

The news was a long time coming, especially when the network renewed the show for a fourth season but reduced the cast to only a handful of series regulars, cutting everyone else loose with the possibility of guest appearances to wrap up their storylines. 

In addition to Hoechlin, Bitsie Tulloch as Lois, Alex Garfin as Jordan, Michael Bishop as Jonathan, and new villain Doomsday, played by Michael Cudlitz, will return are series regulars.

 We’ll update this post when new information about a premiere date becomes available. 

For now, you can binge Sullivan’s Crossing on The CW. 

Fates of ‘Superman & Lois’ and ‘All American: Homecoming’ Revealed at The CW

From Bizarro to Doomsday, Superman & Lois delivered an action-packed Season 3 finale that forced Superman to face his biggest threat to date.

Since getting out of prison after 17 years of being wrongfully incarcerated, Lex Luthor focused on getting revenge against those who wronged him, specifically Lois Lane. 

He made it clear that the reason Lois didn’t listen to him initially and ran with the inaccurate story that put him behind bars was because she had the protection of both General Lane and Superman. And since she didn’t heed his warning to put down the pen and retire, he knew that the only way to get to her was to eliminate the safety net. 

For the next 33 days, Luthor poured every inch of himself into concocting his master plan, which involved killing Bizarro over and over again and making him immune and indestructible. Luthor always knew he wanted payback, but Bizarro was the secret weapon that simply fell into his lap, and Luthor wasted no time taking full advantage. By the time he was done with him, the Inverse Superman morphed into a beast that set his sights on the Man of Steel in one of the most epic fights to ever play out on The CW. (And just as a reminder, with The CW doing away with most of its programming—and giving Superman & Lois a shortened fourth and final season with virtually no cast— so this fight scene is likely as good as it’s ever going to get for the network.)

Things weren’t looking so hot for Superman, but while it’s one thing to have an immense amount of power, Superman has two things that Bizarro doesn’t—brains that he can use to outsmart him and love; and the love he has for his family is what brings him back from the brink of death and energizes him. 

Superman & Lois — “What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger” — Image Number: SML313a_0028r — Pictured: Michael Bishop as Jonathan Kent — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Pretty soon, Doomsday and Superman’s heads to the moon far away from any humans that can be harmed, though there’s no telling how it ends. 

With General Lane in Luthor’s possession, and Superman otherwise occupied, Luthor has Lois right where he wants her–vulnerable…or so he thinks. The one thing he didn’t account for (and how could he?) is that she’d have another asset in her corner—a son who inherited his father’s powers. Of course, Jordan is still pretty new at this and just getting the hang of his powers, but I’d say it’s enough to keep his mom out of harm’s way and stall until his dad returns. 

Clark thought he was doing the right thing by punishing Jordan and forbidding him from using his powers, but with danger lurking in every corner—and the imminent threat of Lex Luthor (Lois knew he was coming for her)—it would’ve been more beneficial to have him continue training specifically for this moment. 

Superman exchanged a telling look with his family before flying off to handle Doomsday, and in that look, he made it clear that Jordan was under no circumstance to help him. As a father, it only makes sense that he wouldn’t want to put his son in the line of danger. 

But what’s next? Doomsday is bred to kill, and he won’t stop until Superman is neutralized as those were Luthor’s orders. What’s the solution?

It almost seems as though there were two different episodes smushed into one, with the first half providing a happy and positive update on the families in Smallville, while the second half unveiled Lex’s plans and set the tone for what’s to come in the final season. 

I thoroughly enjoyed both parts—even if I’m far too skeptical when things are too good as I know the other foot is about to drop—particularly as it gave us some good momentum on all the characters that make this show so fantastic, and the ones that won’t be around much, if at all, next season. 

Lois’ recovery was tough and personal but she finally arrived at a place where she felt ready to be intimate with her husband again—and it was so beautifully captured. Clark being so soft with her when placing a hand on her chest was incredibly touching. They truly did right by her storyline this season, giving a realistic glimpse into a cancer battle rather than using it solely as a plot device.

It was also so nice to see her genuinely smile with excitement as she talked about their family vacation—Lois deserves this triumphant moment, and it’s a shame it was cut short by Lex. 

Fans who have been picking up on vibes between Lana and John Henry finally got their moment as well. Not only did the two go on a romantic first date, but they also hooked up in a hot and steamy moment as she was determined to make him regret accepting Lane’s offer to move to Metropolis. 

And yes, that’s an attempt at seemingly writing off John Henry and his daughter Nat for next season, which is a bummer, but it’s also a natural progression for the characters as they’ve always been destined to work closely with the DOD, doing what they do best and creating tools and gadgets to help them fight the enemy. Plus, it makes sense that Nat would go to the DOD Academy where Mateo just enrolled—it’s a promising future for her that allows for so much more than Smallville could ever offer someone with her brains and skills. 

Kyle and Chrissy Beppo also had quite an eventful episode as they not only found out they’re expecting their first child together, but Kyle even hopped on stage in front of the whole town and asked her to marry him. I enjoy this coupling, so no complaints, but I wish Chrissy continued to have a storyline of her own separate from Kyle instead of being reduced to his secret hookup for most of the season. Chrissy was always on the same playing field as Lana and Lois—and she deserved to stay there. 

Lana has put on a happy face throughout it all, even telling Kyle that she was happy for him and asking to spoil the baby, but it has to hurt on some level. She’s watching him become the man she’s wanted him to be for years, and that has to be so hard. Someone else got the version of Kyle that she always knew he could be, but he never was for her. 

However, Lana is right when she says that they are better as friends—and they make great co-parents, so at least there’s that. She’s tough and strong, so she’ll get through this. It may have taken her a little longer to move on than it has Kyle, but at least she’s seeing a future outside of her relationship with him.

This is also a good time to remind anyone who is online dating to just be super cautious about who they allow into their lives. 

Sam Lane was so eager to get back out there that he allowed the enemy to get too close to him, and he paid the price. 

The moment he introduced his new girlfriend to his absolutely stunned grandchildren, I knew there was something off about Gretchen and the way she was so eager to be involved in his life. 

It’s a shame because someone in Sam’s position should’ve vetted anyone he ended up meeting and pursuing for this exact reason. He works for the DOD for crying out loud—there have to be some protocols because this was just too easy. 

It’s also a bummer because Sam let his guard down one time, and now he’ll never trust anyone else with his heart again. 

And finally, Clark gave Jordan a pep talk that convinced him to apologize to Sarah. He admitted that his anger stemmed from them not being together, and they agreed to remain cordial but go their separate ways, which is honestly for the best considering everything that transpired between them. 

How do you think the series will continue on without Sam, Lana, Sarah, Kyle, Chrissy, John Henry and Natalie as series regulars, especially as we may never see any of them again and there were so many developments with their storylines? It seems like a huge miss for the series as they are so integral to the series and are responsible for making the small town of Smallville what it is.

And how do you think Superman will bring down Doomsday? Will Lex Luthor finally get what’s coming to him, rightfully this time around? He’s just giving Lois so much more ammo to put him away for good. 

Grade the season in the comments—we’re giving it a solid B!