Commentary: ‘Superman & Lois’ Had Superman Act Like Batman

In the world of comics, Batman and Superman are two sides of the same coin. They represent different kinds of heroes, archetypes from which other heroes are born. Batman is dark and without powers. He relies on his intellect, analyzing every situation and strategizing the best way to take down his opponents. Meanwhile, Superman is light and has the ultimate powers. He often relies on his strength to overcome opponents, battling on huge cosmic scales. So it was very cool to see Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) in a recent episode of Superman & Lois act like Batman would after losing a fight.

A main antagonist of the show has been Bizarro, an evil Superman (also Hoechlin) from another world. Although he was a primary antagonist for a little while, he faded to the background as other villains took center stage. But he never went away. Eventually, after Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) was released, Lex used Bizarro and turned him into a monster — the show’s version of Doomsday. Similar to the comics, this Doomsday proved unkillable during his first encounter with Superman. Every time he died, he came back to life stronger, and the fight ultimately ended with Superman’s death.

Of course, Superman eventually came back to life. But the problem of Doomsday still remained. In order to figure out what went wrong, Superman went to the Fortress of Solitude. Using Kryptonian technology, Superman relived the battle, analyzing it from every angle. He was looking for weaknesses in Doomsday’s armor and fighting style. He replayed the fight over and over again to gain intel, something Superman isn’t particularly known for. Of course, he uses strategy from time to time. But analysis isn’t Superman’s overt specialty. Analyzing a fight using tech is something straight out of Batman’s playbook. So it was interesting to see this side of Superman presented in the series.

Superman & Lois airs Mondays on The CW.