When I hear "you're going to see Superman like you've never seen him before," my first instinct is to cringe, if for no other reason than the Man of Steel was done definitively back in 1978 by Richard Donner, with the indispensible help of Christopher Reeve, and no one since has met that bar. Not for want of trying though. We've seen Clark Kent/Superman in one incarnation or another many times in the years since, including the comic book, which has been rebooted and relaunched many times since. Christopher Reeve was ultimately succeeded by Brandon Routh, and then on to Henry Cavill. On TV we've seen Dean Cain and Tom Welling (technically playing Superboy) play the original Big Blue. Each had their fans, each had their detractors, some efforts more successful than others; now, the CW, which has created its own version of the DC Universe (starting with ARROW in 2012), gives us their Superman for the 2020s.
How is this show different, well it's not that Superman and Lois are married, we saw that back with LOIS AND CLARK in the '90s. This show's hook is that they are parents...of teenage boys. That's a twist right out of the CW handbook. In the course of the pilot, Clark and Lois lose their jobs at the Daily Planet, Martha Kent passes away, and they all end up moving back to farm in Smallville. There's also a mysterious super villain who is sabotaging lead lined nuclear power plants, and who happens to have a shard of Kryptonite. But the pilot episode is mainly focused on the family dynamics, as Clark Kent, a frequently absent father, must deal with his sons, who are quite different from each other, one being an outgoing jock, the other, a nerd with an anxiety disorder. Of course, neither son knows their father's true identity, at least not at first, but when one of them starts to manifest super powers himself, the secret comes out. With that, the premise of the show is set in motion, with many complications sure to come in future episodes.
This is a great looking show, rural Kansas has never looked better, or more the mythic heartland that gave us our greatest super hero. But shows based on comic books only work if they get the characters right; that's the core which must stay true no matter what other tweaks are made to the story. And on that level, SUPERMAN AND LOIS appears to be off to good start with Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as the title couple, both being worthy successors to the actors who've played these iconic roles before. Their two boys are portrayed by Alex Garfin and Jordan Elsass, as Jordan, the moody one, and Jonathan, the outgoing twin, both show plenty of promise. Producer Greg Berlanti, who is responsible for all to the DC shows on the CW, has often been hit or miss in his adaptations of classic DC heroes, but he seems to have gotten off to good start here. This is a Superman like we've never seen him before, but it did not make me cringe.
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