In the DC comics, Thaddeus Killgrave was a rogue scientific genius who worked with Intergang and produced technological devices to fight Superman. He debuted in Superman #19 (July, 1988).
General Lane reveals that Tag developed his powers due to being exposed to a material with a yellow phosphorescence during the explosion. The ending reveals that the Shuster Mine, where this took place, is full of X-Kryptonite.
Lois' mention that she does her own copyediting, and Chrissy's retort that an article still needs work, continues the running gag begun in Superman (1978) that Lois is a notoriously poor speller, despite both her reputation as a journalist and having either been nominated for or awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
Brendan Fletcher has played three different characters on various DC shows, two of which feature Superman/Clark Kent. He first played Rudy Jones/Parasite of Earth-167 on "Smallville", then Stanley Dover on "Arrow" and then Thaddeus Killgrave in this episode of "Superman& Lois".
Many of the cast and crew members in this episode have previously worked on Arrow, another Arrowverse show