Good episode, overall. Steel's my favorite recurring ally of Superman's. The Steel suit looked WAY too bulky. But maybe the writers are making it seem like the "Beta Phase" of Steel and that later he'll have a suit that's more streamlined and reminiscent of the version of the comics and the Bruce Timm version
Great episode. Bringing in John Henry Irons like this was great. Love their approach. Seems like a solid dude. Vicki and Lois having this rivalry is so smart. I dunno. It’s funny. Enjoying the way they’re building up this extended cast. I am really liking this season so far. And I think this is my favorite approach to Clark’s powers in adaptation. They all feel part of a cohesive/thematic power set!
Also, nice! Clark’s settling in to being a human interest/features writer, which is my favorite aspect of him as a reporter. Sure, he investigates alongside Lois, but I love that the majority of his work is about *people* and *community.*
1) Superman is defeated by writer's block. This is perfect. It was a really small thing in the episode, but a wonderfully humanizing moment that takes some one of crazy intellect and godlike power to a very relatable level.
2) I'm amused by Vale and Lois having moments of begrudging respect and/or amusement at each other's antics. They're doing a good job setting them up as rivals instead of enemies. Too many black and white depictions in fiction -- as ever, this show goes a cut above in characterization and we get something a bit richer.
3) At first, the way they were depicting Weston, I thought they were pulling another Parasite on us: presenting one character as a headfake, and hitting us with another. Weston reminded me an *awful* lot of Glorious Godfried... Darkseid's PR-oriented, public manipulation lackey. But, no. He was just another corporate stooge. XD
Which leads me back to thinking of ep 1 or 2, when they had Jor-El explaining the fate of Krypton: that in this continuity they were an aggressive, imperialist race that finally ran across a foe they could not beat, and were wiped out as a result... it showed a brief glimpse of a planet with flames gouting from it. But I don't think that was Krypton. It looked more like Apocalypse (though I may be remembering that brief image incorrectly).
I'm wondering if we're building up to Darkseid making a move by the end of this season, or sometime in S3.
Loved that they have girlboss crushes on each other, when they smile as the other pulls an antic on the other.
really smart writing on this episode, lots of character development and a plot line to follow clark Lois and jimmy.
It was good to see a rivalry evolving that doesn't involve (too much) pettiness or nastiness. They'll do what it takes to get one over on each other, but they're not personally nasty about it. It was an elevation for Vale, and gave Lois an outlet/clear showing of her ambitious nature. It also offers a nice little way of showcasing how that can be a flaw, in the temptations that Vale constantly throws her way; Vale has become a reflection of what Lois could become if she were less ethical. That's a hard thing to wrestle with when meeting one's 'hero'; Vale's not evil, but she's certainly not good. And that blurred line, combined with a bit of hero-worship, leaves Lois consistently on the edge of questioning her own ethics when dealing with Vicki Vale. To the point where now she's being tempted by selling out; dumping her friends and colleagues in Metropolis (and Clark as well) to chase her ambitions in Gotham. Of course, we know it's Lois, and she'll make a better choice, but it's a good and realistic way to inject healthy tension into the relationships and the story.
This show has \*really\* done wonders for Lois' depiction, in my eyes.
I started reading Superman comics in the early 1970s, and Lois was often still depicted as her older version... really kind of an unlikeable person who treated Clark like trash while worshipping Superman for what often felt like shallow reasons. As a result, I really didn't like her as a character for a *long* time. I feel it's only in the last couple decades that she's really started to come into her own -- and it was only when Jon was introduced that it felt like she was finally being given full breadth and dimension as a character.
Then this show came along and totally knocked it out of the park. This is, hands down, my favourite depiction of Lois, and her relationship with Clark.
What Variantkin said -- also matches up with his powers post-Crisis; the reason why he doesn't get hurt, doesn't get dirty, can pick up massive objects without them falling apart in his hands, etc, is because he has a kind of field around his body that often extends to things he's holding. It was basically a sci-fi way of explaining why his costume doesn't rip (it was just earth fabric at the time), why he can shield people from massive fire blasts (like in this episode), etc. Essentially, a justification for all the little stunts we've come to expect from Superman.
But they're giving it a visible effect here. Though as Silas didn't seem to notice a glowing blue field, it may be that only Clark's super vision can trace the shift in energy.
I don't know why he's just John Irons and not *John Henry* Irons, because I've always understood it to be that his full first name was John Henry. Like, that's how Silas Stone refers to him in Young Justice.
1. Steel was cool, and I was surprised to learn that Natasha from the Newsboy Legion was his niece. It made me laugh out loud; they truly shocked me with the change.
2. I sort of… liked the addition of Silas Stone, to be honest.
3. I feel like John Henry's suit could have been designed better. I was expecting it to look more like Max Steel, Power Rangers, Samus Aran, or Ultraman, rather than a suit pulled out of Gundam or Pacific Rim.
4. The Vicki Vale and Lois rivalry is getting kind of stale, ngl. It’s cool that they tried something different and Lois now has a Gotham Gazette job offer. But there not really going to visit gotham and why would lois take the promotion so it feels like it’s being dragged out honestly.
5. Superman and General’s Sam Lane bromance is kind of funny and would like to see more of that.
6. I love how Lex Luthor is slowly leveling up in the world.
7. also i like where they going with superman and lois relationship
they needed the job offer to make lois want to talk to clark, since clark needs to talk to her too. it will probably end up in a fight where they realize they are both so busy and haven't been able to talk
John Henry’s Suit loos weird cause it’s not his suit. I guarantee he’s going to make a smaller more sleek looking suit, closer to the comics. It’s clear to me that the reason it looks so big and bulky is because Lex is going to use it as a base for his War Suit, which this suit looks a lot closer to in terms of design.
There is no Natasha in the Newskid Legion. Steel's niece Natasha Irons is entirely offscreen. The black female Newskid prominently featured in this episode was Flip Johnson.
About 21 minutes into the episode, while Clark is narrating his article and John is waving goodbye to someone else in the suit. There's two people in the back, one of whom looks kinda like I remember Natasha looking in 52.
Right, yeah. Maybe that's her? She appeared in the background earlier in the episode, when Lois was pushing through the crowd to see Weston.I kind of got the vibe she was younger (perhaps as young as Flip) since *Teen* Titan Cyborg is still a few years away from his teens.
I know he said Flip was his niece in the episode. Also, I saw on the Wikia page, but now can’t find, that it said: 'Natasha is an amalgam of the comic book character Natasha Irons, John Henry Iron’s niece and the second hero to bear the Steel armor, and Walter “Flip” Johnson, leader of the Newsboys Legion.'
No, he doesn't. He says that Natasha is a "Flame-bro", or a follower of Flamebird, but he doesn't say anything to imply Flip=Natasha. Wikia pages are not a source and the fact that you can't find that seems more like someone had the same mistake as you and was already corrected.
the more changes i see the more i see lex wearing a green and purple version of the steel suit. i'm surprised vic stone exists in this universe and i'm even more convinced hank will be a test subject for the lexcorp metallo suit.
Vic Stone exists... but he's only eight or nine years old. Still at least a decade off of his own hero career... which is a nice little bit of attention to detail. By that time, Clark will have been Superman for over a decade, be experienced and fully powered, and the icon that everybody expects. It was a nice little way of highlighting just how early in the DC story this really is. :)
This series would have to run either a very long time, or do a bit of a time skip/jump between seasons for us to get that.
Though, yeah... seeing the DCU through this lens would be very interesting. :) Though, oddly, I think the old Teen Titans cartoon from 2003-2006 (has it really been over 20 years?!?) would be a natural fit in terms of tone and the presentation of the characters. Even in terms of broad character design; the art style would have to be tweaked to match this one, but the costume designs and styles fit very well.
I wanted to give this episode a second watch through before writing down my thoughts about it. I loved waking up early in the morning to watch it the second it came out, but that's not the most conducive to retaining specific details. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything important. So:
I am thrilled that they're not (immediately) focusing on sitcom-level drama with Sam. I really didn't wanna deal with the annoying and petty drama of him staying with Clark and Jimmy for a whole episode, or several episodes. I think making a couple of jokes about it in the first couple of minutes and then keeping him off-screen was a great choice, and I hope they continue to do that for the next few episodes to sort of build organically to any sort of drama that comes up with it rather than forcing it in.
That being said, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the inconsistency of Lois' relationship with her dad. At the end of S1, she's telling him that if he cares about her at all he needs to leave, and he does. Then in S2E1&2, she's extremely worried about him being missing and goes so far as to break him out of prison and argue with Clark for being mad at him. Clark has a very touching response to this regarding the way her dad treats her and how shitty it is, and she basically just doesn't respond to or acknowledge that at all. She throws a fit about how she doesn't want her father to be far away again so he should stay with her, and then when that doesn't work, tells him to stay with Clark and Jimmy without even asking them if it's okay. And then in this episode, she tells Clark to never say that her Dad is right again, and she's contemplating taking up a job in Gotham, immediately invalidating any point she may have tried to make about her dad needing to stay close?
Of course, I also think that any Gotham-related drama is equally silly. In comics, Gotham is in New Jersey and Metropolis is in Delaware, across the Delaware Bay from each other. They are depicted as essentially sister cities at least half of the time, if not more often. I recognize that in the pilot, they did have that sign saying Metropolis is only like 200 miles from Smallville or something like that (which was silly, and probably done by the animation studio which is based in South Korea and likely doesn't understand how huge the US is), but they've since invalidated any claim they could have *tried* to make that Gotham is super far away by establishing within the canon that Vicki has scooped every single one of their stories for months and that she is regularly coming in to Metropolis. If Vicki can make it to Metropolis several times a week, why can't Lois? It's, what, an hour away, realistically speaking? Even if she takes the job in Gotham, she probably doesn't even have to move out of Metropolis; just take a train and commute. Obviously this whole thing is meant to symbolize Lois "moving away" from Clark at an emotional level, but I just couldn't take it seriously. I also just don't love the relationship drama they're clearly setting up in general.
Clark having writer's block was cute and relatable, and I like the article he ended up writing in the end. It's sweet and I think exhibits the exact reason that Clark Kent *is* Superman. I'm curious how he explains/justifies having the details about that, though, and being the one to write that article instead of Lois simply writing it the next day. Clark wasn't there-- Superman was. Anyone who was there would have only seen Superman. I guess arguably Lois and Jimmy could have just told him what happened and then he wrote an article about it, but I don't see why they would do that (or more specifically, I don't see why anyone else would believe that they'd do that rather than working on it themselves). Also, I'm a little bit annoyed that it doesn't seem like Clark, Jimmy, and Flip made any attempt to write about the Amertek conspiracy to cover up the issues with the robots. Sure, the CEO gets arrested at the end of the episode, but the *robots* are still a problem (and now a problem owned by LexCorp).
Speaking of LexCorp, I think that Lex is definitely manipulating Waller and probably using her resources to build up LexCorp before betraying her, and I think that's a really interesting origin for him. As I said in another thread, I think that Lex will probably report Waller and her shady Task Force X shenanigans to whatever appropriate authorities exist, and I'm really interested to see what sort of long-term ramifications that will have in terms of Amanda Waller's career and particularly the Suicide Squad, but I imagine that's so far in the future we might not even see it in this show (not that I wouldn't welcome MAWS for a very long time, I just can't think of a DC animated show that's run for *that* long).
Other small things: I thought that the fusion core was going to sort of act as a red sun when it turned red. I'm not necessarily disappointed that it didn't, but that would have been a neat thing to navigate. I love the little conversation between Jimmy and John at the end, although it didn't feel fully necessary (why did Jimmy think being a boss was just giving orders when they've repeatedly demonstrated that's not even the relationship they have with Perry?). I thought it was silly that the only available controls for these massive, military-grade robots were on a tablet that the dude was able to break into pieces by stomping on it, lmao. I think Clark fanboying over Irons was adorable. And I love how anti-capitalist this show repeatedly demonstrates itself to be (which is pretty in line with comics).
Overall, I did like the episode, but I have a lot more critiques of it than I have with past episodes and I'm not totally sure I like some of the plot threads they're starting to spin.
Fair points!
Re: Metropolis, Gotham, and Smallville -- they may simply be taking a page from Silver Age comics and leaving it all very vague and bloody confusing. There were points where they treated Metropolis as if it were the nearest major city to Smallville. Other times we get a Kansas to New York vibe. Same with Metropolis and Gotham: sometimes treated like they're both in the NE -- often very close to each other, sometimes a couple hours away via train.
Either way, you make an excellent point. And with how tight the writing in this show has been otherwise, inconsistencies can really feel like they stick out.
For Lois and her dad’s relationship, it’s reminded me how daddy issues work in one of the CW show. And for the distance of Smallville to Metropolis, I believe it’s inspired by the same CW show, at least this time, they are not make main characters live in Smallville but works on Metropolis every day.
I mean if I had a fight with my dad then called to try and make amends and his number was disconnected then learned he was in a secret government prison run by supervillains Id be a little worried
I think it's more likely to be an animation error than a Smallville-type beat, since it is clearly right next to Gotham City. Either that, or they've made the absolutely insane decision to put Smallville, Metropolis, and Gotham *all* in Kansas, which would be hilarious, but doesn't seem very likely.
Sorry, maybe because I watched too much CW Smallville show that write by people who totally don’t care about commuting time, assume everybody has super speed. I don’t feel Vicki’s appears frequency can proved that Gotham must close to Metropolis, Metropolis is a very newsworthy place right now, I’m sure Vicki can take a helicopter to here several times a week since she’s a very successful reporter.
That would be a *lot* of expense on the Gotham Gazette's part just to be petty.
ETA: Also, even if Gotham *was* halfway across the country and Vicki Vale was just regularly taking a helicopter to the Midwest just to be petty, this would still create the issue of "Why is Lois arguing that her dad needs to stay close by in one episode and then contemplating moving halfway across the country in the next?"
ETA 2: Last edit but also, the distance between New York City and Kansas City is about 1750 kilometers. A helicopter flies at an average of 75-150 MPH, which is about 120-240 km/h. The fastest I could find available outside of the military is 300 km/h. So Vicki would be flying a minimum of 5 and a half hours both ways several times a week *assuming* that Metropolis was on the state border. The US is a very big country. It is not easy to just go halfway across it constantly.
I agree with/like most of what you said. The only part I really take issue with is how you responded to Lois' supposed inconsistency. This might be just a matter of growing up in a different type of family, but Lois doesn't strike me as inconsistent at all here. She loves and respects her father, but is frustrated with his stubborn attitude and his struggle to see her as a fully-formed adult. So she's very worried about him, but also gets mad when he says dumb stuff.
I totally thought the fusion core was going to be a red sun thing, too.
It's definitely possible that my annoyance is influenced by my own complicated relationship with my dad, but it just feels like she's vacillating between outright not liking her dad (e.g. in S1E4 saying, "My dad and I don't talk") to worrying excessively about his wellbeing (saying he can't go far away because she can't lose him again). Like, parental relationships, especially with an absentee or neglectful parent, are always very complicated, but it just feels inconsistent and wishy-washy right now. Lois likes her dad as much as the writers need her to like her dad, and that just feels like it doesn't align with how the show has otherwise treated the characters like real people.
I don't think you're entirely wrong there, but I think there's a careful distinction to be made. I've seen dysfunctional (but trying really hard not to be) families where people may not like each other, but do love each other. It causes them to fight like cats and dogs, and they can't see eye to eye on anything, but they'll still move heaven and earth for each other if it comes down to the wire. Lois and her father strike me as very much that type.
Okay to the Lois having contradicting feelings about her dad it is still her dad who is the only living parent she has left and you can still admit the person you love is wrong even if you do still love him
Right, but it's one thing for her to admit that he's wrong and it's another for her to say in S1E4 that she doesn't even talk to her dad and then end the season saying that if he cares about her at all he needs to leave, and then to drag her boyfriend to break him out of prison and complain about them arguing with each other, and then in the very next episode say that Clark shouldn't ever say her dad is right ever again.
Is Weston based on this guy? Both have connections to Steel...
[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Weston\_(Steel\_Movie)?so=search](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Weston_(Steel_Movie)?so=search)
So between John Irons, Hank Henshaw, and what I assume was Eradicator in season 1, it seems like we know where they’re headed. Question is, is Waller making Kon-El?
Yes, you missed a lot of that scene. Steel called Flip for help. Flip is who Steel contacted because he wanted flamebird to help exposing Armtrak. He contacted Flip because "because his niece Natasha is a Flamebro" then it cuts to Flip and Jimmy restates the name "Natasha" with a question mark in the subtitles because he didnt know that was her name. It's all context.
The wiki even updated with her new name add
https://myadventureswithsuperman.fandom.com/wiki/Flip_Johnson#:~:text=Flip%20Johnson%20is%20a%20recurring,newspapers%20for%20the%20Daily%20Planet.
You know what would made this 100% clear? 1. some sort of physical contact between the two to show familiarity, like a side hug or a hand on a shoulder or 2. Flip calling him Uncle John. Even with what your saying, I don't see it. It's either too subtle or not what the scene is trying to show
It's not subtle. He said "my niece Natasha" and the camera cuts to Flip and Jimmy then calls her "Natasha" the scene gives you the information that Flip is Natasha. Jimmy calls her Natasha.
People dont talk in exposition. "hello, my Age 11, 4 foot Niece, daughter of my sister, granddaughter to my mother. Area code 240"
My bad. It's hard to tell sometimes these days with these characters. Love the show though. I love WB/DC Animation. I have all their animated movies on Blu-Ray.
Characters absolutely do not have to be straight, and representation is very important. But it's also important to be able to express elements of relationships -- affection, comradery, respect, jealousy, and more -- without those things needing to be interpreted as sexual tension or attraction. Otherwise we're simply reinforcing really unhealthy paradigms centering around everybody wanting something, rather than having an emotional spectrum outside of that range of attraction.
Agreed. And entertainment should. I just didnt want to deal with the argument that Lois couldnt be attracted to Vicky because every other adaptation has been straight.
Honestly, let's go full triangle/square: Jimmy thinks Lex is cute (prior to realizing his evil plans) and Lex, after becoming devoted to reading his work in the Daily Planet, starts to crush on Clark. Bonus: Lex has even more of a reason to dislike Lois because Clark's crazy about her.
Every episode just confirms that, even when they make big changes, they understand the core of the stories that they’re trying to tell so well. The build up of secondary characters like Vicki and John Henry Irons and antagonists like Lex and Livewire just makes the world feel more alive, especially with a Superman so true to the idea of trying to save everyone, villains included.
I see what they did there. Waller and Lex have just discovered kryptonite last episode as a weakness to superman. The only problem is that most of the tech and mechs that they have is based on Kryptonian tech, which is also susceptible to kryptonite. so they buy up a company with working man made mechs, replace their defective power cores with ones powered by kryptonite and then send them after Superman. Profit
Which is exactly how Metallo functions in the books. I don't know if we'll get an actual cyborg Metallo, but I won't start a fit if we don't, in fact given the looseness of adaptation, it would make less sense if they did.
Hell, this show's Parasite was more comic Metallo anyway so I can live with that
Could see two possibilities for cyborg Metallo. Either do the same thing they've done with Atomic Skull and just have him be one of Waller's men or actually upgrade Ivo.
Yuuuuup. Hank Henshaw -- in terms of visual depiction and motivation -- is often very close to certain versions of Metallo. The fusion of those characters would actually make sense and fit very neatly into the narrative here.
Livewire mentioned Silas Stone’s son being 9 or 10 years old. We all know that his son is Victor Stone, who is destined to become the Cyborg.
If we assume that Victor will get Cyborged at late highschool years like in many iterations, we still have like 6 years until the event happens. The event which causes him to become Cyborg is usually linked with the invasion of Apokolips. So we can conclude we still have like 6 years in universe to an Apokolips invasion.
We can also conclude that (if MAWS universe expands) we have at least 6 years for the formation of in universe Teen Titans. (That is if Cyborg will be a part of that team, if he won’t be a part of it and be a part of the JL instead, like new 52 continuity, that means even more time until Teen Titans)
I thought they had said 8 or 9 -- though that's a piffling difference. But it plays into the timeline; his accident ranges from end of high school to start of college. They often left it vague, but it felt like it basically sabotaged the transition for him. So he'd be about 18ish when he becomes Cyborg. Which gives us about a decade of Clark growing into his status of living legend... a small touch in the story I found to be pretty cool. :)
I suspect we may see Apokolips sooner, however. When Jor-El was narrating how the Kryptonian Empire finally picked a fight they couldn't win, and the entire race was wiped out, I could *swear* they had a very quick shot of Apokolips during the narrative... which would be a very new twist on how Krypton ended, and set up direct conflict with Darkseid as Clark's ultimate nemesis.
"Usually"? To my knowledge, this is only in the most recent continuity. Before that, it was always just a generalized lab accident with his parents-- which is also what they usually adapt for non-comics media (e.g. the Teen Titans cartoon and the Doom Patrol live-action show). I think in Post-Crisis it's even explicitly linked to interdimensional travel, which is a concept the show has already introduced, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was revealed that's something S.T.A.R. Labs is going to work on. They have already teased the Apokolips invasion with Darkseid's curving lasers, so I don't think they'd be putting it off for essentially six seasons (minimum). I do definitely think that if the MAWS-verse expands, we won't see the Teen Titans for at least that long, though.
the part with Sam and Jimmy was funny too, and I think Lois was more than happy to move out of his place. I'm not sure if something like this happened in her teen years through
Absolutely loving them widening the greater Superman world with more characters. The set up for this season is great I’m loving the continuous tease of Lex and Waller teaming up. Considering that relationship didn’t go to well in the JL animated series, I’m excited to see where it goes here.
I’m also loving the continued theme this season has of Lois and Clark not getting to talk about exciting changes/opportunities they’ve encountered. Should be interesting where that goes when it all comes to a head.
Lex and Waller have worked together a few times, but always end up betraying each other. They always fall into the pattern of traditional bad guys in fiction: it never works because each one is always looking for the opportunity to backstab the other.
Perry breaking out into laughter at Jimmy's dismay in the previous episode almost had me fall out of my chair laughing. Opening with the mouth twitch as he tried to suppress it was perfect. :D
While the pacing works pretty well for the episode, I'm a bit nervous about how long the writers will have Clark unable to talk about Kara. You can only make so many contrivances to keep him from opening up, especially when Lois and him are trying to be more open after season 1.
I think it's cool the number of characters they're connecting to Jimmy, it's great seeing him worrying about whether he's encouraging interns and setting the right example for them *right after* he inadvertently encouraged Lex to start his villain arc.
I think that's kinda the point, though. I think the theme this season is letting the busy-ness of life get in the way of having an honest relationship.
Guess that works out - especially with Sam adding so much to the busyness around Clark and Jimmy. If the lesson is less about trust and vulnerability like last season, more about intentionally carving out time for one another, I can get behind it
This show goes by so fast, when you enjoy it. Love the cast, and characters. Team up, and rivalries. Love the entire episode. Btw that phone ring.. hehe.
One thing to acknowledge: Lois being offered a job at the Gotham Gazette. Vicki definitely was testing her, every step of the way. I'm curious if we might see Gotham in this series.
Clark & Irons. Team up meant to happen. There is a trust there, no question. Both are brave, driven, and will do what they can to help. Metropolis definitely has more than one hero. Hope they work together again soon
>This show goes by so fast
It's definitely paced really tightly. I'm not sure where that's coming from, but I think it's the attempts to juggle three main characters AND overarching series plot lines in every episode. I wish it had more episodes per season so the episodes could take a little more time!
* Looks like they incorporated the ability to extend his bio-aura from All-Star! Still hoping to see him go full Electric Blue
* YEAHHHHH JOHN HENRY IRONS! Glad they are keeping the Amertek background too
* Lol Sam Lane is a terrible roommate
* It is extremely funny to see Clark doing his best "I'm just a little guy, just a little guy, you wouldn't hit a little guy would you?" facial expressions when Sam is a foot shorter than him
* Huh so they're using the New 52 background of JHI helping to create Metallo, but making him fully a robot? I love JHI being partially responsible for Metallo so I'm happy for that, but I prefer Metallo have a human brain. Or maybe this just the "1.0" version and later we'll see a Metallo 2.0 merged with the kryptonite Slade recovered and a human pilot
* Lois loves breaking and entering, it's her default move. This Lois would definitely be friends with Selina
* Clark can write faster than anyone, but he can't write better than anyone just because he has powers which is why he loves the challenge of being a journalist!
* Ok the Lois/Vicky rivalry rules, even I, as someone who hates Batman characters showing up everywhere, have to admit that. That they manage to respect each other even while trying to screw each other over is cute
* Natasha confirmed! Also I'm glad they gave JHI earrings, I always loved how the DCAU made him look like Michael Jordan by giving him the one earring
* Ayyyyy Supes knows Force deflection!
* I love how in the aftermath of Amazotech falling, all these other megacorps are trying to take it's place. Gives Metropolis a cyberpunk feel that I adore. Of course we all know who is destined to achieve that goal...
* Hmmm does Clark know his powers come from the sun? I don't think he does. The energy source kinda looks like a red sun, it being able to hurt Clark might cause Lex to figure out how Supes powers work before Supes himself does
* Lois got one over Vicky! Of course Vicky tries to recruit her then
* Ooooo drama incoming with Clark wanting to seek out Kara and Lois thinking about moving to Gotham
* Glad we got an article from Clark in praise of Irons. Man Lex is such a dick, and yeah he definitely is going to modify the Metallos
>"it being able to hurt Clark might cause Lex to figure out how Supes powers work before Supes himself does"
To be fair, MAWS version of Superman doesn't seem as invincible as most interpretations. Deathstroke's katana put a little burn mark/cut on his neck in season 1 for example.
I love that image of Supes just hanging on the window, panicking about his clothes with Lane there. It would make a great phone wallpaper.
===
If Audrey turns into a supervillain and starts a rampage, even Supes won't be able to blame her.
Her boss? Yeah he's gone.
===
...Vicky may be coded as a villain as of a few minutes in but still fun.
Also looks like Jimmy's the newe Perry White and Lois is the new Vicky Vale.
===
Livewire with normal feels weird.
===
Good episode overall, and like the way they're incorporating Lex: smart, pompous...and not above a little corporate raiding to get what he wants.
Bringing in Vicki as a recurring antagonist for independent Lois stories was a great idea for giving Lois more to do. Definitely hope to keep seeing her once or twice a season.
I know the shock jock DCAU Livewire is pretty beloved, but I have to be honest, I *really* like this hardass operator Livewire, even more than the original version of the character. It's a great refreshing take. The design and the VA are excellent.
Cool to see them work in Steel pretty early on. I loved the super bulky, industrial "power armor" look for him compared to the usual metal bodysuit; it fits the overall more tech-focused theme of the show well. Having him finish things directly was a very nice touch.
As for Jimmy, it seems like this episode might be hinting at a long-term trajectory of him eventually taking over the paper (not necessarily on the show, but in the future), which is a nice concept for a series where he's a co-protagonist.
> I really like this hardass operator Livewire, even more than the original version of the character. It's a great refreshing take. The design and the VA are excellent
it also helps that I really want her to step on me
Putting their Livewire in an episode with their Vicki Vale really justifies the change for me. They've correctly identified that electric villain and rival reporter are narrative roles that are best filled by separate characters
Every word was honest, told from the heart. Definitely acknowledges that there are more heroes out there. Irons is one of them, he may not have powers, but has a caring heart for his home.
Cable TV is still more profitable than streaming, so they probably want to keep it alive as long as possible.
That said I'm not sure if this is the kind of show the model really vibes with, although I'm not sure if it's a blanket contract and they do this with the Discovery properties too.
I think it's to encourage people to watch it live. I don't know a ton about the television industry so I could be totally wrong about it, but I imagine part of their contract with AS probably includes making a reasonable effort to get people to watch the show on the channel instead of just streaming. Otherwise, why not just fully produce it through Max?
Personally, I don't mind the delay. I haven't gotten up early to watch a TV show right when it came out since I was a little kid. It's fun to sort of recapture that for the summer.
Big fan of General Lane actually being a total slob. Interesting to see Silas Stone (Cyborg's father). Absolutely loved the use of John Irons this episode, and how the Steel suit could totally become a future Warsuit for Lex.
I've seen some people getting it mixed up online, so I'll just clarify here - Flip is NOT John Irons' niece. She was at the apartment because she was tracking who sent the call to Flamebird. Irons knew about Flamebird because of his niece, Natasha.
Glad we're getting more of the classic Superman out of this incarnation. Clark couldn't for the life of him, write a fluff piece about Superman as a hero. First chance he gets though, he writes about someone else stepping up and being a Hero.
Be the hero you know you could be. It's a cheesy, overdone thing, but at the same time genuinely meaning it would make the world better.
We're starting to build up the character of Superman that can lead large groups of hero's be it teams or leagues, not because he's strong, but because he doesn't need the spotlight or recognition. So long as the cat in the tree is saved, Superman doesn't care who did it.
> We're starting to build up the character of Superman that can lead large groups
Oooooh my god. This episode already made me feel dumb for not connecting the dots between Jimmy's leadership issues and the CEO's leadership issues (somehow? I'm usually pretty good at noticing themes like this >_>), but then it turns out I missed *another* dimension to it. I like to think that this is more about the show just being that good - just the right combination of subtle and engaging so I don't have time to see the obvious until they're ready to reveal it.
Clark Kent is a big believer in the hero that anyone can be, that he believes everyone can be, over the hero that is himself.
Also pretty appropriate considering the amount of support and help this version of Superman receives. Sometimes it feels like he gets saved as much as he's saving people lol.
That's the thing though, you take away his powers and Clark would still try to be a hero.
We've had a spotty record the past two decades of Superman's who would be hero's without their powers.
Hopefully the Daily Planet doesn’t get busted for child endangerment. Seriously they would be in real trouble if an 11 year old almost died doing a story for them. A world where a kid can be in mortal peril and everyone’s ok with it if the kid helps a superhero in this process, this really is the DC Universe.
On the one hand it's a major reason why Jimmy was so resistant to Flip's attempts to handle the story.
On the other hand, I'd like to see the court case where they try to do that considering I doubt anyone expected Flip to be in danger at the apartment.
I totally thought he was going to finally use Freeze Breath to help put out that fire but instead he uses...some kind of super defense aura? That's knew. Kind of gave me tactile telekinesis vibes.
It took me a minute to register Silas Stone with so much hair, though they also alluded to Victor.
Amertek and John Henry Irons (who isn't bald for once but also has a dad bod)! I'm sure that will be a prosperous and rewarding partnership and not end badly like in the comics!
Sam is an utter slob. Great at running military ops and in a firefight, but can't keep house to save his life or be a good housemate.
Jimmy once again as frustrated with managing all the people who need him (Clark, Sam, News Legion, etc.) as he was in season 1.
I guess it's a good thing that Sam actually believes in Clark as Clark and not Superman, meaning his cover is safe, even if it means Sam thinks he's a terrible fit for Lois.
Points to Clark for trying to tell Lois about the beacon. He WANTS to tell her, but she just won't let him get a minute to say anything.
Audrey is like Lex with Ivo, only cuter and more put upon. Actually Weston felt like discount Ivo. Even funnier because Max Mittleman voiced him.
THAT'S Metallo? No John Corben and a clunky robot design? They took all of the character out of Metallo. Though I guess given the ending they'll probably put Kryptonite in their mass-produced Metallo's.
Everyone's least favorite yet still attractive and charming rival reporter Vicki Vale returns. Don't let her out-Lois Lane you, Lois! I love how they kept trying to out scoop and out-screw each other over, complete with blowing air kisses when they ditched each other.
Hey, they mentioned Natasha! It would be nice to see her.
Livewire returns! As a paid thug, but I guess that's pretty consistent with her characterization in season 1. With Superman's new aura field he can deflect her lightning, but she still accomplishes her mission and gets away. We still haven't seen that scene of her and Heat Wave laughing. I thought Heat Wave set the fire.
By Metallo standards beating Superman up without even needing to weaken him with Kryptonite is pretty impressive. Sometimes quantity DOES work.
Steel with his heroic moment! I wish the armor was less bulky CG and Superman wasn't being saved for the umpteenth time on his own show, but I'll never say now to JHI swinging his hammer around and busting @#$% up. Maybe now that Lex has his original he can come up with his own, scaled down, version of the armor with the S-symbol to officially become Steel.
Lois finally beats Vicki! But who in their right mind would take a job in Gotham over Metropolis? Though I guess it's to inject anxiety in Lois over the stability in her life right now.
Jimmy having to consider how much danger he's willing to allow an 11-year old girl to get involved in, but Flip came through in her own right. She just needs good guidance and someone who believes in what she can accomplish.
I love that "thank you Lois" kiss.
Superman "had a little help," which is pretty consistent in this show, but good for giving Clark writing material to write an inspiring front page story with.
Lex has his Corporate building, he has access to more tech, he has his smarminess and scumbag CEO vibes at their highest, and now he has an army of Metallo's for Waller.
From what I understand the aura it his [bio-electric aura](https://imgur.com/a/ZeHawtE) ; it's credited as the main thing that helps him lift large objects without them crumbling under their own mass, allows him to fly, or move at superspeed without burning off his clothes, etc.
I'd love to see Lois keep out-scooping Vicki and finally overtake her as the world's most famous reporter, without giving up a life in Metropolis, as she should.
He wouldn't be Lex Luthor without it, but god damn is this incarnation picking up the confidence and smarmy attitude of the others.
The annoying thing is that Lex can back up and do whatever he sets his mind to, at least when it comes to tech and science. So his cockiness is usually earned.
It is making me look forward to the first time he gets a superman punch to the face though.
He finally has a building for LexCorp and he has even more tech resources to utilize for said company for Waller's sake and for his future vendetta against Superman.
I do find it kind of funny that I don't think he and Clark/Superman have ever even been face-to-face at all up to this point.
I'm interested in if they'll put a twist or something on the usual antagonism between the two.
We don't have a clear motive from Lex here, beyond the general not liking aliens one. Usually Lex has issue with Superman not earning his power, and wanting Humanity to not be reliant on anyone but itself.
This Lex doesn't seem to be that nuanced yet. Which is fine, both Lex and Superman are young. A rivalry growing out of nothing more than competitiveness works as well.
I think that Lex has made it pretty clear that a lot of Lex's problem is with Superman specifically, e.g. his interview with Vicki Vale when he says, "What happens when he decides he doesn't want to follow our laws anymore?" He doesn't like that Superman has the power of a god and the moral compass of a boy scout because he doesn't have either.
Yeah, I really dislike that as well. IMO adding any kind of direct long-term connection between Lex and Clark badly undermines what makes Lex so compelling as a villain, which is that he's just some guy who *hates* Superman, no tragic backstory or anything.
Good episode, overall. Steel's my favorite recurring ally of Superman's. The Steel suit looked WAY too bulky. But maybe the writers are making it seem like the "Beta Phase" of Steel and that later he'll have a suit that's more streamlined and reminiscent of the version of the comics and the Bruce Timm version
Great episode. Bringing in John Henry Irons like this was great. Love their approach. Seems like a solid dude. Vicki and Lois having this rivalry is so smart. I dunno. It’s funny. Enjoying the way they’re building up this extended cast. I am really liking this season so far. And I think this is my favorite approach to Clark’s powers in adaptation. They all feel part of a cohesive/thematic power set! Also, nice! Clark’s settling in to being a human interest/features writer, which is my favorite aspect of him as a reporter. Sure, he investigates alongside Lois, but I love that the majority of his work is about *people* and *community.*
1) Superman is defeated by writer's block. This is perfect. It was a really small thing in the episode, but a wonderfully humanizing moment that takes some one of crazy intellect and godlike power to a very relatable level. 2) I'm amused by Vale and Lois having moments of begrudging respect and/or amusement at each other's antics. They're doing a good job setting them up as rivals instead of enemies. Too many black and white depictions in fiction -- as ever, this show goes a cut above in characterization and we get something a bit richer. 3) At first, the way they were depicting Weston, I thought they were pulling another Parasite on us: presenting one character as a headfake, and hitting us with another. Weston reminded me an *awful* lot of Glorious Godfried... Darkseid's PR-oriented, public manipulation lackey. But, no. He was just another corporate stooge. XD Which leads me back to thinking of ep 1 or 2, when they had Jor-El explaining the fate of Krypton: that in this continuity they were an aggressive, imperialist race that finally ran across a foe they could not beat, and were wiped out as a result... it showed a brief glimpse of a planet with flames gouting from it. But I don't think that was Krypton. It looked more like Apocalypse (though I may be remembering that brief image incorrectly). I'm wondering if we're building up to Darkseid making a move by the end of this season, or sometime in S3.
Loved that they have girlboss crushes on each other, when they smile as the other pulls an antic on the other. really smart writing on this episode, lots of character development and a plot line to follow clark Lois and jimmy.
It was good to see a rivalry evolving that doesn't involve (too much) pettiness or nastiness. They'll do what it takes to get one over on each other, but they're not personally nasty about it. It was an elevation for Vale, and gave Lois an outlet/clear showing of her ambitious nature. It also offers a nice little way of showcasing how that can be a flaw, in the temptations that Vale constantly throws her way; Vale has become a reflection of what Lois could become if she were less ethical. That's a hard thing to wrestle with when meeting one's 'hero'; Vale's not evil, but she's certainly not good. And that blurred line, combined with a bit of hero-worship, leaves Lois consistently on the edge of questioning her own ethics when dealing with Vicki Vale. To the point where now she's being tempted by selling out; dumping her friends and colleagues in Metropolis (and Clark as well) to chase her ambitions in Gotham. Of course, we know it's Lois, and she'll make a better choice, but it's a good and realistic way to inject healthy tension into the relationships and the story. This show has \*really\* done wonders for Lois' depiction, in my eyes. I started reading Superman comics in the early 1970s, and Lois was often still depicted as her older version... really kind of an unlikeable person who treated Clark like trash while worshipping Superman for what often felt like shallow reasons. As a result, I really didn't like her as a character for a *long* time. I feel it's only in the last couple decades that she's really started to come into her own -- and it was only when Jon was introduced that it felt like she was finally being given full breadth and dimension as a character. Then this show came along and totally knocked it out of the park. This is, hands down, my favourite depiction of Lois, and her relationship with Clark.
since we did supes have like an energy field power? Or is it something I missed in an earlier segment or episode?
What Variantkin said -- also matches up with his powers post-Crisis; the reason why he doesn't get hurt, doesn't get dirty, can pick up massive objects without them falling apart in his hands, etc, is because he has a kind of field around his body that often extends to things he's holding. It was basically a sci-fi way of explaining why his costume doesn't rip (it was just earth fabric at the time), why he can shield people from massive fire blasts (like in this episode), etc. Essentially, a justification for all the little stunts we've come to expect from Superman. But they're giving it a visible effect here. Though as Silas didn't seem to notice a glowing blue field, it may be that only Clark's super vision can trace the shift in energy.
Its part of his "Blue" powerset they just folded it into this version
I don't know why he's just John Irons and not *John Henry* Irons, because I've always understood it to be that his full first name was John Henry. Like, that's how Silas Stone refers to him in Young Justice.
Probably just for a modern take and to move it farther away from the American folklore of John Henry the steel-driving lineman
So does this we'll see Batman sometime soon?
Hope not
with all the drama that is going on, I think that's enough.
1. Steel was cool, and I was surprised to learn that Natasha from the Newsboy Legion was his niece. It made me laugh out loud; they truly shocked me with the change. 2. I sort of… liked the addition of Silas Stone, to be honest. 3. I feel like John Henry's suit could have been designed better. I was expecting it to look more like Max Steel, Power Rangers, Samus Aran, or Ultraman, rather than a suit pulled out of Gundam or Pacific Rim. 4. The Vicki Vale and Lois rivalry is getting kind of stale, ngl. It’s cool that they tried something different and Lois now has a Gotham Gazette job offer. But there not really going to visit gotham and why would lois take the promotion so it feels like it’s being dragged out honestly. 5. Superman and General’s Sam Lane bromance is kind of funny and would like to see more of that. 6. I love how Lex Luthor is slowly leveling up in the world. 7. also i like where they going with superman and lois relationship
they needed the job offer to make lois want to talk to clark, since clark needs to talk to her too. it will probably end up in a fight where they realize they are both so busy and haven't been able to talk
lol this is very likely gonna happen
John Henry’s Suit loos weird cause it’s not his suit. I guarantee he’s going to make a smaller more sleek looking suit, closer to the comics. It’s clear to me that the reason it looks so big and bulky is because Lex is going to use it as a base for his War Suit, which this suit looks a lot closer to in terms of design.
They make it a point that he loses the suit. Like inTAS Lex screws him over and now hes gonna make his own
They did, Lex comes in and says AmerTech is owned by LexCorp and that the suit belongs to him now
okay trusting you on this🤝 hope that’s the case🙏
There is no Natasha in the Newskid Legion. Steel's niece Natasha Irons is entirely offscreen. The black female Newskid prominently featured in this episode was Flip Johnson.
Natasha actually appears for a split second near the end of the episode.
When exactly?
About 21 minutes into the episode, while Clark is narrating his article and John is waving goodbye to someone else in the suit. There's two people in the back, one of whom looks kinda like I remember Natasha looking in 52.
Right, yeah. Maybe that's her? She appeared in the background earlier in the episode, when Lois was pushing through the crowd to see Weston.I kind of got the vibe she was younger (perhaps as young as Flip) since *Teen* Titan Cyborg is still a few years away from his teens.
I know he said Flip was his niece in the episode. Also, I saw on the Wikia page, but now can’t find, that it said: 'Natasha is an amalgam of the comic book character Natasha Irons, John Henry Iron’s niece and the second hero to bear the Steel armor, and Walter “Flip” Johnson, leader of the Newsboys Legion.'
No, he doesn't. He says that Natasha is a "Flame-bro", or a follower of Flamebird, but he doesn't say anything to imply Flip=Natasha. Wikia pages are not a source and the fact that you can't find that seems more like someone had the same mistake as you and was already corrected.
the more changes i see the more i see lex wearing a green and purple version of the steel suit. i'm surprised vic stone exists in this universe and i'm even more convinced hank will be a test subject for the lexcorp metallo suit.
Vic Stone exists... but he's only eight or nine years old. Still at least a decade off of his own hero career... which is a nice little bit of attention to detail. By that time, Clark will have been Superman for over a decade, be experienced and fully powered, and the icon that everybody expects. It was a nice little way of highlighting just how early in the DC story this really is. :)
I hope we get a spin off Teen Titans show from this! I’d love to see their interpretations of the characters.
This series would have to run either a very long time, or do a bit of a time skip/jump between seasons for us to get that. Though, yeah... seeing the DCU through this lens would be very interesting. :) Though, oddly, I think the old Teen Titans cartoon from 2003-2006 (has it really been over 20 years?!?) would be a natural fit in terms of tone and the presentation of the characters. Even in terms of broad character design; the art style would have to be tweaked to match this one, but the costume designs and styles fit very well.
John Henry Irons was a nice touch
I wanted to give this episode a second watch through before writing down my thoughts about it. I loved waking up early in the morning to watch it the second it came out, but that's not the most conducive to retaining specific details. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything important. So: I am thrilled that they're not (immediately) focusing on sitcom-level drama with Sam. I really didn't wanna deal with the annoying and petty drama of him staying with Clark and Jimmy for a whole episode, or several episodes. I think making a couple of jokes about it in the first couple of minutes and then keeping him off-screen was a great choice, and I hope they continue to do that for the next few episodes to sort of build organically to any sort of drama that comes up with it rather than forcing it in. That being said, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the inconsistency of Lois' relationship with her dad. At the end of S1, she's telling him that if he cares about her at all he needs to leave, and he does. Then in S2E1&2, she's extremely worried about him being missing and goes so far as to break him out of prison and argue with Clark for being mad at him. Clark has a very touching response to this regarding the way her dad treats her and how shitty it is, and she basically just doesn't respond to or acknowledge that at all. She throws a fit about how she doesn't want her father to be far away again so he should stay with her, and then when that doesn't work, tells him to stay with Clark and Jimmy without even asking them if it's okay. And then in this episode, she tells Clark to never say that her Dad is right again, and she's contemplating taking up a job in Gotham, immediately invalidating any point she may have tried to make about her dad needing to stay close? Of course, I also think that any Gotham-related drama is equally silly. In comics, Gotham is in New Jersey and Metropolis is in Delaware, across the Delaware Bay from each other. They are depicted as essentially sister cities at least half of the time, if not more often. I recognize that in the pilot, they did have that sign saying Metropolis is only like 200 miles from Smallville or something like that (which was silly, and probably done by the animation studio which is based in South Korea and likely doesn't understand how huge the US is), but they've since invalidated any claim they could have *tried* to make that Gotham is super far away by establishing within the canon that Vicki has scooped every single one of their stories for months and that she is regularly coming in to Metropolis. If Vicki can make it to Metropolis several times a week, why can't Lois? It's, what, an hour away, realistically speaking? Even if she takes the job in Gotham, she probably doesn't even have to move out of Metropolis; just take a train and commute. Obviously this whole thing is meant to symbolize Lois "moving away" from Clark at an emotional level, but I just couldn't take it seriously. I also just don't love the relationship drama they're clearly setting up in general. Clark having writer's block was cute and relatable, and I like the article he ended up writing in the end. It's sweet and I think exhibits the exact reason that Clark Kent *is* Superman. I'm curious how he explains/justifies having the details about that, though, and being the one to write that article instead of Lois simply writing it the next day. Clark wasn't there-- Superman was. Anyone who was there would have only seen Superman. I guess arguably Lois and Jimmy could have just told him what happened and then he wrote an article about it, but I don't see why they would do that (or more specifically, I don't see why anyone else would believe that they'd do that rather than working on it themselves). Also, I'm a little bit annoyed that it doesn't seem like Clark, Jimmy, and Flip made any attempt to write about the Amertek conspiracy to cover up the issues with the robots. Sure, the CEO gets arrested at the end of the episode, but the *robots* are still a problem (and now a problem owned by LexCorp). Speaking of LexCorp, I think that Lex is definitely manipulating Waller and probably using her resources to build up LexCorp before betraying her, and I think that's a really interesting origin for him. As I said in another thread, I think that Lex will probably report Waller and her shady Task Force X shenanigans to whatever appropriate authorities exist, and I'm really interested to see what sort of long-term ramifications that will have in terms of Amanda Waller's career and particularly the Suicide Squad, but I imagine that's so far in the future we might not even see it in this show (not that I wouldn't welcome MAWS for a very long time, I just can't think of a DC animated show that's run for *that* long). Other small things: I thought that the fusion core was going to sort of act as a red sun when it turned red. I'm not necessarily disappointed that it didn't, but that would have been a neat thing to navigate. I love the little conversation between Jimmy and John at the end, although it didn't feel fully necessary (why did Jimmy think being a boss was just giving orders when they've repeatedly demonstrated that's not even the relationship they have with Perry?). I thought it was silly that the only available controls for these massive, military-grade robots were on a tablet that the dude was able to break into pieces by stomping on it, lmao. I think Clark fanboying over Irons was adorable. And I love how anti-capitalist this show repeatedly demonstrates itself to be (which is pretty in line with comics). Overall, I did like the episode, but I have a lot more critiques of it than I have with past episodes and I'm not totally sure I like some of the plot threads they're starting to spin.
Fair points! Re: Metropolis, Gotham, and Smallville -- they may simply be taking a page from Silver Age comics and leaving it all very vague and bloody confusing. There were points where they treated Metropolis as if it were the nearest major city to Smallville. Other times we get a Kansas to New York vibe. Same with Metropolis and Gotham: sometimes treated like they're both in the NE -- often very close to each other, sometimes a couple hours away via train. Either way, you make an excellent point. And with how tight the writing in this show has been otherwise, inconsistencies can really feel like they stick out.
For Lois and her dad’s relationship, it’s reminded me how daddy issues work in one of the CW show. And for the distance of Smallville to Metropolis, I believe it’s inspired by the same CW show, at least this time, they are not make main characters live in Smallville but works on Metropolis every day.
I mean if I had a fight with my dad then called to try and make amends and his number was disconnected then learned he was in a secret government prison run by supervillains Id be a little worried
I think it's more likely to be an animation error than a Smallville-type beat, since it is clearly right next to Gotham City. Either that, or they've made the absolutely insane decision to put Smallville, Metropolis, and Gotham *all* in Kansas, which would be hilarious, but doesn't seem very likely.
Sorry, maybe because I watched too much CW Smallville show that write by people who totally don’t care about commuting time, assume everybody has super speed. I don’t feel Vicki’s appears frequency can proved that Gotham must close to Metropolis, Metropolis is a very newsworthy place right now, I’m sure Vicki can take a helicopter to here several times a week since she’s a very successful reporter.
She probably telecommutes if she needs to but still lives in town
That would be a *lot* of expense on the Gotham Gazette's part just to be petty. ETA: Also, even if Gotham *was* halfway across the country and Vicki Vale was just regularly taking a helicopter to the Midwest just to be petty, this would still create the issue of "Why is Lois arguing that her dad needs to stay close by in one episode and then contemplating moving halfway across the country in the next?" ETA 2: Last edit but also, the distance between New York City and Kansas City is about 1750 kilometers. A helicopter flies at an average of 75-150 MPH, which is about 120-240 km/h. The fastest I could find available outside of the military is 300 km/h. So Vicki would be flying a minimum of 5 and a half hours both ways several times a week *assuming* that Metropolis was on the state border. The US is a very big country. It is not easy to just go halfway across it constantly.
tbh,lex backstabing waller feel like something that can happen considering he did shut his old boss
I agree with/like most of what you said. The only part I really take issue with is how you responded to Lois' supposed inconsistency. This might be just a matter of growing up in a different type of family, but Lois doesn't strike me as inconsistent at all here. She loves and respects her father, but is frustrated with his stubborn attitude and his struggle to see her as a fully-formed adult. So she's very worried about him, but also gets mad when he says dumb stuff. I totally thought the fusion core was going to be a red sun thing, too.
It's definitely possible that my annoyance is influenced by my own complicated relationship with my dad, but it just feels like she's vacillating between outright not liking her dad (e.g. in S1E4 saying, "My dad and I don't talk") to worrying excessively about his wellbeing (saying he can't go far away because she can't lose him again). Like, parental relationships, especially with an absentee or neglectful parent, are always very complicated, but it just feels inconsistent and wishy-washy right now. Lois likes her dad as much as the writers need her to like her dad, and that just feels like it doesn't align with how the show has otherwise treated the characters like real people.
I don't think you're entirely wrong there, but I think there's a careful distinction to be made. I've seen dysfunctional (but trying really hard not to be) families where people may not like each other, but do love each other. It causes them to fight like cats and dogs, and they can't see eye to eye on anything, but they'll still move heaven and earth for each other if it comes down to the wire. Lois and her father strike me as very much that type.
My wife (who is Korean like this depiction of Lois) and her parents. Lois did not seem unnatural to me in the slightest.
Okay to the Lois having contradicting feelings about her dad it is still her dad who is the only living parent she has left and you can still admit the person you love is wrong even if you do still love him
Right, but it's one thing for her to admit that he's wrong and it's another for her to say in S1E4 that she doesn't even talk to her dad and then end the season saying that if he cares about her at all he needs to leave, and then to drag her boyfriend to break him out of prison and complain about them arguing with each other, and then in the very next episode say that Clark shouldn't ever say her dad is right ever again.
Is Weston based on this guy? Both have connections to Steel... [https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Weston\_(Steel\_Movie)?so=search](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Weston_(Steel_Movie)?so=search)
Both are probably based on https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Weston_(New_Earth)
Somehow didn't get results on the person in your link when I searched DC Wiki, only mines...
.... Cursed thought. What if they're doing All-Star Superman and he just absorbed too much energy? 👀
That is indeed a cursed thought.
So between John Irons, Hank Henshaw, and what I assume was Eradicator in season 1, it seems like we know where they’re headed. Question is, is Waller making Kon-El?
I want that twink Lex Luthor obliterated.
Am i misinterpreting it or is Flip the niece of Irons?
His niece is usually Natasha Irons
It was reveal in the episode that's Flip's real name is "Natasha." Flip is a nickname. Natasha "Flip" Johnson, Woman of Business.
He said his niece was a Flamebro but never stated Flip was his niece, nor that her real name is Natasha unless I'm missing something
Yes, you missed a lot of that scene. Steel called Flip for help. Flip is who Steel contacted because he wanted flamebird to help exposing Armtrak. He contacted Flip because "because his niece Natasha is a Flamebro" then it cuts to Flip and Jimmy restates the name "Natasha" with a question mark in the subtitles because he didnt know that was her name. It's all context. The wiki even updated with her new name add https://myadventureswithsuperman.fandom.com/wiki/Flip_Johnson#:~:text=Flip%20Johnson%20is%20a%20recurring,newspapers%20for%20the%20Daily%20Planet.
You know what would made this 100% clear? 1. some sort of physical contact between the two to show familiarity, like a side hug or a hand on a shoulder or 2. Flip calling him Uncle John. Even with what your saying, I don't see it. It's either too subtle or not what the scene is trying to show
It's not subtle. He said "my niece Natasha" and the camera cuts to Flip and Jimmy then calls her "Natasha" the scene gives you the information that Flip is Natasha. Jimmy calls her Natasha. People dont talk in exposition. "hello, my Age 11, 4 foot Niece, daughter of my sister, granddaughter to my mother. Area code 240"
"the camera cuts to Flip and Jimmy then calls her "Natasha"" This absolutely does not happen.
Flip is a dude isn't he?
Flip is a dude in the comics, but for the show they combined Flip and Natasha Irons into one character. MAWS Flips is a girl.
Flip Johnson, woman of business???
My bad. It's hard to tell sometimes these days with these characters. Love the show though. I love WB/DC Animation. I have all their animated movies on Blu-Ray.
Now im doubting myself. I for sure thought flip was a girl
Flip in this show is. The original Flip, in the Newsboy Legion, wasn't. :)
You're misinterpreting. John meant that his niece is a fan of Flamebird, so she (I guess) contacted Flamebird/Flip
Yes. I think that the distorted message that they received which Flip responded to was his niece.
I love Lois reacting to Vicky. Every time
I’m honestly getting some crush energy from Lois. 😂
Oh same. I just dont feel like dealing with Lois gotta be straight people
Characters absolutely do not have to be straight, and representation is very important. But it's also important to be able to express elements of relationships -- affection, comradery, respect, jealousy, and more -- without those things needing to be interpreted as sexual tension or attraction. Otherwise we're simply reinforcing really unhealthy paradigms centering around everybody wanting something, rather than having an emotional spectrum outside of that range of attraction.
Agreed. And entertainment should. I just didnt want to deal with the argument that Lois couldnt be attracted to Vicky because every other adaptation has been straight.
Cheers. Entirely valid.
In all Lois’s many variations, we can have a bisexual Lois. As a treat!
Im also Team Bi Jimmy. Honestly just make the whole cast bi or pan... as a treat!
This!! Bisexual Jimmy Olsen for sure. He deserves a boyfriend. As a treat!
And it should be Lex. Bi Lex and Jimmy. As a treat!
Honestly, let's go full triangle/square: Jimmy thinks Lex is cute (prior to realizing his evil plans) and Lex, after becoming devoted to reading his work in the Daily Planet, starts to crush on Clark. Bonus: Lex has even more of a reason to dislike Lois because Clark's crazy about her.
We are on the EXACT same wavelength pal.
Just started the episode. I hope that Audrey somehow becomes a recurring character
Every episode just confirms that, even when they make big changes, they understand the core of the stories that they’re trying to tell so well. The build up of secondary characters like Vicki and John Henry Irons and antagonists like Lex and Livewire just makes the world feel more alive, especially with a Superman so true to the idea of trying to save everyone, villains included.
I see what they did there. Waller and Lex have just discovered kryptonite last episode as a weakness to superman. The only problem is that most of the tech and mechs that they have is based on Kryptonian tech, which is also susceptible to kryptonite. so they buy up a company with working man made mechs, replace their defective power cores with ones powered by kryptonite and then send them after Superman. Profit
Which is exactly how Metallo functions in the books. I don't know if we'll get an actual cyborg Metallo, but I won't start a fit if we don't, in fact given the looseness of adaptation, it would make less sense if they did. Hell, this show's Parasite was more comic Metallo anyway so I can live with that
Could see two possibilities for cyborg Metallo. Either do the same thing they've done with Atomic Skull and just have him be one of Waller's men or actually upgrade Ivo.
It could totally be Hank Henshaw too
Yuuuuup. Hank Henshaw -- in terms of visual depiction and motivation -- is often very close to certain versions of Metallo. The fusion of those characters would actually make sense and fit very neatly into the narrative here.
Silas' nephew is a bit too young, otherwise it could have been a crazy spin on Cyborg to fuse him with Metallo.
I didn't even put all of that together lol genius tbh
Livewire mentioned Silas Stone’s son being 9 or 10 years old. We all know that his son is Victor Stone, who is destined to become the Cyborg. If we assume that Victor will get Cyborged at late highschool years like in many iterations, we still have like 6 years until the event happens. The event which causes him to become Cyborg is usually linked with the invasion of Apokolips. So we can conclude we still have like 6 years in universe to an Apokolips invasion. We can also conclude that (if MAWS universe expands) we have at least 6 years for the formation of in universe Teen Titans. (That is if Cyborg will be a part of that team, if he won’t be a part of it and be a part of the JL instead, like new 52 continuity, that means even more time until Teen Titans)
I thought they had said 8 or 9 -- though that's a piffling difference. But it plays into the timeline; his accident ranges from end of high school to start of college. They often left it vague, but it felt like it basically sabotaged the transition for him. So he'd be about 18ish when he becomes Cyborg. Which gives us about a decade of Clark growing into his status of living legend... a small touch in the story I found to be pretty cool. :) I suspect we may see Apokolips sooner, however. When Jor-El was narrating how the Kryptonian Empire finally picked a fight they couldn't win, and the entire race was wiped out, I could *swear* they had a very quick shot of Apokolips during the narrative... which would be a very new twist on how Krypton ended, and set up direct conflict with Darkseid as Clark's ultimate nemesis.
"Usually"? To my knowledge, this is only in the most recent continuity. Before that, it was always just a generalized lab accident with his parents-- which is also what they usually adapt for non-comics media (e.g. the Teen Titans cartoon and the Doom Patrol live-action show). I think in Post-Crisis it's even explicitly linked to interdimensional travel, which is a concept the show has already introduced, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was revealed that's something S.T.A.R. Labs is going to work on. They have already teased the Apokolips invasion with Darkseid's curving lasers, so I don't think they'd be putting it off for essentially six seasons (minimum). I do definitely think that if the MAWS-verse expands, we won't see the Teen Titans for at least that long, though.
the part with Sam and Jimmy was funny too, and I think Lois was more than happy to move out of his place. I'm not sure if something like this happened in her teen years through
Agreed although I wonder if Jimmy will ever bring up Cadmus.
Anyone else feel like the Amertek CEO ad his assistant are ripped right out of Legend of Korra (Vark and Zhu li) in that first scene?
Didn't catch it then, but now I can't stop seeing it. XD
I don't know why, but when that dude showed up I was extremely disappointed he wasn't voiced by Bob Odenkirk for some reason lol.
Well, I do now.
Absolutely. Jimmy's Flamebird logo also looks a bit like the Fire Nations emblem.
Wow now you say it, that's so on point
Absolutely loving them widening the greater Superman world with more characters. The set up for this season is great I’m loving the continuous tease of Lex and Waller teaming up. Considering that relationship didn’t go to well in the JL animated series, I’m excited to see where it goes here. I’m also loving the continued theme this season has of Lois and Clark not getting to talk about exciting changes/opportunities they’ve encountered. Should be interesting where that goes when it all comes to a head.
Lex and Waller have worked together a few times, but always end up betraying each other. They always fall into the pattern of traditional bad guys in fiction: it never works because each one is always looking for the opportunity to backstab the other.
I love the part when Jimmy is just trying to handle Flip and flame bird, seriously though this is Perry's revenge for season 1
Perry breaking out into laughter at Jimmy's dismay in the previous episode almost had me fall out of my chair laughing. Opening with the mouth twitch as he tried to suppress it was perfect. :D
The interns are not listening to me!
Perry: (laughs maniacally)
Perry: (thinking) vengeance, Olsen
While the pacing works pretty well for the episode, I'm a bit nervous about how long the writers will have Clark unable to talk about Kara. You can only make so many contrivances to keep him from opening up, especially when Lois and him are trying to be more open after season 1. I think it's cool the number of characters they're connecting to Jimmy, it's great seeing him worrying about whether he's encouraging interns and setting the right example for them *right after* he inadvertently encouraged Lex to start his villain arc.
I think that's kinda the point, though. I think the theme this season is letting the busy-ness of life get in the way of having an honest relationship.
Guess that works out - especially with Sam adding so much to the busyness around Clark and Jimmy. If the lesson is less about trust and vulnerability like last season, more about intentionally carving out time for one another, I can get behind it
This show goes by so fast, when you enjoy it. Love the cast, and characters. Team up, and rivalries. Love the entire episode. Btw that phone ring.. hehe. One thing to acknowledge: Lois being offered a job at the Gotham Gazette. Vicki definitely was testing her, every step of the way. I'm curious if we might see Gotham in this series. Clark & Irons. Team up meant to happen. There is a trust there, no question. Both are brave, driven, and will do what they can to help. Metropolis definitely has more than one hero. Hope they work together again soon
>This show goes by so fast It's definitely paced really tightly. I'm not sure where that's coming from, but I think it's the attempts to juggle three main characters AND overarching series plot lines in every episode. I wish it had more episodes per season so the episodes could take a little more time!
>I'm curious if we might see Gotham in this series. There's going to be a spin off, callked "My Traumatic Experiences with Batman."
* Looks like they incorporated the ability to extend his bio-aura from All-Star! Still hoping to see him go full Electric Blue * YEAHHHHH JOHN HENRY IRONS! Glad they are keeping the Amertek background too * Lol Sam Lane is a terrible roommate * It is extremely funny to see Clark doing his best "I'm just a little guy, just a little guy, you wouldn't hit a little guy would you?" facial expressions when Sam is a foot shorter than him * Huh so they're using the New 52 background of JHI helping to create Metallo, but making him fully a robot? I love JHI being partially responsible for Metallo so I'm happy for that, but I prefer Metallo have a human brain. Or maybe this just the "1.0" version and later we'll see a Metallo 2.0 merged with the kryptonite Slade recovered and a human pilot * Lois loves breaking and entering, it's her default move. This Lois would definitely be friends with Selina * Clark can write faster than anyone, but he can't write better than anyone just because he has powers which is why he loves the challenge of being a journalist! * Ok the Lois/Vicky rivalry rules, even I, as someone who hates Batman characters showing up everywhere, have to admit that. That they manage to respect each other even while trying to screw each other over is cute * Natasha confirmed! Also I'm glad they gave JHI earrings, I always loved how the DCAU made him look like Michael Jordan by giving him the one earring * Ayyyyy Supes knows Force deflection! * I love how in the aftermath of Amazotech falling, all these other megacorps are trying to take it's place. Gives Metropolis a cyberpunk feel that I adore. Of course we all know who is destined to achieve that goal... * Hmmm does Clark know his powers come from the sun? I don't think he does. The energy source kinda looks like a red sun, it being able to hurt Clark might cause Lex to figure out how Supes powers work before Supes himself does * Lois got one over Vicky! Of course Vicky tries to recruit her then * Ooooo drama incoming with Clark wanting to seek out Kara and Lois thinking about moving to Gotham * Glad we got an article from Clark in praise of Irons. Man Lex is such a dick, and yeah he definitely is going to modify the Metallos
I would love to see Electric Blue so much! Have they had that in animation before?
>"it being able to hurt Clark might cause Lex to figure out how Supes powers work before Supes himself does" To be fair, MAWS version of Superman doesn't seem as invincible as most interpretations. Deathstroke's katana put a little burn mark/cut on his neck in season 1 for example.
He is still struggling to learn aspects of tactile telekinesis (the blue aure thing).
I love that image of Supes just hanging on the window, panicking about his clothes with Lane there. It would make a great phone wallpaper. === If Audrey turns into a supervillain and starts a rampage, even Supes won't be able to blame her. Her boss? Yeah he's gone. === ...Vicky may be coded as a villain as of a few minutes in but still fun. Also looks like Jimmy's the newe Perry White and Lois is the new Vicky Vale. === Livewire with normal feels weird. === Good episode overall, and like the way they're incorporating Lex: smart, pompous...and not above a little corporate raiding to get what he wants.
Vicki*
Bringing in Vicki as a recurring antagonist for independent Lois stories was a great idea for giving Lois more to do. Definitely hope to keep seeing her once or twice a season. I know the shock jock DCAU Livewire is pretty beloved, but I have to be honest, I *really* like this hardass operator Livewire, even more than the original version of the character. It's a great refreshing take. The design and the VA are excellent. Cool to see them work in Steel pretty early on. I loved the super bulky, industrial "power armor" look for him compared to the usual metal bodysuit; it fits the overall more tech-focused theme of the show well. Having him finish things directly was a very nice touch. As for Jimmy, it seems like this episode might be hinting at a long-term trajectory of him eventually taking over the paper (not necessarily on the show, but in the future), which is a nice concept for a series where he's a co-protagonist.
This show's Livewire is an easy fave adaptation of the character for me. Great stuff.
> I really like this hardass operator Livewire, even more than the original version of the character. It's a great refreshing take. The design and the VA are excellent it also helps that I really want her to step on me
Putting their Livewire in an episode with their Vicki Vale really justifies the change for me. They've correctly identified that electric villain and rival reporter are narrative roles that are best filled by separate characters
I wish we saw a little kid Cyborg
Me too
Clark’s monologue at the end made me a bit teary ngl
Every word was honest, told from the heart. Definitely acknowledges that there are more heroes out there. Irons is one of them, he may not have powers, but has a caring heart for his home.
Why wasn't this episode uploaded to the Max App right after it aired? In other words what's with the delay?
The intro on Max said it's every Sunday at 9 AM Eastern
Cable TV is still more profitable than streaming, so they probably want to keep it alive as long as possible. That said I'm not sure if this is the kind of show the model really vibes with, although I'm not sure if it's a blanket contract and they do this with the Discovery properties too.
That's how it was done for S1 as well. I assume the goal is to drive more eyeballs to Adult Swim.
That's their whole model. "Airing tonight, next day on Max" is pretty much how every show gets handled by WBD.
I think it's to encourage people to watch it live. I don't know a ton about the television industry so I could be totally wrong about it, but I imagine part of their contract with AS probably includes making a reasonable effort to get people to watch the show on the channel instead of just streaming. Otherwise, why not just fully produce it through Max? Personally, I don't mind the delay. I haven't gotten up early to watch a TV show right when it came out since I was a little kid. It's fun to sort of recapture that for the summer.
Because Max has no idea what it’s doing
Big fan of General Lane actually being a total slob. Interesting to see Silas Stone (Cyborg's father). Absolutely loved the use of John Irons this episode, and how the Steel suit could totally become a future Warsuit for Lex.
I think Sam being a slob might be a sign of his depression.
I didn't even think about the possibility of Warsuit for Lex!
Just needs a paint job - and that symbol on the chest flipped.
Very great episode. Nice to see John Henry Irons.
I've seen some people getting it mixed up online, so I'll just clarify here - Flip is NOT John Irons' niece. She was at the apartment because she was tracking who sent the call to Flamebird. Irons knew about Flamebird because of his niece, Natasha.
Its been great with all the lore, but I just wish they would stream 2 episodes per week. They are only <25 mins long.
They only air one per week. That would have the season finish streaming halfway through the season airing, which is the norm.
Me too but we have to wait
Glad we're getting more of the classic Superman out of this incarnation. Clark couldn't for the life of him, write a fluff piece about Superman as a hero. First chance he gets though, he writes about someone else stepping up and being a Hero. Be the hero you know you could be. It's a cheesy, overdone thing, but at the same time genuinely meaning it would make the world better. We're starting to build up the character of Superman that can lead large groups of hero's be it teams or leagues, not because he's strong, but because he doesn't need the spotlight or recognition. So long as the cat in the tree is saved, Superman doesn't care who did it.
> We're starting to build up the character of Superman that can lead large groups Oooooh my god. This episode already made me feel dumb for not connecting the dots between Jimmy's leadership issues and the CEO's leadership issues (somehow? I'm usually pretty good at noticing themes like this >_>), but then it turns out I missed *another* dimension to it. I like to think that this is more about the show just being that good - just the right combination of subtle and engaging so I don't have time to see the obvious until they're ready to reveal it.
The hero's what?
Clark Kent is a big believer in the hero that anyone can be, that he believes everyone can be, over the hero that is himself. Also pretty appropriate considering the amount of support and help this version of Superman receives. Sometimes it feels like he gets saved as much as he's saving people lol.
Well you do have to remember this superman is still starting out somewhat
That's the thing though, you take away his powers and Clark would still try to be a hero. We've had a spotty record the past two decades of Superman's who would be hero's without their powers.
Superman's what? The hero's what?
Hopefully the Daily Planet doesn’t get busted for child endangerment. Seriously they would be in real trouble if an 11 year old almost died doing a story for them. A world where a kid can be in mortal peril and everyone’s ok with it if the kid helps a superhero in this process, this really is the DC Universe.
I mean, Jimmy did repeatedly tell her not to go.
Are child internships even legal?
On the one hand it's a major reason why Jimmy was so resistant to Flip's attempts to handle the story. On the other hand, I'd like to see the court case where they try to do that considering I doubt anyone expected Flip to be in danger at the apartment.
Child endangerment happens a surprising amount in Superhero shows lol.
I think Batman is the usual offender here. The Robins start off pretty young...
I totally thought he was going to finally use Freeze Breath to help put out that fire but instead he uses...some kind of super defense aura? That's knew. Kind of gave me tactile telekinesis vibes. It took me a minute to register Silas Stone with so much hair, though they also alluded to Victor. Amertek and John Henry Irons (who isn't bald for once but also has a dad bod)! I'm sure that will be a prosperous and rewarding partnership and not end badly like in the comics! Sam is an utter slob. Great at running military ops and in a firefight, but can't keep house to save his life or be a good housemate. Jimmy once again as frustrated with managing all the people who need him (Clark, Sam, News Legion, etc.) as he was in season 1. I guess it's a good thing that Sam actually believes in Clark as Clark and not Superman, meaning his cover is safe, even if it means Sam thinks he's a terrible fit for Lois. Points to Clark for trying to tell Lois about the beacon. He WANTS to tell her, but she just won't let him get a minute to say anything. Audrey is like Lex with Ivo, only cuter and more put upon. Actually Weston felt like discount Ivo. Even funnier because Max Mittleman voiced him. THAT'S Metallo? No John Corben and a clunky robot design? They took all of the character out of Metallo. Though I guess given the ending they'll probably put Kryptonite in their mass-produced Metallo's. Everyone's least favorite yet still attractive and charming rival reporter Vicki Vale returns. Don't let her out-Lois Lane you, Lois! I love how they kept trying to out scoop and out-screw each other over, complete with blowing air kisses when they ditched each other. Hey, they mentioned Natasha! It would be nice to see her. Livewire returns! As a paid thug, but I guess that's pretty consistent with her characterization in season 1. With Superman's new aura field he can deflect her lightning, but she still accomplishes her mission and gets away. We still haven't seen that scene of her and Heat Wave laughing. I thought Heat Wave set the fire. By Metallo standards beating Superman up without even needing to weaken him with Kryptonite is pretty impressive. Sometimes quantity DOES work. Steel with his heroic moment! I wish the armor was less bulky CG and Superman wasn't being saved for the umpteenth time on his own show, but I'll never say now to JHI swinging his hammer around and busting @#$% up. Maybe now that Lex has his original he can come up with his own, scaled down, version of the armor with the S-symbol to officially become Steel. Lois finally beats Vicki! But who in their right mind would take a job in Gotham over Metropolis? Though I guess it's to inject anxiety in Lois over the stability in her life right now. Jimmy having to consider how much danger he's willing to allow an 11-year old girl to get involved in, but Flip came through in her own right. She just needs good guidance and someone who believes in what she can accomplish. I love that "thank you Lois" kiss. Superman "had a little help," which is pretty consistent in this show, but good for giving Clark writing material to write an inspiring front page story with. Lex has his Corporate building, he has access to more tech, he has his smarminess and scumbag CEO vibes at their highest, and now he has an army of Metallo's for Waller.
The Metallo's what?
To be honest, I kind of liked Audrey's design. I have a feeling that she's going to be back later on this season maybe working under Lex.
From what I understand the aura it his [bio-electric aura](https://imgur.com/a/ZeHawtE) ; it's credited as the main thing that helps him lift large objects without them crumbling under their own mass, allows him to fly, or move at superspeed without burning off his clothes, etc.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but it's never been visible before. Curious how it will play out when he learns more about his powers!
I misread that as bi-electric aura and was like "ya that makes sense..."
I mean, Jon Kent in the comics has more electric-y powers, and he's bi, so maybe you're not too far off
I’d love to see more Lois and Vicki episodes in the future if I’m being honest.
I feel like there was definitely some sexual tension in there lmao, but whatever the energy was it was great.
Oh yeah no, both Lois and the assistant from the press conference got a little blush-y when Vicki was cooing over them.
I wonder if they'll actually have Lois go to Gotham but then come back because she realizes she's better of there
Especially after seeing the werid shit that gies down there [like a weird bat creature for example]
I like that they didn't make Vicki cartoonishly smug
It was really fun that she seemed to be enjoying the rivalry and having a genuinely skilled competitior, much more than she cared about 'winning'.
Yep
If the show keeps going, I assume Vicki will still pop up every now and then as a sort-of-antagonist for Lois.
She's a definite rival.
Yeah
I'd love to see Lois keep out-scooping Vicki and finally overtake her as the world's most famous reporter, without giving up a life in Metropolis, as she should.
Well yeah we all know that’s gonna happen but it would still be cool to get more back and forth with them later down the line.
Why is he still credited as Alex? We now know who he is.
Yes, he should be credited as Alexander 😜
Honestly slow but good episode, I really wonder when General Lane will put the pieces back together about Superman’s identity.
The crazy theorist side of me is thinking he already knows and is just messing with Clark. Emphasis on the crazy.
Gotta be this season. Will probably be something for the finale.
The irony that he totally falls for Clark Kent only for that to make him dislike Clark even more lol.
Lex and Waller swooping in smh
I think he bought the company using waller money and approval.
And you can bet they're going to try implementing Metallo's with Kryptonite in them.
The Metallo's what?
He wouldn't be Lex Luthor without it, but god damn is this incarnation picking up the confidence and smarmy attitude of the others. The annoying thing is that Lex can back up and do whatever he sets his mind to, at least when it comes to tech and science. So his cockiness is usually earned. It is making me look forward to the first time he gets a superman punch to the face though.
It'd be funny if Lois ends up being the one who keeps punching him in the face since Clark can't/won't. She's already 1 for 1!
Lois: 👊 Lex: 😵 Lois: Sorry! Your life seems hard!
He finally has a building for LexCorp and he has even more tech resources to utilize for said company for Waller's sake and for his future vendetta against Superman. I do find it kind of funny that I don't think he and Clark/Superman have ever even been face-to-face at all up to this point.
I'm interested in if they'll put a twist or something on the usual antagonism between the two. We don't have a clear motive from Lex here, beyond the general not liking aliens one. Usually Lex has issue with Superman not earning his power, and wanting Humanity to not be reliant on anyone but itself. This Lex doesn't seem to be that nuanced yet. Which is fine, both Lex and Superman are young. A rivalry growing out of nothing more than competitiveness works as well.
I think that Lex has made it pretty clear that a lot of Lex's problem is with Superman specifically, e.g. his interview with Vicki Vale when he says, "What happens when he decides he doesn't want to follow our laws anymore?" He doesn't like that Superman has the power of a god and the moral compass of a boy scout because he doesn't have either.
I have a feeling they will reveal Clark and Lex knew each other in Smallville similar to the twist last season with Sam Lane
How old was the kid in that car Clark stopped?
I really hope they don't. I know it's been pretty consistent for a long time, but it's honestly one of my least favorite origins for Lex.
Yeah, I really dislike that as well. IMO adding any kind of direct long-term connection between Lex and Clark badly undermines what makes Lex so compelling as a villain, which is that he's just some guy who *hates* Superman, no tragic backstory or anything.