Culture on My Mind
Superman and Lois: It Went By So Fast
February 5, 2025

In October 2012, a DC Comics superhero show called Arrow debuted on The CW. It was a down-to-earth vision of the Green Arrow, better known by his secret identity as Oliver Queen. This started a twelve-year run of shows called the Arrowverse, all of which were either connected or tangentially related.

It was a wonderful (if uneven) age of superhero television, and succeeded where Marvel television had failed. We had Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, and Batwoman in live action, as well as Vixen and Freedom Fighters: The Ray in webseries form. Tangentially, Stargirl, NBC’s Constantine, and Naomi were connected to the Arrowverse, and the entirety of the DC Comics television and movie library over the years was written in during the Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptation.

In Supergirl, a new Superman and Lois Lane were introduced, and they eventually spun off to their own show that was not part of the same continuity/universe. That show was Superman & Lois, and it quickly became my favorite television incarnation of the franchise. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth (Bitsie) Tulloch sold this version, bringing it back from the darkness and cynicism of the Zach Snyder film universe that was running at the same time. Superman & Lois was pure of heart and contained brilliant messaging, being better than it deserved as a CW show.

It ended in 2024 after four seasons, drawing the Arrowverse (and superhero shows on The CW overall) to an end. The finale brought me to tears as it closed the book on these characters and their lives.

On January 20, 2025, the Dragon Con American SF & Fantasy Media track hosted a panel about the show. Track director Kelley Harkins was joined by Kristin Jackson, Marisa Wolf, Michael Bailey, Thomas Parham, and Joe Crowe to discuss the show, its effects on the superhero genre, and the legacy of the Arrowverse.

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If you like what you see, the American SF & Fantasy Media Track can be found on Facebook and at Dragon Con over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. The track discusses American-based science fiction and fantasy television and movies from within the last ten years. 

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

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