oftomorrow

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David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman Superman (2025) dir. James Gunn

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I will kill you and your whole damn family! I told you before, Luthor. You will never hurt another person. — Superman and Lois 4x10 "It Went by So Fast"

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// Been on more of a fanfic kick lately. If anyone would like an angsty little drabble about young Clark discovering his heat vision.

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// I am very low activity here at the moment, but I've been loving this S&L Discord server. If anyone else here actually watches the show lol.

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Lois and Clark | Superman & Lois 4x08

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— Superman and Lois 4x10 "It Went by So Fast"

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// Aight, post-resurrection verse is being finalized. Basically the same as before, just some more details and direction. Because I like how S&L did it.

After a long, terrible battle, Doomsday kills Superman and tears out his heart. Clark's body is taken to be placed in stasis at the Fortress. Superman has a large public funeral in Metropolis, while Clark has a much smaller ceremony in Smallville.

Clark is eventually resurrected via a heart transplant from Sam Lane (or another willing donor if that doesn't work for a particular thread). By default, he's gone for about six months.

Due to coming back with a sixty-year-old human heart, Clark is noticeably weaker. His super-hearing is a bit shot, his endurance is way down, he's not quite as impervious as he once was. Further tests show that his body is rejecting the heart, and he is losing his powers. The more he uses them, the faster they will fade, and the more he risks his heart giving out altogether.

Meanwhile, the circumstances of his resurrection lead to a good portion of Smallville working out that Clark is Superman. It becomes impossible to keep the secret identity any longer, especially while maintaining any kind of integrity, so Clark and his family agree to drop it altogether. Clark announces that he's Superman, and the Kents are launched into infamy overnight.

Ultimately, Clark decides that he will need to retire as Superman -- but not right away. He spends several years continuing to train his children, and making sure that those taking up his mantle are truly ready. But his focus gradually switches to using his voice to bring a light to systemic issues in the world. He and Lois create a foundation, called El Mayarah (Kryptonian for "stronger together"), and do as much as they can to help people. Turns out it's very easy to raise money and awareness when you are literally Superman.

Eventually, Clark stops using his powers altogether, except in emergencies. By the end of his life, he's more or less human.

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The second time I died was so much different than the first. It was amazing. The feeling that washed over me, I... I can't begin to describe it. And suddenly, it came to me what life is all about. Joy. Hope. Forgiveness. Wonder. Friendship. Family. — Superman and Lois 4x10 "It Went by So Fast"

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Superman & Lois failed Jonathan Kent

Since day one, I have felt that giving Jonathan powers would be absolutely, 100% the wrong move for this show. The setup is that one twin has powers and the other doesn’t, and altering that would fundamentally and irrevocably change the entire family dynamic.

So when Season 4’s third episode saw Jonathan spontaneously develop all of his powers… yeah. I was skeptical. But I decided I would let them cook. I would see where the writers were taking this before coming down too hard.

Well, the season is done now. And I still don’t understand this decision. Giving Jonathan powers has utterly let down what was once an excellent character.

This got long. Spoilers for all of Season 4 under the cut.

I usually see two arguments for why Jon should get powers. The first is that it’s more “comics accurate.” And I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t work here. The DC TV shows have never prioritized comic accuracy, and this show follows suit. Morgan Edge is not Clark’s Kryptonian half-brother in the comics. John Henry does not have a daughter with another Earth’s Lois in the comics. Bizarro is not from a parallel dimension in the comics, nor does he become Doomsday. This show’s entire thing is taking the original ideas and putting a fresh spin on them, while remaining true to the core themes of Superman. Being internally consistent and interesting is much more important than remaining true to the comics.

The other common argument is that it’s just not fair that Jon doesn’t get powers. He’s the more level-headed of the twins, the more openly warm and compassionate, the one whose temperament better suits being a hero. And my response is – yes! All of those things are true. It’s deeply unfair. And that was what made it interesting. Seeing how he deals with the lot life handed him is where his character shines through best.

We see how this affects him throughout Season 1, how watching Jordan take over his place as the star of the football team hurts. We also see him put that aside more than once in order to be there for his brother. But constantly pushing his own feelings aside for the sake of others leads to Season 2 – he turns to X-K out of desperation to feel special again, which only makes him crash even harder than before. He realizes he messed up, he tries to do the right thing to protect Candice, but it only makes everything worse. He’s expelled, everyone is upset with him for ruining the football season and for lying about the X-K. The season leaves him in a pretty bad spot, trying to figure out what his place even is now that he doesn’t have football, he doesn’t have powers, he doesn’t have much of anything, really. Which is where Season 3 starts to look up for him. He volunteers at the fire department. He finds a sense of purpose and belonging there that he’s never had before. And best of all, it’s completely unrelated to his dad or his brother. It’s something that he does just for himself.

I am not saying that Seasons 2 and 3 were flawlessly written. I could complain about Season 2’s messy arcs for days, and Season 3 just doesn’t devote enough time to this. But the overall direction for Jon as a character is still consistent, and it’s more or less satisfying to watch.

Then Season 4 comes and negates all of this without any good reason.

Now not only does Jon get powers, he masters them all almost immediately. He takes over Jordan’s role as Superboy pretty much right away, with no real struggle to speak of. And I do get it, to some extent. Jon has always pushed his own feelings aside for the benefit of others, so the first time he really just lets loose and stops holding back how he feels is when his powers activate. It’s almost like he was subconsciously suppressing them, and letting go is what allows them to finally spark. But it’s still weird to me, because all of those big feelings that lead to his powers developing then just evaporate. He goes from being so overwhelmed that he’s screaming and crying and punching the walls… to being completely fine and calm. What happened to those emotions? Does being able to fly magically cure all ills?

The only real conflict Jon has with his new powers is in Episode 5, where he struggles to balance his new obligations as a hero with the rest of his life. This puts strain on his relationship with Candice, where he debates whether or not to tell her the truth. And this could be interesting, if we hadn’t already done this with Jordan in Season 2, with little variation. Jon should get his own arcs that work for him as a unique character, not just the speedrun versions of what Jordan already got.

That’s another issue, to be frank. Jonathan and Jordan used to feel like much more distinct characters. And they do definitely still have different personalities, but with them both having powers and both having similar struggles, it no longer feels worthwhile to even have two brothers. Jonathan has almost become Diet Jordan.

What makes all this so much worse is how good Jordan’s arc is in Season 4. After Season 3 had him using his powers for all the wrong reasons, seeking fame and attention instead of genuinely wanting to help others, Season 4 sees him humbled. He recognizes that he isn’t ready to be a hero, and willingly gives up his suit until he is. And it comes full circle in Episode 9, when he helps Vicky May through her panic attack in the diner. He’s stepped up to become a hero in a way he never could before, and it feels earned. We know what it took for him to reach that point, the struggles he went through and how he’s changed since the beginning of the show. It’s incredibly satisfying to trace his character back through all the seasons and see what brought him here.

Jonathan, on the other hand? There’s no full circle moment for him. Because he doesn’t have struggles anymore. Getting super powers completely fixed everything in his life, apparently. He gets cool moments to be a hero, sure, but they don’t feel earned in nearly the same way Jordan’s do. The only thing he had to overcome to reach that point was not having powers, which just happened randomly, not due to any character choices he made. His character in Season 4 is just so bland now that he doesn’t have internal conflicts to overcome.

Also, I think Clark revealing his secret identity would have been more interesting if there was still one son without powers. It would elevate Jonathan’s internal conflicts to an even grander scale, put him through new struggles that we could then see him overcome. He can prove to the entire world that he does not need powers to be special – he has only ever needed to be himself.

And what gets me most is that if the writers absolutely insisted on giving Jon powers, there are ways to do it that don’t completely undermine everything that came before. Here are just a few ideas, some of which can be combined:

A simple one – what if Jon doesn’t master all his powers right away? With Clark gone, then weakened, Jordan is forced to step up and help train his brother. This would tie nicely into Jordan’s arc for the season, and lead to some great bonding moments between the two.

What if Jon and Jordan are each better and worse at different abilities? This was lightly implied at points, but could have been leaned into way more. Maybe Jon is naturally a strong flier and relies more on his strength and speed, while Jordan has sharper senses and relies more on finding clever solutions. Seeing them learn to work together and complement each other’s styles would have been incredibly interesting. (Admittedly, this is more an issue with the season’s pacing as a whole, not just Jon’s arc.)

What if Jon realizes that having powers kinda sucks sometimes? What if he learns that having super hearing that never turns off is actually horrible? Or that heat vision is surprisingly hard to control? What if he reaches a point where he realizes he doesn’t really want powers, and has to learn to accept his new normal?

Jon’s previous arcs have been about feeling helpless and unspecial. What if having powers doesn’t actually fix that? He can fly now, but he still can’t stop Lex, or bring his dad back, or regain people’s trust that he lost all the way back in Season 2. He learns that powers weren’t the answer to these feelings he has, and still has to find his own path to feel at peace with himself.

These are just a few things I thought of, but I am not a staff of professional writers! I’m sure there are much better ways to handle this.

It is just so, so frustrating to me that one of my favorite characters went so downhill in this final season. I can sort of understand why people were so excited to see him have powers, but for me, it will always be the biggest misstep of the entire show.

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Superman & Lois — every Clois kiss

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// Well, I am not ashamed to admit that I cried a little. That ending was cheesy, but damn it, it got to me anyway. Thank you, Superman & Lois writers, for giving us the best Superman that there's ever been.

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How would they react if their teenager got suspended from school?

questions for characters parenting teenagers (accepting)

This one actually did happen on Superman & Lois, Jon got briefly expelled in Season 2, but I thought Clark's response got extreme after a while, so.

Assuming the kid actually did something bad enough to warrant the suspension, he'd be disappointed. If it's severe enough, even angry. But after some time to cool down, and maybe some talking with Lois, he would try to at least see things from his kid's perspective, too. And try to address whatever caused the issue so that they can move forward.

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What would they do if they caught their child hosting an unauthorized house party?

questions for characters parenting teenagers (accepting)

Mmmmm he would not be happy, especially if there was underage drinking. Clark is the king of "not mad, just disappointed" which is way way worse. They would be grounded at a minimum, and likely kept under a tighter watch until they'd re-earned Clark's trust.

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What would they do if their child wanted to take a year off after high school to travel?

questions for characters parenting teenagers (accepting)

Honestly, Clark himself spent time traveling before he found the Fortress, and it was profoundly impactful on his life. So he would be fairly supportive of this... but would also expect them to check in every once in a while, unlike what he did when he began his travels.

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// I'm working on a gifset, and I just

You can practically see the heart emojis in his eyes. Get yourself someone who looks at you the way Clark looks at Lois.

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⭒⭒⭑⭒ — parenting asks: questions for characters/ships parenting teenagers (part one)

What would they say if their child asked for advice on how to ask someone out?

How would they react if their too drunk to drive teen called them for a ride?

What would they say if their teen confessed to accidentally scratching the family car?

What would they do if they caught their child hosting an unauthorized house party?

What would they do if the child got into an argument with a family member during a holiday dinner?

How would they react if their child came home with a tattoo they didn’t ask permission for?

What would they do if their teenager tried to cook dinner for the family and accidentally started a small fire?

What would they do if they caught their teenage child sneaking out at night?

How would they handle finding out their child has been failing a class and hidding it?

What would they say if their teenager confessed they’re being bullied at school?

How would they respond if their child introduced a significant other for the first time?

How would they react if their teenager got suspended from school?

What would they do if their teenager decided to skip college and pursue an unconventional career path?

What would they do if their child wanted to take a year off after high school to travel?

How would they respond if their child confessed they were scared about growing up?

How would they react if their teenager decided to dye their hair a shocking color?

How would they handle it if their teenager wanted to spend holidays with friends instead of family?

What would they do if their child came home with a stray animal, wanting to keep it?

What would they do if their teenager came home in tears after a breakup?

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