TV Show review
Review basis: 4 seasons · through December 2, 2024
February 23, 2021 · 44 min · TV-14 · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Superman & Lois is a four-season CW series that follows Clark Kent and Lois Lane as they raise twin teenage sons in Smallville while Clark balances his Superman duties against everyday family pressures and threats from corporate figures and criminals. The show emphasizes parenting struggles, secret identity burdens, personal health crises such as Lois's breast cancer in season 3, and classic hero-versus-villain conflicts across its run ending in 2024. It features a visibly diverse supporting ensemble with prominent Latino and Black families as close allies, plus one recurring bisexual Latina teen character whose relationship arc includes same-sex attraction, alongside some season 3 antagonist dialogue framing hero protection through the lens of neglected poor Black neighborhoods and privilege.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Superman & Lois.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent supporting roles feature a Latino Cushing family as close friends and a Black Irons family with John Henry Irons as a major heroic ally. Sarah Cushing, a Latina teen played by Inde Navarrette, is established as bisexual with her arc including a same-sex kiss and complications while dating a Kent son. Core Kent family remains traditionally cast white. Pre-production reports documented internal pushes for greater diversity including attempted race swaps on Kent parents that were not implemented. Audience-visible ensemble diversity is noticeable in the small-town setting but does not dominate or mismatch the lead story logic.
Woke political dialogue
Showrunner Todd Helbing has discussed incorporating contrasts between conservative small-town views and liberal big-city viewpoints. Season 3 antagonist Bruno Mannheim critiques Superman's protection priorities, highlighting neglect of poor Black neighborhoods like Hob's Bay and raising questions of privilege in who receives help. These elements appear in specific episodes rather than as repeated lectures; most dialogue stays personal, familial, or classic hero-villain.
Identity-driven story themes
The recurring teen character Sarah Cushing has an explicit bisexual storyline involving same-sex attraction that plays out across relationship drama with Jordan Kent. The Mannheim arc in season 3 uses racial and class community neglect as part of the villain's motivation and a point of confrontation with the hero. Core seasons center on Kent family parenting pressures, powers inheritance, secret identity stress, illness, and standard threats rather than identity as the primary narrative driver.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Corporate and criminal antagonists including Morgan Edge, Bruno Mannheim's Intergang operations, and Lex Luthor are shown threatening small-town economies, families, and local control in ways that echo classic Superman stories. The Mannheim perspective adds framing around neglected poor Black urban areas and uneven protection. Small-town life and family structures are largely portrayed positively against these external pressures. No sustained modern activist reframing of patriarchy, traditional norms, Christianity, or core Western institutions appears.
Woke character or canon changes
Core portrayals of Superman, Lois, and their marriage and fatherhood stay close to traditional depictions with added emphasis on working-parent realities. The show did not adapt the recent comic storyline making Jonathan Kent bisexual for either television son. Early development included reported resistance to diversity-driven changes such as race-swapping the Kent parents. Supporting reinterpretations fit a modern small-town setting without major ideological alterations to established canon icons or historical figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Some online conservative and fandom commentary describes the series as a refreshing, more traditional family Superman story with lighter identity focus than peer Arrowverse or CW titles. Occasional notes flag the bisexual supporting character or Mannheim dialogue as identity-tinged. No widespread campaigns, major media framing as activist propaganda, or large audience rejection treating it as pushing woke or DEI content. Pre-production diversity disputes came primarily from the left side demanding more representation.
Creator track record context
Co-creator Greg Berlanti has a strong documented pattern of advocating for and centering prominent LGBTQ+ representation across multiple Arrowverse projects. Co-creator and showrunner Todd Helbing brings extensive experience in the same Berlanti/CW genre space and has publicly referenced including political contrasts such as small-town conservative versus big-city liberal views. Other writers include credits on political drama projects and standard genre work without dominant personal activist profiles. The Berlanti association elevates the overall creative context above many non-Berlanti genre productions.
Production
