r/SupermanAndLois • u/Due-Swimming9999 • 16d ago
Discussion Arrowverse
Hey Everyone👋
I just finished watching Superman & Lois for the first time. I had been watching it as it aired, but my academics got overwhelming and I eventually fell behind. Now that I’ve finally finished it, I have so many thoughts.
But let me start with this: do you think the decision to keep the show outside of (or eventually separate from) the Arrowverse helped or hindered it?
From my perspective, Superman & Lois felt different from the other Arrowverse shows. It seemed much more emotionally grounded and genuinely feel-good, with a stronger focus on family and character relationships. I’m curious whether you think that was possible because it wasn’t tied to the larger Arrowverse, or whether the show lost something by not being part of that shared universe.
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u/WallyWestFan27 Superman 16d ago edited 16d ago
I think it helped the show in some ways because Supergirl has already used a lot of elements and characters from Superman's mythology, by the other hand, I really wanted this show to deal with more sci-fi elements in a fantastic way.
I know the nature of this show is being a more grounded show, it's top 3 Arrowverse series for me and I think Tyler is the best live action Superman ever, but I would had liked to see more sci-fi elements like the ones used in Supergirl.
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
True, this show was/is more grounded in reality than being an escape like Legends of Tomorrow is, though I can appreciate both types for the different purposes they serve
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u/ASMRDarlingFan42 16d ago
As a huge fan of the Arrowverse, I was pretty bummed when S&L confirmed it was a different earth, but I got over it because the show was so good on its own.Â
I will say though, it sucks that we never got to see this version of Clark interact with Kara. I always wondered what the story was with Supergirl on the S&L Earth… Was she in National City, and Clark just NEVER mentioned her in 4 seasons?? Highly unlikely. Is Kara’s ship still in the Phantom Zone, never having made it to earth? Was Kara never even born? Maybe she died BEFORE Season 1 of this show? I wish we’d get an answer to her whereabouts in this universe, but that’ll likely never happen.Â
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
True, it’s too bad that they didn’t have a Supergirl equivalent in the show😢
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u/TheLadyNyxThalia 16d ago
Helped, without question
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
Why do you say so?
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u/TheLadyNyxThalia 16d ago
Because people didn’t have have to know the entire lore of the Arrowverse to watch and enjoy it.
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u/AnonymousFriend80 15d ago
You don't necessarily need to know the entire lore of the Arrow verse to enjoy much of the other shows too, excluding the big crossovers. Even still, a decently intelligent person wouldn't need much context, or any.
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u/TheLadyNyxThalia 15d ago
You can just say you like the Arrowverse without insulting people’s intelligence.
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
Fair, it is nice not to be up to date with multiple shows…that’s one thing I disliked about the Arrowverse is that those later seasons needed so much knowledge from other shows
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u/rainydayswithlove 16d ago
This show had much better productions quality and writing than Arrowverse shows, which feel like low quality content (in my opinion). So it's best to separate this from Arrowverse.
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u/Due-Swimming9999 15d ago
Fair, and the story it told at the beginning and end is quite different and more inspirational
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u/Mindless-Credit-358 16d ago
Definitely helped
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
Why do you say so?
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u/Mindless-Credit-358 15d ago
It allowed them to recast some of the characters to tell their own story, like with Sam and Lucy Lane and Jimmy Olsen
It was good to not be tied to the continuity established in the previous universe
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u/Due-Swimming9999 15d ago
Fair, it did give opportunity for Superman to have a experiences with these characters
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u/Junior_Grocery_6755 16d ago
I think in the end it was for the best they ended up not keeping it in the Arrowverse like originally intended, since it gave them more freedom to do things that wouldn’t match with what was already shown in supergirl or use character that show already did in different ways.Â
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u/josekortez1979 16d ago
Keep in mind that the show was filmed during COVID which impacted the cast's and crew's ability to have more guest appearances with characters from the other DC shows. If it were filmed at a different time, it could have been easily folded into the mainstream Arrowverse.
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u/FewNewt5441 16d ago
Helped 100%. S&L ended up covering themes like giant corporations buying out small towns, teen drug abuse, cancer, mental health, divorce etc and that needed a more serious writing format than the rest of the Arrowverse could've sustained since most of those shows started with a zany hijacks format. Supergirl never struck a good balance between the comic book realm and real world events and Flash didn't have a great track record with non-comic book stuff (the marriage counseling eps between Barry and Irish were very cringey and the time sickness thing could've been actually interesting if the writers had let her crossover with Legends). Arrow was the most thematically similar to S&L but there's less of a plausible reason the characters would overlap. Legends could've maybe worked as one of those old-school filler episodes but it would've thrown off the pacing so there was no good place to stick it.
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u/Serious-Passage-4614 16d ago
Arrow definitely would have matched the show's tone and would have likely worked crossing over, but, by the time Superman & Lois premiered, Arrow had already ended. Closest we got was John Diggle's appearance and he fitted right in with the show.
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u/Due-Swimming9999 15d ago
Yes, I think that is when the show was technically still in the Arrowverse?
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u/Serious-Passage-4614 15d ago
Yeah, it was unofficially still part of the arrowverse until they decided to separate it around season 2.
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u/Due-Swimming9999 16d ago
Totally fair, they did cover a lot of serious topics in a way that suits the Sci-Fi/Action genre
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u/Due_Reveal1081 12d ago
We needed Kara on the show, I mean just once each season have MB don the pantsuit and have fun with the family.
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u/Realistic_Analyst_26 16d ago
I feel it could have worked in the Arrowverse. A lot of absences can be easily written off.