A monkey’s paw has curled for many Superman And Lois fans. While the show has been picked up for season 4 at the CW, all members of the supporting cast aside from the Kent family have been cut due to budgetary concerns with only Michael Cudlitz’ Lex Luthor being promoted to a series regular in their place.
While Superman And Lois serves as an extremely popular DC show on The CW, fans were worried it would get the axe given the show’s relatively high budget for the network. It was recently announced that the show would, in fact, be renewed for a season 4, though at the expense of budget cuts, including seven cast members leaving their roles as series regulars, many of which have been around since the show’s first season.
The Superman And Lois cast members cut include Dylan Walsh (General Sam Lane), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Lang), Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing), Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing), Wolé Parks (John Henry Irons a.k.a. Steel), Tayler Buck (Natalie Irons) and Sofia Hasmik (Chrissy Beppo). This leaves Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent), Elizabeth Tulloch (Lois lane) and Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent) as the only remaining season 1 cast members, with Michael Bishop having replaced Jordan Elsass as Jon Kent in season 3.
These cuts serve as a blow to Superman And Lois fans given the much more grounded nature of the show. Season arcs are often tied to every character listed above, sometimes even more so than the Kent family, such as with John Henry Irons having a brutal connection to season 3’s villain Bruno Manheim. Much of the core drama of the show comes from the trials and tribulations of the entire town of Smallville and how they rely on each other.
Luckily, this doesn’t mean these cast members are gone for good. There is a possibility for each member to guest star in season 4 depending on their availability, though they’ll be in far from every episode. This in contrast to Michael Cudlitz, who plays Lex Luthor and has been promoted to a series regular for season 4, likely hinting at a much more classic Superman tale for the show.
Despite how dire the situation may seem to fans, Superman And Lois escaped the fate of many shows on The CW which have been cancelled outright, such as Gotham Knights or DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. While the presence of the cast will surely be missed, fans should have hope in the showrunners in being able to finish out their vision for the series, or potentially continue beyond season 4 in a brand new form.
Superman’s DC Universe Future
Superman: Legacy is a much-anticipated project, given that Clark Kent has been an integral part of the DC Universe for over 80 years, with various iterations and adaptations across different media. James Gunn promises to explore the character’s origins and his struggles to balance his dual identities as Clark and Superman while fighting off villains and saving the world.
James Gunn and Peter Safran told journalists that their vision for the DC Universe includes locked scripts, wiggle room and a unified storyline across film, television, animation and video game projects. The two explained that the DC Universe could bring back elements from previous DC regimes, meaning that their eight-to-year plan is not a full reboot.
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Source: Deadline