Superman & Lois star Tyler Hoechlin has commented on the lack of Arrowverse connections, despite the DC drama being set in the same universe. While Supergirl has finished its run on The CW, the network isn't Kryptonian-less, as the Man of Steel joined the slate full-time in 2021. After years of guest appearances, Hoechlin got his own series, starring opposite Bitsie Tulloch as Lois Lane. Superman & Lois quickly became one of The CW's flagship shows following its launch last year, as the Arrowverse drama focuses on Lois and Clark raising a family in Smallville.
Despite its positive reception, one of the things Superman & Lois season 1 was criticized for was how it seemed to barely acknowledge its Arrowverse roots. Even though Hoechlin's character debuted on Supergirl, the show didn't bring up his Kryptonian cousin once. While the creative team has made it clear that Superman & Lois is definitely set on Earth-Prime with the other shows, John Diggle was the only Arrowverse player to show up in Superman & Lois season 1 from the overall franchise. Despite bringing back Jenna Dewan's Lucy Lane in Superman & Lois season 2, the character got a post-Crisis makeover, having nothing to do with the iteration from Supergirl season 1.
As Superman & Lois season 2 is continuing the trend, the cast was recently asked about its lack of Arrowverse tie-ins. During their panel at Fan Expo Vancouver, a fan asked why the series hasn't included many references to the other shows. Hoechlin gave a very detailed answer on how he tackles that aspect when shooting Superman & Lois, even referencing that there were plans for crossovers before the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible. The actor shared the following:
“I would say there are so many different layers to that, especially for us last year having COVID. I know there were ideas of doing crossovers and they just got scrapped right away. I mean even keeping your own production up and running was so difficult that it just got completely squashed. For us, at least for me, the way I have approached it from the beginning – again these are all conversations that go on between all kinds of people in L.A. and everywhere else – for us, we kind of just take care of what we’re taking care of day-to-day. For me, knowing what Bitsie and I had done in the previous shows and how we had our infant child [before] coming into this world of having two teenagers, I just had to make sense in my mind how we got there and for me it was a clean slate. Because otherwise, I’d be asking questions 'What happened to our infant child?'
So for me, just to clarify and make it easier for me to get into what we were doing, I just cut it and started over. So whatever that ends up being, that’s the thing with TV too – with film, you know where you start, you know where you finish. With TV, it’s constantly evolving so it might be one thing today and it might be something completely different tomorrow or next week or a year from now. So to say anything definitively, I know it’s always annoying we don’t do it, but it wouldn’t be doing justice to it all. Because we don’t know, it’s never like a final answer until the show is over and then you get reboots, hey! [laughs] It never ends. So for us right now, just at least the way I’m approaching it, it is that for me the only memory I have as this Clark is that this has been my life with these guys and that’s just how I’m approaching it so who knows, time will tell with the rest.”
The crossover Hoechlin is most likely referring to was the Batwoman and Superman & Lois two-part event, which was canceled due to the pandemic. However, while TV and film productions had to implement safety protocols, many of which are still intact today, this does not completely explain the series' distinct lack of Arrowverse references. It's certainly true that organizing a major lead character from another show to come over can be tricky, given scheduling issues. However, having a Superman & Lois character simply mentioning heroes like The Flash, Black Lightning, and Supergirl is less complicated. Many fans in particularly have pointed out that Superman & Lois hasn't featured a single mention of Kara Zor-El, one of Clark's few remaining blood relatives.
With its lack of Arrowverse references, Superman & Lois also seems to completely miss the point of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which went to great lengths to bring all the shows together on the same Earth. The 2019/2020 crossover established that all the heroes on Earth-Prime had known each other, and worked together, for a longer period of time, compared to their Earth-1/Earth-38 history. While the COVID-19 pandemic is still limiting what the Arrowverse can do together, the lack of exposition will likely need to be dealt with at some point to ease viewers' minds. As Superman & Lois goes forward, the show may start to lean into its Arrowverse connections in some capacity that is still organic to their stories, but also remembers that the series is part of an interconnected universe.
Source: Fan Expo Vancouver
