So, About THAT Superman & Lois Twist 

The end of Superman & Lois is just around the corner, and fans around the world are still reeling from its shocking twist in season four’s seventh episode – Clark Kent revealing to the world that he is Superman. It’s one thing for a handful of people close to Clark Kent to be in the know of who he really is or for Superman’s secret identity to be an open secret among his co-workers at the Daily Planet that they dutifully keep to themselves, but Superman & Lois performed the ultimate mic drop of a superhero unmasking. As the makers of Superman & Lois had promised, it is indeed something that has never been done before in any previous Superman movie or TV show.

Superheroes have publicly unveiled their true identities or been involuntarily unmasked in comics, movies, and TV before, and as Spider-Man: No Way Home showed, doing so has immediate ramifications for the hero, everyone close to them, and indeed for the entire world. Given the current status quo on Superman & Lois, the stakes are particularly high as the show nears the end of its final season. Moreover, Superman revealing his secret to the world guarantees a very memorable end for Kal-El’s story on Superman & Lois with the timing of Clark’s crucial decision.

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Superman & Lois Revealed The Man Of Steel’s Identity In Epic Fashion

Like every Superman adaptation, Superman & Lois begins with a select few in on the secret of Clark Kent’s alien origins and metahuman powers. While Clark’s own sons Jordan and Jonathan were the first characters on Superman & Lois to actually be shown learning Clark’s secret, Superman & Lois kicked off season four with the population of Smallville gradually beginning to put two and two together. Their biggest tip-off, of course, was Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday, the Kent family mourning him in the way one would expect for the loss of a husband or father, and Superman’s return just a few weeks later. Despite Clark’s best efforts to keep the lid on, he eventually realizes he can’t do so anymore when Emmet Pergande (Adrian Glynn McMoran) publicly fires a bullet at him in Smallville’s diner.

Had Clark simply stood there and let the bullet bounce off his chest, the outcome would have been the same, with everyone instantly realizing that he is Superman, but Superman & Lois would never let a truly epic Man of Steel reveal go to waste. Weighing his options at super speed as the bullet whizzes towards him in slow motion, Clark decides that his reveal will not simply be an unmasking but a statement of who he really is. Performing the classic Superman shirt rip in slow motion, Kal-El effectively tosses his Clark Kent persona aside for good and stands before the people in the diner in his full red and blue garb. This one moment is arguably among the most memorable and epic Superman moments ever, and while Clark does properly reveal his identity to the world in a Daily Planet interview the next day, Superman & Lois’ diner scene says everything in a far more definitive and unforgettable manner – “The man you knew as Clark Kent is no more, I am Superman.”

The Kent Family Is Already Dealing With The Repercussions Of Superman’s Decision

Obviously, something as Earth-shattering as Clark Kent publicly revealing that he is Superman would always have a ripple effect both for the Kent family and the entire world. After a major family discussion, Clark, Lois, Jordan, and Jonathan all decide it is the right thing to do for the Kents to maintain control over their lives and for Clark to reveal his identity to the world on his own terms. However, by the very next episode, they’re already seeing that there are both pros and cons, with the Kents losing much of the anonymity they once enjoyed and something as simple as a trip to the local movie theatre becoming a challenge for Jordan and Jonathan.

Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor, while already aware of Clark’s Kryptonian identity, also isn’t about to let the Kent’s attempt at controlling their media narrative go unchallenged. Lex’s smear campaign that Lois was fully aware of his innocence and still set him up for a 17-year prison sentence isn’t simply a strike against her journalistic credibility but also a clearly strategic attack on the entire Kent family when they, in a honeymoon phase in the media and at their most vulnerable, despite Superman’s decision that revealing his identity would put him and his family in the driver’s seat of their lives and relationship with the rest of the world, Superman & Loiswastes no time in getting right into the immediate challenges that come with that.

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Superman Has Two Big Problems After Revealing His Identity – Lex Luthor & His New Heart

Michael Cudlitz’s Lex Luthor is among the darkest and most aggressive versions of Superman’s archenemy to date and the one with the most personal grudge against Superman and his family. Lex’s prison sentence ruined his relationship with his daughter, but while he places the blame squarely on Lois’ shoulders’, his inability to practice any self-reflection makes him a real danger. Despite being innocent of the murder he was imprisoned for, Lex was still a ruthless Metropolis crime boss guilty of many other things. Moreover, when Lex’s daughter offers to reconcile with him on the condition that he abandon his vendetta with the Kent family, Lex’s bitterness won’t allow him to. Now that Clark has revealed himself as Superman, Lex is clearly determined to exploit that to his advantage more than ever. Cudlitz’s Lex is also the most physical Lex Luthor by far, taking on Clark in a street fight with the help of red street lamps to depower his Kryptonian opponent and later getting his hands on John Henry Irons’ Steel suit to retrofit his famed mech suit from the comics. Clearly, Superman & Lois is headed for a Superman vs Lex Luthor head-to-head showdown like the world has never seen.

That’s also an even bigger problem for Clark after his resurrection, with the news of how his powers are beginning to diminish. Despite being revived with the heart of General Sam Lane laced with Kryptonian DNA, Superman learns from John Henry Irons that his Kryptonian biology and powers cannot be supported forever by a 60-year-old human heart – and that without a long-term solution, his powers will gradually keep weakening and eventually disappear for good.

How Superman & Lois’ Twist Sets The Show Up For An Epic Finale

The fact that Superman has to contend with the issue of both Lex Luthor’s vengefulness and his own gradually approaching mortality is amplified more than ever after unveiling his secret to the world. Superman & Lois has put the Man of Steel in a conundrum that’s challenging on mental, physical, and philosophical levels – how can Superman stop Lex Luthor, protect his family, and continue to inspire humanity when the world not only knows his identity but also when he discovers that his powers are gradually vanishing?

Superman & Lois is heading into a finale that will test him in ways he’s never been challenged before. In that regard, Superman & Lois’ big twist of the Man of Steel revealing his identity to the world may be one of the most consequential Superman storytelling decisions of all time.

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Tell us, what were your thoughts on the twist in Superman & Lois?