DC Just Broke A Major Superman Rule For The First Time In 85 Years (2025)

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Superman & Lois season 4, episode 10. season 4, and the DC series as a whole, has now ended with a major Superman rule being broken after a long time. Doomsday and Lex Luthor fight the Man of Steel in . In the end, both characters would come to have very different outcomes in their stories. Doomsday sacrifices himself after the part of Bizarro within the monster remembered his family and chose not to be Luthor's weapon any longer. As for Michael Cudlitz's Lex Luthor, the character lost a direct fight to Tyler Hoechlin's Superman.

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What both characters, who played major roles in , have in common is the fact that none of them ended up being responsible for taking down Superman. There were many theories about what the future could hold for Hoechlin's version of the Man of Steel. After all, Steel had discovered after a scan that not only would Clark Kent one day become powerless, but he would die earlier than expected because Sam Lane's heart was not compatible with his Kryptonian body. Still, Superman survived fighting Doomsday and Luthor, though not all of Superman & Lois.

Superman & Lois Just Killed Clark Kent Off Permanently In Its Finale

The DC Series Took Out Its Man Of Steel Twice

DC Just Broke A Major Superman Rule For The First Time In 85 Years (1)

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Superman & Lois season 4 began with a very emotional episode, as Doomsday killed Tyler Hoechlin's Man of Steel in a version of DC Comics' "The Death of Superman." However, Clark came back to life a couple of episodes later, spending most of the season dealing with the fallout of his death and resurrection. After a few time jumps showed the futures of Superman & Lois' characters, it was revealed that Sam Lane's heart allowed Clark to live 32 more years after his first death. However, he would not escape dying a second time.

Superman & Lois has come to an end, delivering an impactful and tear-jerking finale for some of the best versions of Superman and Lois Lane.

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Well, he did briefly escape, as Kyle saved his life after Clark had a heart attack. However, an older version of Hoechlin's character would come to die as Jonathan and Jordan stood by his side at their Smallville home. This time, though, the death was permanent. As it happened 32 years after the main events of Superman & Lois season 4, Clark Kent was already a human by then, with his powers fading over time due to Sam's heart. Since Lois Lane had emotionally died years before him when her cancer returned, they had a sweet reunion in the afterlife.

Why Superman & Lois Killing The DC Hero Off For Good Is Such A Big Deal

The Man Of Steel Is DC's Biggest Icon

Superman has died many times before, which means his passing in the DC series is not new, even where only live-action adaptations are concerned. However, there is a major reason why Clark's death in the Superman & Lois series finale is so important. Screen Rant spoke to Superman & Lois' Jordan Kent actor Alex Garfin about the show's final episode. When talking about Clark Kent getting a definitive death in the episode, Garfin said, "Oh, it's a testament to the character that it's [been] about around for 85 years, and we've never seen him die fully." Check out the full quote below:

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Superman & Lois' Death Timing Means It's Impossible For The Show To Repeat A Classic Superhero Death Trope

The DC Series Is Not Coming Back For More

Since Tyler Hoechlin's Clark Kent dies in the final episode ever of Superman & Lois, with the Arrowverse already over and the new DC Universe set to debut David Corenswet's Superman next year, he is almost certainly not coming back. The timing of Superman's death makes it impossible for the classic comic book trope of a hero dying and coming back to life to happen. There is no way for him to come back to life in Superman & Lois, as the series has ended, and Hoechlin appearing elsewhere as Clark is not looking likely.

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Superhero comic books often walk back deaths, be it through universe resets, time travel, or thousands of other creative ways. Superman & Lois even did so, with the DC series first teasing that the Man of Steel was dead for good before Clark came back to life at the end of the final season's third episode. However, as Clark himself states through his narration, his second death marked the true end of his life, and it was more heartwarming than sad, as Clark got to forgive Lex Luthor and reunite with Lois in the afterlife, ending Superman & Lois beautifully.

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DC Just Broke A Major Superman Rule For The First Time In 85 Years (3)

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Superman & Lois

Superman & Lois, the seventh Arrowverse spinoff series, will take the titular characters from Metropolis to Smallville. The CW series is set in the aftermath of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, which saw the multiverse collapse and the merging of worlds into what is now Earth Prime.Superman & Lois sees Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) and Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) dealing with all the pressures of their jobs, along with being parents to two teenage sons. Lois and Clark are no strangers to the Arrowverse, with Hoechlin's Superman having been introduced all the way back in Supergirl season 2. Meanwhile, Tulloch's Lois made her debut in the 2018 "Elseworlds" crossover. The duo is joined by a growing cast of characters that includes a new iteration of Lana Lang.

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Cast: Tyler Hoechlin , Inde Navarrette , Jordan Elsass , Alexander Garfin , Wolé Parks , Elizabeth Tulloch , Erik Valdez , Emmanuelle Chriqui , Adam Rayner , Dylan Walsh
Release Date: February 23, 2021
Network: The CW
Franchise(s): Superman
Showrunner: todd helbing