Superman and LoisTHE very last show from the Arrowverseis coming to an end – but before that, the superhero drama delivers its best season yet by adapting a hugely famous Superman story: The death of Superman. Additionally, the CW series not only delivers the best adaptation of this comic arc, but also improves on the source material.

The death of Superman is a monumental 90s comic book event that dared to kill off one of the most iconic superheroes of all time. As successful and influential as this comic is, it’s a rather simple story without much nuance. A big monster appears out of nowhere, dies killing Superman, and eventually, Superman comes back to life. Doomsday is not a great villain; he’s just big and strong, which is a problem that has plagued later adaptations. Either they’re standalone films that don’t have a good sense of how many powerful adversaries Superman has faced before (both 2018 and 2007’s animated adaptations), or they treat Doomsday like an early Superman story (like the way Zack Snyder did Doomsday is only the second villain Superman has faced).

In Superman and LoisHowever, the character has made it through three seasons and has already faced increasingly stronger villains by the time Doomsday arrives. When Doomsday appears and defeats Superman, he appears as he did in the comics: a truly formidable force that Superman thinks he has already faced, but hasn’t, and he pays the ultimate price. More importantly, this Doomsday isn’t just some mindless beast that appears out of nowhere. Instead, it’s Bizarro Superman, whose corpse was resurrected using Superman’s blood and then experimented on until his body mutated into the monster we know. We got to know Bizarro throughout Season 2 and explored his history and his relationship with Lois and his children. Even as Doomsday, the monster is clearly sentient and, to some extent, intelligent. He recognizes Superman and his family. When they fight at the end of season 3, the audience understands why Doomsday would want to kill Superman beyond what is mandated by the fact that this is an adaptation of an established storyline. And when Doomsday does what he’s there to do and kills Superman, it’s not just a shock, but a true tragedy.

The fact that the series was renewed for a fourth and final season that would deal with the death of Superman – with all the promotional and marketing materials focused on the world without the Man of Steel, and which Tyler Hoechlin alluded to only appearing in flashbacks this season – contributed to the illusion that Superman might actually stay dead this time around while his sons took over his mantle. Even though it was only a few episodes, the focus on how the Kent family and friends grieved and began to move on made it seem like the death had a large and lasting impact . For the first time since 1993, there was reason to be surprised by Superman’s eventual return to life.

Even when Superman comes back to life, it’s not a pure moment of triumph. This is what makes Superman and Lois‘ take the best version of the story. Where all other versions – even the original comic – Clark comes back to life after a short while without his powers, only to regain them shortly after with no change to the status quo, Superman and Lois clearly shows that there are lasting consequences. This is to better remind us of the human behind the superhero badge.

Rather than a Kryptonian machine regenerating Superman, his resurrection comes after Lois’s father, Sam Lan, sacrifices himself, injecting his body with a serum made from the blood of Superman (who also created Doomsday) so that his heart can be transplanted to replace it. the one Clark lost to Doomsday. It’s Kryptonian technology that makes it work and brings the Man of Steel back to life, but it’s a human organ from a human donor that resurrects Clark Kent. And even though he quickly regained his powers as he does in each version, the series depicted Clark’s heart surgery with the same gravity and nuance that it gave to Lois’s breast cancer story. last season – showing how the euphoria of being alive also comes with heavy limitations and a constant reminder that you will never be the same. Clark’s powers are getting weaker and weaker, such as his super hearing not working most of the time.

To make matters worse – at least, worse for a superhuman who hasn’t endured even one of the human body’s many imperfections – alcohol affects the Man of Steel for the first time, and he even has gray hair. In other words, Superman is getting older. In episode 6, Clark admits to Lois that he never considered the possibility of growing old and becoming mortal, and now the thought is frightening. Superman has aged or even died in the comics before, of course. But there is something particularly poignant and above all human in Superman and Lois — who previously argued that Clark has barely aged since high school while his wife and children grow and age around him — teasing that Lois and Clark will grow old together, rather than Superman outliving his loved ones.

It is the culmination of the philosophy of Superman and Loisa series that – despite the title – has always cared more about Clark Kent than Superman, much like the character himself. Literally asking the Man of Steel to sacrifice everything to save humanity and then become one of them, even in some ways, like having gray hair and a weaker liver, is to ground the character in the universe of the series, but also in the greater myth of Superman. After all, Superman has always been more man than super, more human than Kryptonian, and his death and resurrection in Superman and Lois brings that idea to the forefront of what could be his best season.

From his very first scene, Superman and Lois has always brought Superman’s human side to the forefront, with excellent results. But in adapting Superman’s death and resurrection, the series reaches its full potential, capturing the essence of the character as inherently human despite his extraterrestrial origin. With a Superman movie reboot coming next year, this season of Superman and Lois This feels like both the promise of a future where Superman is no longer angry and dark, and also a new standard for depictions of the character and his stories.