Superman & Lois Producers Reveal How Many Seasons They Envisioned for the DC Series

The CW’s Superman & Lois will end after its upcoming fourth season, but that wasn’t always the plan.

Ahead of the DC show’s Season 4 premiere on October 7, showrunners/producers Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher and lead stars Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman) and Elizabeth Tulloch (Lois Lane) have opened up about what fans can expect from the final season, as well as what could have been had The CW opted to keep them on the air beyond these final 10 episodes.

Entertainment Weekly has revealed that the producers had always hoped and planned for Superman & Lois to run for at least seven seasons. This would have made it the second-longest-running live-action Superman series after Smallville, which aired on The WB/The CW from 2001 to 2011.

However, when Nexstar Media Group acquired The CW in 2022, most of the network’s slate was canceled or given final season orders, except for Superman & Lois as it had yet to air its already-produced third season. The CW ultimately opted to renew the Arrowverse -adjacent series for a fourth season in June 2023, with the network later confirming that it would be the show’s last.

While Superman & Lois would end sooner than expected, Fletcher shared with EW that everyone involved was happy to be “able to end it exactly how we wanted to end it. And that means a lot for us.”

What happens in Superman & Lois Season 4?

The two-hour Season 4 premiere will pick up immediately from the cliffhanger Season 3 finale, which saw Superman and Doomsday flying full speed toward their death match on the surface of the Moon. “There’ll be plenty, plenty, plenty to watch in the premiere with that,” Hoechlin teased. While story details for the rest of the season remain under wraps, it was revealed back in July that the final season will loosely adapt the iconic Death of Superman comic book arc from the early 1990s, meaning that Hoechlin’s Man of Steel will seemingly perish during his battle with Doomsday.

Superman & Lois returns for its final season on The CW on October 7, 2024.