Superman & Lois will officially end with the show's fourth season, and there are a number of factors playing into the show's conclusion.

Summary

• Superman & Lois will conclude with its upcoming fourth season, as the network is moving away from episodic scripted shows and cutting budgets.
• The show's supporting cast will not be returning as regular players in season 4, and it is the last DC Comics-based show on The CW.
• Despite the cancellation, season 4 has the potential to give the show a proper ending by resolving major storylines and showcasing an epic battle between Superman and Doomsday.

The CW's Superman & Lois will conclude with its upcoming fourth season. Tyler Hoechlin's run as Superman has been a rather unique one, with Hoechlin first debuting as the Man of Steel on The CW's Supergirl, before finally headlining Superman & Lois upon the show's debut in 2021. While initially presented as having ambiguous ties to Hoechlin's Superman role in the Arrowverse, season 2 clarified the series as a standalone show set in its own universe, allowing Superman & Lois season 3 to maintain its focus on the story of Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) raising their teenage sons in Smallville.

With Superman & Lois's end wrapping up the show's four-season run (after Tyler Hoechlin has played five different versions of Superman through the multiversal elements of his tenure), it would be easy to assume the show is ending due to usual factors like declining ratings or ballooning budgets. However, Superman & Lois's situation is much more complex, as are the factors that have lead to its fourth season being its last. Here is why Superman & Lois is ending with season 4.

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Why Superman & Lois Was Cancelled By The CW

Superman & Lois ending after season 4 can largely be attributed to changes at The CW network following the channel's acquisition by Nexstar. Since that time, the network has been progressively moving away from its episodic scripted shows, while budgets and season runs on The CW are being cut across the board. Even with its strong popularity, Superman & Lois has not escaped these factors heading into season 4. As part of the budget cuts, Superman & Lois's season 4 episode count has been reduced to 10 episodes, fewer than previous seasons.

Superman & Lois Season	Episode Count
Season 1	15
Season 2	15
Season 3	13
Season 4	10

Moreover, most of the show's supporting cast will not be returning as regular players in Superman & Lois season 4, though they could still appear as either guest stars or recurring cast members. On top of that, with all The CW's Arrowverse shows having concluded their runs, Superman & Lois stands as the very last of the network's DC Comics-based shows. With all of these factors combined, the writing was more or less on the wall that Superman & Lois's fourth season would be its concluding chapter.

Was Superman & Lois Cancelled Because Of James Gunn's DCU Reboot?

While it might be easy to assume the two are connected, Superman & Lois's cancelation is not likely related to James Gunn's upcoming DCU plans under DC Studios. Upon beginning his tenure as DC Studios co-CEO, Gunn himself expressed support for Superman & Lois, even stating that he anticipated the show would continue for "one or two more seasons" after the end of season 3 (via Variety). Additionally, Gunn has specified that the DC Elseworlds label is the tent for DC movies and TV shows not set within the DCU, with that collection of projects including Superman & Lois along with the Joker films, Matt Reeves's The Batman universe, and other non-DCU properties.

Of course, the end of Superman & Lois will leave Gunn's DCU as the only live-action DC movie or TV show with an active and current Man of Steel, namely David Corenswet's Kal-El in Superman: Legacy. While that does position Superman: Legacy as the epicenter of the DCU, Superman & Lois's end after its fourth season is simply coinciding with Gunn's plans due to the aforementioned changes within The CW. With Superman & Lois season 4 pre-announced to be the show's finale, the series does also have one advantage that can really benefit its storytelling in season 4.

How Superman & Lois Season 4 Can Give The Show A Proper Ending

The ending of Superman & Lois season 3 leaves the show on a major cliffhanger, with Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) transforming Bizarro into the monstrous creature Doomsday and unleashing him upon Tyler Hoechlin's Superman. With the last shot of season 3 showing Superman and Doomsday lunging towards each other on the moon, the second half of their titanic Kryptonian battle will undoubtedly be featured heavily in Superman & Lois season 4, and that also gives the show an even more massive tease. With Superman & Lois wrapping up with season 4, the show can conclude its story in truly epic fashion.

Obviously, Doomsday's character history implies that the tragic death and triumphant resurrection of Hoechlin's Superman was always intended to be a major focus of Superman & Lois season 4, and the show can make the impact of that even more pronounced as part of its final chapter. Of course, that is hardly the only story thread Superman & Lois can properly wrap up in season 4, with Jordan Kent (Alex Garfin) possibly fully becoming Superboy. Superman & Lois's darker take on Lex Luthor can also conclude his story in season 4, while Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and her family can also fully heal from their internal wounds.

Additionally, Superman & Lois has been the only live-action Superman adaptation to show his partnership with John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks). With season 4 acting as the show's finale, he could finally properly become Steel while guiding his daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck) as a heroine. In having such a powerful setup for season 4, Superman & Lois has all the potential to conclude its story as one of many amazing Superman tales in DC's multiverse, especially with the potential of Superman, Steel, Natalie Irons, and Jordan Kent forming a union of heroes heading into the show's final battle.

Of course, with DC being a multiverse, Superman & Lois season 4 might not be the last the world sees of Hoechlin's Superman. Multiple avenues exist for Hoechlin's Superman to return again on either the big or small-screen in some form or fashion, and that could even include something as grand as a Spider-Man: No Way Home-esque Superman multiverse movie, with Hoechlin's Superman meeting his fellow Last Sons of Krypton Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, Tom Welling, and David Corenswet. In any case, when it comes to the solo adventures of Hoechlin's Man of Steel, Superman & Lois season 4 is fully prepped to end the series on a high note.

• Superman & Lois

  Release Date:

  2021-02-23

  Seasons:

  3

  Genres:

  Drama

  Network:

  The CW

  Streaming Service(s):

  HBO Max, Prime Video

  Season List:

  Superman & Lois - Season 1, Superman & Lois - Season 2, Superman & Lois - Season 3