Superman & Lois

Superman & Lois works. And oftentimes it is quite wonderful.

Where Superman & Lois surprises is that the B-plot – which involves a mysterious, metal-clad big bad sabotaging nuclear power plants – would, in any other superhero series, be the headline act. But it’s the seemingly smaller stakes drama of Smallville being targeted by the same man who asset stripped The Daily Planet that’s the primary focus of these early episodes. ... Hoechlin manages to nail the character’s decency and virtuousness without it becoming too cornball.

Overall, the complaints against the first handful of episodes screened for critics are small compared to Superman & Lois' strengths. It is an alluring first step into a new frontier and might be just the ticket to infuse some new energy into the Arrowverse.

Overall, the show—or at least its pilot episode, the only one The CW made available—manages the extraordinary feat of appealing to young genre fans as well striking a chord with their parents, even those still wondering if modern technology can't produce a pair of X-Ray Spex that really work.

This is the CW’s most confident DC debut and a new, exciting chapter for the “world’s greatest hero.”

In some ways, the fact that Superman & Lois feels very different from the shows that have come before it is one of its strengths, and its inherent heartfelt sincerity brings with it a lot of promise; promise it may be able to live up to.

At least in these early stages, “Superman & Lois” is far more compelling as a domestic soap opera than a superhero adventure.

I enjoyed a lot of things about the premiere, even if one final twist left me baffled. The second episode offers promising routes forward — and bends the larger serialized story in a dispiritingly familiar direction.

It doesn’t look like it’s going to follow the traditional path that other Superman series have, and that’s just fine with us. Just as we like seeing Clark and Lois as harried parents, we’re also happy to see Superman battle some different enemies for a change.

Superman & Lois was plucked from the ribs of the current crop of the CW's DC superhero dramas, but its strongest connection is to an earlier series, the long-running "Smallville." Adding a family/coming-of-age component to the Man of Steel's mythology, the show cleverly ties into the deep roots of the franchise, at least initially proving you can go home again.