If you haven’t caught the newest installment in the Superman fandom, Superman & Lois, you NEED to go add it to your Watchlist. I have a hard time letting go of my favorite Superman story, Smallville, so when I say that I am enjoying this new take, that’s saying something! Or, if you don’t trust me, go see what one of our other writers has to say about the first five episodes of Superman & Lois.
This show focuses less on Superman and Lois’ origin story (thank goodness, I really didn’t need to watch this again!) and instead features their life with a growing family—two sons, to be exact. I was ecstatic to finally see what we all thought was Superman’s distant future emerge in a TV show.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane have twin sons, Jonathan and Jordan. Jonathan seems to be a good kid: he’s the star football player and “easy going,” as he’s referred to in the first episode. Jordan is a bit more troubled, but this soon changes when the family moves to Smallville, and he begins making friends, joining the football team, and having all those wonderful teen character moments. But when a large amount of farm equipment falls on the brothers, and they miraculously survive, Clark and Lois assume that one of the boys has powers—like their father—even though they were tested at the Fortress when they were younger and seemingly had no powers. Because of Jonathan’s astounding football talents, they assume he was the one to take the hit from the falling equipment and save his brother. However, after an accidental release of heat vision, the family confirms that it is actually Jordan who has the family powers. In the episodes released so far, there is a theme starting of mild jealousy between the brothers, as Jordan continues to show abilities of increased strength and heat vision while Jonathan remains powerless.
However, when Jordan is taken back to the Fortress for more testing, it is once again emphasized that he does not have the same powers as Superman, and apparently cannot maintain a ‘super-state’ for long periods of time. In short, he is still pretty weak—which is to be expected, as he is only half Kryptonian.
Now, to get to the discussion we have all been waiting for: what’s in store for Jonathan?
Well, we have to remember that while Jordan is the only one to show true powers, Jonathan is still half Kryptonian. I pondered over the possibility of Jonathan having abilities for a little while, and I definitely think it’s possible! But first, let me argue the flip side.
Here’s Why Jonathan May Not Have Powers
I can understand if the show wants to have a single super-powered star—Superboy, in a sense. Superboys, plural, wouldn’t fit the previous narratives. It would also make sense that of the twins, one could inherit the more Kryptonian side of the bloodline, and the other would be a mere human. Is this why the writers went with twin boys? One human parent, one super parent = one super twin, one human twin? Maybe! To top it off, even their names tell us quite a lot—Jordan is named after Kryptonian Jor-El, and Jonathan is named after human Jonathan Kent.
Now, for the possibility I’m hoping to see…
Here’s Why Jonathan May Eventually Have Powers
I may be completely creating this scenario in my head, but I’m always excited to share theories—so here goes! Jordan has only shown two powers so far: heat vision and super-strength. Is it possible that, in a sensical twin fashion, Jonathan has the other half of the powers, such as flight and perhaps freeze-breath? These are polar opposites, which would be awesome to see brought to life between these two twins. Could it also be possible that the reason Jordan tested so weak at the Fortress was because he requires some sort of join-up with his twin to complete their powers? I think this development would be nothing sort of epic—and I hope this is the plan. The show has already shown creative takes on the classic Superman story, so I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch for a new narrative of super-powered twins.
If I am wrong about each of them having half of Superman’s powers, I may still be correct that Jonathan has a chance to be super! We see a flashback scene of Jonathan throwing a football as a child with enough force to break a tire swing rope…and even a very strong kid would be unlikely to achieve that feat. We can observe that Jordan’s powers have only manifested when he is with his brother, so even if Jonathan doesn’t have powers, the team-up I’m hoping for may still be in store!
Now, if they do decide to give Jonathan powers, it will probably be a “wow” moment for the show, which means we may need to wait a little while for that dramatic surprise. I can foresee an awesome reveal of flight for Jonathan, as this would no doubt be the next, most important Kryptonian superpower that fans want to see! This addition to the Superman & Lois storyline would be absolutely fantastic, should the writers choose to take the show in that direction. Until then, I will be eagerly waiting to see what surprises they have in store for us.
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