Please note spoilers for the Superman & Lois SERIES FINALE “It Went By So Fast” are being dicsussed in this interview! If you’re on the West Coast and/or haven’t watched yet, now is a good time to stop reading!
Well, we’ve reached that end point. Superman & Lois has ended, we have glimpses of the future, and while some characters were reunited in the afterlife, there were, of course, some who won’t be around forever. Hopefully you had tissues handy for those final moments.
After screening the S&L finale KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne was able to interview showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher about the finale, and we touched upon some things audience might just be wondering. It’s likely our last S&L interview with this duo, and we thank them for frequently being available to talk to promote the show. Enjoy, and remember you can discuss the finale on our Superman & Lois forum!
KRYPTONSITE: Was it intentional to fill the final episode with tie ins back to all four seasons of the show?
BRENT FLETCHER: Yeah. We wanted to honor everything that came before, and then tell a life to come, so we felt like it was important to highlight that stuff.
There were obviously some things that we would have liked to have added. We missed Tal-Rho (Adam Rayner) we would have liked to have had him in there. You have constraints based on budget and time and personnel, but we wanted to kind of honor the whole breadth of the series in that moment.
Beyond Tal-Rho, is there any guest star you had hoped you can make it into the finale that you just couldn’t make happen?
TODD HELBING: I think we would have ideally had Dylan Walsh back in the moment when Lois says “Daddy.” I think also it would have been nice to get Lucy (Jenna Dewan) back for the last season.
BRENT: And the Mannheims! Peia and Mateo… we would have found a way to use them, for sure.
Speaking of guest stars, as that Bitsie Tulloch’s husband David Giuntoli is adult Jonathan?
TODD: That was David. We reached out to him, and he was so gracious to do it. And then, we really wanted to cast somebody that looked like Alex. Both of them got older, showed up, and had to cry, basically. So that was some awesome work.
Can you talk about bringing Bruno Mannheim (Chad Coleman) in for both of the final episodes?
TODD: He said in season three to Superman, that basically he hadn’t made any real change. Clearly, that sat with [Clark] for a long time, and we really wanted to hit this. We talked about that idea in the room quite a bit, so we really wanted to infuse that in the last season, so it felt like bringing Bruno back to tee that up was was the right move. Chad Coleman was just so fantastic, as always.
Can you talk about all the good that Clark and Lois are doing in Smallville even after he no longer has his powers.
BRENT: We kind of saw it as, again, to what Bruno had said, He has been reaching out and doing diplomatic stuff ,and doing economic stuff ,and trying to help in ways that don’t involve strength. They involve organization ,and participation, and getting other people to join. So we felt like That was kind of an interesting thing, for a man that had once had all this power, to then have power in a different way, but also still doing great good.
Are we to assume that there was never a Justice League in this world?
TODD: Yeah, very likely not. Not in the way that you historically think about it.
So does that imply that Jonathan and Jordan are the main heroes of this world?
TODD:
Jon, Jordan… Nat is part of that….. John Henry, too.
Are Clark and Lois still alive on Earth-Prime?
TODD: [Laughs] You know, I would assume that yeah, probably… I feel like it.
Was it surreal to have been the custodians of Superman and Lois Lane, telling their stories in such a unique way for the last four years?
TODD: Whenever you’re you’re writing stories for a property as big as this and as beloved as you know both of those those characters are, and trying to put your own spin on it and do something a little bit different than what people are used to, there are inherent pressures that come with that. But I think from the get go, we got such great response from people, and that response grew and grew. I’m just really proud to have been a part of such a special property.
BRENT: My first day of work, I was driving to Burbank, and the car in front of me had a big Superman “S” on it. And it really struck me “oh, this thing is big!” This person cared enough to put that emblem on their car, and I’m about to contribute to this… so I think you have to be very mindful of that, but it’s also kind of thrilling, because you get in there andyou can’t be subservient to it. You have to want to put your own spin and have a thing to say. Todd and Greg [Berlanti] had built a really great pilot that had such a great engine, and it was such a degree different than what I had seen before, with the family element and just struggling to be parents, with these great heroes… I felt like we always served that idea, and that made it its own unique thing, but felt worthy of the umbrella of all the other [Superman media].
It’s daunting, but it’s also thrilling to be part of that. You think “where did I make a good life decision that allows me to be a part of this?” And that’s fun.
TODD: At some point in one of the early pitches, it was said that the Superman crest is the second most recognizable icon in the world, next to the Christian cross, which when you think about it in those terms, it’s a little like “holy moly!”
I believe I read an interview you guys did where you said that you wanted this finale to be different from any other Superman type finale that we’ve ever seen before. Can you talk about that?
TODD: We watched a lot of series finales, and we know how important it is as audience members and fans of other shows, when you get to that moment, you just want something that emotionally resonates with you and has a lasting effect, so we approached it that way. We had an idea what we wanted to do, but the way it was going to be doled out, we took some time with, and did many versions. Hopefully, what people walk away with at the end is something meaningful to them, because you can interpret the ending in many different ways.
BRENT: You want it to feel earned, and like Todd said, you want to think about it afterwards. You also want it to also be reflective of what the show was, and what the show meant. We tried to basically tie everything up, but make it feel earned and emotional. Hopefully we were able to accomplish that.
The title of the episode is “It Went By So Fast.” Is that the feeling that you are personally having now that the show is almost finished airing?
TODD: Oh, yeah, a for sure. We started this during COVID, but it feels like yesterday. think as you get older, it’s something that everybody says at some point in their life, right? “It went by so fast”…. or “I can’t believe how fast time is going”…. and hopefully, it’s something that people look at and it helps or reminds them to appreciate moments more, and to slow things down a little bit.
BRENT: As you get older, your relationship with time changes a little bit. Like, you’re in high school and you can’t wait for the clock to run out so you can get out of school, and then you’re my age, and I’ve got kids, and all of a sudden they’ve jumped a grade, and it seems like that was in two days,. It’s funny how the older you get, the relationship with time, and your life, and your perspective changes. That was always hanging on the wall at Martha’s house, and we both relate to that being at our stage in life as parents, and we’re pretty sure that as we keep going in life, it’s going to keep hitting us over the head how fast things are going. So we felt like it was apropos as we said goodbye to Lois and Clark, that they would be feeling that as well.
Superman & Lois Season 4 should soon be streaming on Max, but will be well remembered by all.
Ben Mackowski
October 17, 2016 at 8:38 pm
I’m fully convinced she’s known at least since Red Kryptonite
Buddy
October 17, 2016 at 10:15 pm
There was an episode on Season 1, when Cat thought Kara was Supergirl & confronted her!
But then Hank, Jon Jonz the shift-shaper became Supergirl & so both Kara & Supergirl were present for Cat! Thus Cat ended up saying she was wrong about it!
John P Grieco
October 18, 2016 at 4:36 am
What about the episode where Martian Manhunter transformed into Supergirl and flew to the office while Kara was talking with Cat. Doesn’t she remember that?