Opinion: Superman & Lois Is Not Replacing Supergirl

As soon as Superman & Lois as a TV series focusing on Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane was announced, there was worry that the show would be designed to replace the popular Supergirl series starring Melissa Benoist. In light of the new series premiering in January and the announcement that Supergirl is ending with Season 6, those criticisms have intensified, with some suggesting this is a “bad look” for The CW. The argument is “now that they actually have Superman, they don’t need Supergirl anymore,” usually associated with accusations of the network having sexist intentions.

I don’t believe that is the case, and here are a few reasons why:

Melissa Benoist is a new mother. This might be the biggest reason why Supergirl is ending at this time, beyond the thought that Melissa may have only signed a 5-year contract when the series moved to Vancouver and The CW. Leading a TV show after having a baby is surely going to be hard, especially in a time of COVID and quarantining where hopefully Melissa’s husband Chris Wood can be up there with her. We still expect Supergirl Season 6 to go easy on Melissa, but a major life event like this one may seem like the perfect time to make a change.

Six seasons is a long run for a show — really. It might seem unfathomable in a world where Supernatural goes for 15 seasons and Smallville went for ten, but there was a time when even a 3- or 4-season run seemed like a long time. Lois & Clark ended at four seasons; even a “classic” from my childhood like Knight Rider was capped at four years. In a pre-streaming era, the goal was usually for series to make it to 100 episodes — something Supergirl already did in Season 5. We probably are lucky to have had the series for as long as we did, considering if the show had ended when CBS cancelled it, we would have had only 20 episodes of this great series. 20 episodes, by the way, is all we ever got of Krypton — and it is the full length of the proposed Season 6 of Supergirl.

It’s The CW, not The DC. Right now, we as fans are spoiled with a lot of DC Comics-related content. Even with Arrow over, The CW’s 2020-2021 lineup includes Supergirl, Superman & Lois, The Flash, Stargirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Black Lightning, and a re-airing of Swamp Thing…. and there are only 12 hours in the week for them to program. Eventually, people are going to tire of this stuff, and eventually, they’re going to have to pare it down…. and again, six seasons is a very long run.

The CW is not giving up on women. Stargirl is the kind of “girl power” inspiration to young women that Supergirl has had for so long. Batwoman’s title character is a woman, and that character is surrounded by great female characters. The second name in the title Superman & Lois is the world’s greatest reporter. And that’s not counting such powerful women high up on the call sheets of the other shows, like Candice Patton’s Iris West-Allen and Danielle Panabaker’s Caitlin on The Flash; Sara, Ava, Zari, and Astra on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; Lynn, Jen, and Anissa on Black Lightning; and Crystal Reed’s Abby Arcane of Swamp Thing.

“It’s only the end if you want it to be.” That’s one of my favorite quotes from Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl comic book, and it is a valid point here. We’re going to end this all with around 125 episodes of Supergirl to watch forever, but also, considering that Crisis on Infinite Earths killed off Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow, it’s doubtful they’ll do the “killing the lead” thing a second year in a row, which, agreed, would be a bad look. Melissa is loved by the fan base and seems to be loved by The CW and Greg Berlanti’s production stable… if she ever wants to come back, she will surely be around again. I just hope that characters like Lena, Dreamer, and Alex also have the chance to show up too.

So, don’t blame Superman & Lois for Supergirl ending; all of these circumstances surely had more sway than the notion that another Kryptonian is getting their own TV series. For the next year, remember the phrase “el mayarah” – the shows will be stronger together.

Kaoshuh…