Why Superman & Lois Fans Have Some Concerns About Jonathan
The CW series "Superman & Lois" has become the latest iteration of a live-action Superman, with "Teen Wolf" star Tyler Hoechlin taking on the role of the Kryptonian superhero, as well as his alter-ego Clark Kent. In the process, he's joined a group that includes Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, Dean Cain, and Christopher Reeve.
The series, however, sets itself apart from the other live-action versions by not only beginning with Clark married to Lois Lane (Bitsie Tulloch) but also as the father to fraternal twins. The sons, Jonathan and Jordan, are played by Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin respectively and are teenagers at the beginning of the show when Clark opts to move from Metropolis to Smallville following the death of his mother.
Over the course of the show's two seasons, however, fans have developed some concerns about Jonathan Kent, who has dealt with a variety of issues, the biggest one of these being how he took the blame for dealing with performance-enhancing X-Kryptonite to shield his girlfriend from arrest. That said, here's why "Superman & Lois" fans are worried about Jonathan.
Jonathan has a poor relationship with his father
On the subreddit r/SupermanAndLois, "Superman & Lois" viewer u/Zookwok111 posted an image of the Bizarro World Lois (Bitsie Tulloch) berating Bizarro Superman about his treatment of Jonathan, with the caption "Seems like Clark is doomed to make the same mistakes in both worlds."
In the show's second season, the episode "Bizarros in a Bizarro World" showed the story of the Kent family in the Bizarro World, highlighting the fact that Bizarro Superman treated Jonathan poorly, ultimately driving him into Bizarro Ally Allston's cult. Clark learned of this Bizarro backstory when he chased his world's Ally Allston through the portal, encountering the Bizarro World Lois.
Several posters agreed with the sentiment that the way this Earth's Clark and Bizarro Clark treated their respective Jonathans uncomfortably mirrored each other. u/Fit-Television-2294 noted that, despite seeing what happened to the Bizarro Kent family, Clark didn't change how he treated Jonathan. u/bigred9310 found himself in agreement, adding that not only is Clark's behavior toward Jonathan unjustified but that Lois is complicit in it as well, being aware of Clark's general ignorance of Jonathan.
Redditor u/Tireswingchapt1476 pointed out, in two separate comments, that Jonathan and Jordan's bond remained strong even as their parents ignored Jonathan, noting that Jordan jeopardizes his relationship with Sarah to save Jonathan when the latter is in trouble, and also expresses excitement at his mistaken thought that Jonathan may also be developing superpowers. In another comment, they also highlighted the Season 1 moment where Jonathan stops Jordan from using his punch to potentially fatally injure a human by putting his hand in between, noting that Jonathan saved Jordan from the ensuing guilt at the expense of his own physical injury.
Jonathan and Clark's relationship remains a focal point for the writers
In an interview with SFX Magazine (via Games Radar), showrunner Todd Helbing spoke about what he was aiming for with "Superman & Lois." He noted that Greg Berlanti, who oversees all shows in the Arrowverse, was the first one to suggest that the show go the route of Clark and Lois as parents, to differentiate them from other interpretations.
To that end, Helbing likens "Superman & Lois" to an unlikely series. "One of the analogs we use for this show is 'Friday Night Lights.' Lois and Clark in our show are very much Tami and Coach Taylor," he said, referring to the NBC football drama and the characters played by Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, respectively.
In an interview with Looper about the show's 3rd season, Helbing addressed the parental aspects of the show, where he'd like to guide the series, and the dynamic between the parents and their children.
"When you're a parent, you have to pick a lane, sometimes, with your kids," Helbing said, adding that sometimes that means focusing on one child more than the other because they need it. Clark faced this situation in the first two seasons with Jordan manifesting powers. He added that "moving forward, we really want to bring Jonathan in as much as the rest of the family — make [it] more of a family superhero scenario."