How Superman Links To Bizarro: New Arrowverse Doppelganger Rules Explained

Warning! SPOILERS for Superman and Lois season 2 and Legends of Tomorrow season 7.

Superman and Lois season 2 introduced Bizarro Superman into the Arrowverse, alongside an unexplained connection to Superman that hints at Bizarro being a multiverse doppelganger. This has called into question the new Arrowverse rules regarding doppelgangers existing on the same Earth following Crisis on Infinite Earths. To further complicate the matter, later that week, a variant of the Reverse-Flash was revealed to still exist on Earth-Prime in Legends of Tomorrow season 7, episode 10, “The Fixed Point.”

Doppelgangers are the alternate versions of familiar characters from other Earths in DC Comics’ multiverse. The concept has been a core part of the Arrowverse mythology since The Flash season 2, which introduced Earth-2 and Harrison “Harry” Wells, who was that world’s version of STAR Labs’ founder Harrison Wells. Actor Tom Cavanagh famously played multiple Harrison Wells doppelgangers over the first seven seasons of The Flash, but the doppelganger concept was brought into other Arrowverse series, such as when Arrow reintroduced the villainous Black Canary of Earth-2, Black Siren, as a recurring character.

When the realities of the many series making up the Arrowverse merged into a single world, Earth-Prime, following the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, doppelgangers became much rarer. While there were still multiple Earths making up the cosmology of the new Arrowverse, travel between them became impossible using the old methods and there was no evidence of any heroes who had the power to travel between universes (like Breacher of Earth-19) having survived the Crisis with their powers intact. This makes the existence of a Bizarro Superman who is a doppelganger of Earth-Prime’s Superman difficult to explain for several reasons.

How Crisis On Infinite Earths Changed Doppelgangers

The biggest change to the cosmic rules following Crisis on Infinite Earths was that doppelgangers could no longer coexist on the same Earth. This was illustrated most dramatically during Batwoman season 1, when a variant version of Beth Kane, who had not been abducted and abused as a child before becoming the murderous anti-hero Alice, suddenly appeared in Gotham City. Both Beth and Alice experienced intense headaches shortly after Beth’s arrival and this pain intensified when they were together. Mary Hamilton quickly determined that both women were undergoing rapid cellular deterioration and concluded that Earth-Prime was literally not big enough for both of them. Alice’s pain ended after the Beth Kane variant was killed by Dr. August Cartwright.

It was later confirmed definitively that doppelgangers from other Earths could survive on Earth-Prime if their counterpart was dead or in another time period. Supergirl established this following a battle with an evil doppelganger of Winn Schott, who had embraced his father’s legacy as the terrorist Toyman. The doppelganger was killed shortly after the Earth-Prime Winn Schott (who moved to the 31st century to join the Legion of Super-Heroes) came back in time to clear his name. Presumably, this death came before either Toyman could start experiencing the symptoms of cellular degeneration described on Batwoman.

It has also been proven that magic can shield a doppelganger and that dimensions outside the normal flow of time are not effected by the new physical laws of the Arrowverse. Legends of Tomorrow season 5 established this with the introduction of Zari Tarazi (aka Zari 2.0), who was brought into existence after the events of Legends of Tomorrow‘s season 4 finale averted the dark future that gave birth to the team’s hacker and original Air Totem wielder, Zari Tomaz. Reality was rewritten so that Zari’s younger brother, Behrad, joined the Legends instead of her, but the original Zari survived within the pocket dimension contained within the Air Totem. Since that time, the team has had their memories of the original Zari restored and the two Zaris have worked out a time-share situation, where they trade-off who has to be inside the totem at any time. The two Zaris can also exit the totem simultaneously when they are in an area outside the normal flow of time, such as John Constantine’s mansion in Hell.

Every Doppelganger Known To Still Exist On Earth-Prime After Crisis

Superman and Lois season 1 introduced the John Henry Irons of another world as a mystery man, known as the Stranger. His Earth-Prime counterpart was later established as having died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. This explained how this variant of John Henry Irons was able to survive on Earth-Prime after accidentally traveling between realities while trying to kill the corrupted Superman that murdered his wife and enslaved his Earth.

Apart from John Henry Irons and the two Zaris on Legends of Tomorrow, the only doppelgangers established as still living on Earth-Prime are Jay and Joan Garrick. Originally existing on Earth-3 (where Jay was that world’s Flash) Jay and Joan were doppelgangers of Barry Allen’s parents, Henry and Nora Allen, who both died years before Crisis on Infinite Earths. Later, actor John Wesley Shipp played a new doppelganger of Jay Garrick, who was confirmed to have lived in the reality of Stargirl, on the new Arrowverse’s Earth-2, where he was a founding member of the Justice Society of America.

Is Bizarro Superman A Doppelganger?

Superman and Lois season 2 teased the arrival of the Arrowverse version of Doomsday, with a mysterious figure clad in a containment suit digging their way out of the Shuster Mines in Smallville. Doomsday was introduced in the comics in a similar manner, freeing himself from an underground prison before going on a rampage in The Death of Superman. However, when Superman confronted the monster and cracked the helmet concealing its face, he was stunned to find himself staring down a craggy-faced clone. This set up the twist that the long-teased villain was Bizarro instead of Doomsday.

One interesting wrinkle which foreshadowed Bizarro’s arrival was a series of visions that Superman began experiencing in the days before Bizarro emerged from the Shuster Mines. The visions were accompanied by intense pain, which triggered panic attacks in the Man of Steel. While an examination by Department of Defense doctors failed to find anything physically wrong with Superman, the pains he described sounded identical to the symptoms Mary Hamilton observed in Beth and Alice in Batwoman. While an explanation for the visions has yet to be offered, it’s possible they are an extrapolation of Superman’s enhanced senses.

While the Bizarro Superman has yet to be confirmed as a doppelganger, this seems to be the most logical explanation for his existence. After their first confrontation with Bizarro, Superman asked John Henry Irons if he thought it was possible that Bizarro was from his Earth. Irons denied this possibility, as Bizarro was immune to his red solar weapons and the Superman of his Earth hadn’t been. It is worth noting that, in the current DC Comics multiverse, Bizarro Superman is from the twisted reality of Earth-29. It seems likely that Superman and Lois could be building off this idea with the Arrowverse version of Bizarro.

Where Does The Reverse-Flash Remnant Fit In?

One night after Superman and Lois premiered Bizarro, Legends of Tomorrow introduced another wrinkle into the new doppelganger rules of the Arrowverse, with the revelation that one version of the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, was alive and acting as the cosmic guardian of a fixed point in time. This version of Thawne (played by Matt Letscher) was a time remnant created by the Flashpoint event and led the Legion of Doom during Legends of Tomorrow season 2, before apparently being killed by the Black Flash. However, it was revealed that rather than being erased from reality, this Thawne was reeducated and put to work by the Time Wraiths who policed the Speed Force. He was equipped with technology that kept him bound to a single day, while empowering him to stop time within that one day.

The reestablishment of this Reverse-Flash doppelganger so soon after Superman and Lois introduced the Arrowverse Bizarro had some fans wondering why the Thawne remnant wasn’t experiencing the same pains as Superman, given that there’s a depowered version of the Arrowverse’s Reverse-Flash locked in an ARGUS prison in 2022. The obvious explanation is that Time is acting as an insulator, and that the two Reverse-Flash doppelgangers are safe so long as they don’t try to occupy the same point in time. It’s also possible that the Time Wraith technology protects the Thawne remnant from the effects of paradox in the same way he was once insulated by the Negative Speed Force.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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