Superman & Lois has placed much attention on the developing powers of Jordan Kent (Alex Garfin), and the story unfolding in season 2 could be the point where he finally masters them. Following his supporting role on Supergirl and Crisis On Infinite Earths, Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel began headlining his own Arrowverse series when Superman & Lois debuted in 2021. While Metropolis is usually the primary residence of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Superman & Lois season 1 saw them move with their sons Jordan and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) back to Clark’s hometown of Smallville.

As the Kent family acclimates to farm life in the small town, Jordan soon discovers that he possesses superpowers. Eventually, Clark comes clean with his sons that he’s Superman, and vows to help Jordan learn to control the abilities that are beyond his understanding. That’d be a tough task for anyone to undertake, but Jordan experiencing the difficulties of adolescent life in high school only makes it harder.

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With Superman & Lois moving ahead into season 2, Kal-El’s doppelganger Bizarro presents a new, major challenge. Meanwhile, Jordan naturally remains frustrated by the difficulties in gaining full control over his Kryptonian powers like his father has. With how Jordan’s story has progressed season 1, Superman & Lois season 2 could finally be the point where he rises to the same power level as his father with total control over his abilities as a half-Kryptonian.

Jordan’s Powers Have Been A Major Focus Of Superman & Lois

In its first episode, Superman & Lois showed Jordan discovering he possesses Kryptonian abilities when he saves Jonathan from falling debris on the Kent Farm. After Clark reveals that he’s Superman, Jordan has context for his newfound powers, but harnessing them poses a major challenge for him. In Smallville, Clark Kent does everything he can as a protective father to guide Jordan in the development of his powers since then, but this proves more difficult than either of them expected.

For one thing, Jordan’s social anxiety disorder makes it more difficult for him to remain calm in high-stress situations,  inching him toward inadvertently using his powers. Jordan finds out the hard way how important it is to avoid this when he breaks Jonathan’s hand as his brother tries to intervene in a fight Jordan nearly gets into. The other issue for Jordan is that, while his Kryptonian powers make him much stronger than the average human, they still aren’t nearly as strong as those of his father. For Jordan, both finessing his powers and having the restraint to know when and where to use them are real struggles. With the arrival of Bizarro, there are hints that Jordan might finally accomplish both as Superman & Lois season 2’s story unfolds.

What Jordan Mastering His Powers Could Mean For The Show

At the end of the Superman & Lois season 2 episode “The Inverse Method,” Jordan asks his grandfather General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh) to train him to develop his powers. Though Sam has had at times a tumultuous relationship with the Kent family, he and Clark have also ironed their relationship out for the good of the family. This means that Sam isn’t likely to try to weaponize Jordan against Clark (especially with Sam’s retirement from the DoD), but the most important takeaway is that Jordan is determined to strengthen his powers as much as possible. The challenge presented by Bizarro suggests that Jordan could be a bigger player in the conflict than he might appear to be.

With Jordan being a human-Kryptonian hybrid, his arc is one of the show’s most central right alongside Superman himself. It’s only to be expected that he’ll develop his powers fully at some point, but Superman & Lois season 2 might also use Jordan to facilitate an unexpected retcon. As a teenager with the powers of Superman, Jordan could join his father against Bizarro as the show’s version of Superboy, more specifically, as Superman & Lois‘ version of Kon-El/Conner Kent. The presence of John Henry Irons (Wole Parks) on the show might even be a subtle hint of this, with both he and Superboy closely connected to The Death of Superman. While Superman & Lois may or may not be headed in the direction of telling its own version of the story, Jordan as Superboy would fit right into the show’s template.

How Jordan Rising To Superman Power-Levels Could Play Out

It was confirmed that Bizarro is Superman & Lois season 2’s villain and main antagonist, but the show initially teased him as Doomsday. With Bizarro revealed, however, Doomsday shouldn’t necessarily be written off. Both Smallville and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice rejiggered him as a humanoid Kryptonian (Davis Bloome and General Zod, respectively) who transforms into the beast. Superman & Lois might pull the same trick with Bizarro eventually morphing into Doomsday. Still, even if he remains as Bizarro, there are multiple ways in which Jordan could enter the battle with him and finally reach the pinnacle of his powers. If Bizarro does transform into Doomsday, Jordan could take up the mantle of Superboy, as Conner had done in the aftermath of Superman’s death. If Bizarro remains Bizarro, he might prove challenging for Superman to handle alone. Bizarro’s much scarier portrayal on the show certainly suggests this could be the case. This might give Jordan the final push he needs to spring into action with his powers at their fullest, lending his father and John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel, a hand to defeat Bizarro.

Superman & Lois could theoretically take this idea even further and have Jordan face Bizarro and stop him alone. Considering the struggles Jordan’s dealt with both socially and with his latent powers, viewers are most assuredly in Jordan’s corner. Finding the equilibrium to fully control and develop his powers has been such a challenge for him that Jordan being the one to defeat Bizarro would be an extremely triumphant moment.

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Jordan Kent has been through as much as anyone on Superman & Lois. He’s been an unwilling vessel in the possession plot of Superman & Lois‘ Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner), and dealt with terrible migraines and social isolation relating to his powers. The show is most certainly building up to the moment when Jordan truly masters the abilities he wields. Having Jordan fight side-by-side with his father or even vanquish Bizarro by himself could be the season 2 pay-off Superman & Lois is headed toward. If the storytelling chips all fall into place, Jordan might even bear the Kryptonian name Kon-El when all’s said and done.

Superman & Lois returns Tuesday, February 22 on The CW.

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About The Author


Brad Curran
(714 Articles Published)

Growing up, Brad developed an innate love of movies and storytelling, and was instantly enamored with the world of adventure while following the exploits of Indiana Jones, Japanese kaiju, and superheroes. Today, Brad channels his thoughts on all manner of movies, from comic book films, sci-fi thrillers, comedies, and everything in between through his writings on Screen Rant. Brad also offers philosophical musings on martial arts and the filmographies of everyone from Jackie Chan to Donnie Yen on Kung Fu Kingdom, where he’s also had the privilege of interviewing many of the world’s great stunt professionals, and hearing plenty of gripping stories on injuries incurred in their line of work and the intricacies of designing the acts of death defiance he first thrilled to as a youngster. When he’s not writing, Brad enjoys going on a ride with the latest action hit or Netflix original, though he’s also known to just pop in “The Room” from time to time. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradCurran.

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