Although the Arrowverse proper came to a close last year when The Flash ended after nine seasons, there’s still one DC TV show tangentially tied to that franchise left on The CW to finish out its run. Superman & Lois Season 4 is weeks away from premiering on the 2024 TV schedule, and among the things fans can look forward to is The Flash alum Tom Cavanagh appearing in the series finale. However, if you were hoping that this meant that Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash, would be stopping by Superman & Lois’ Earth, sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not happening.
Superman & Lois showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher informed EW that Cavanagh is not stopping by Season 4 to play another version of Barry Allen’s longtime arch-nemesis, nor will he play a new version of Harrison Wells. However, the new character he’s playing does hail from DC Comics lore, and it sounds like they’re a big deal. In Fletcher’s words:
It is a definitely a new character from the DC Universe... It is not something you've seen before. I wish we could have had this character for 18 seasons. It was fun.
Obviously he’s exaggerating when he says 18 seasons, although it is mentioned in the article that he and Helbing were hoping Superman & Lois would run for at least seven seasons. Still, it is nice that The CW renewed the series for a fourth and final season so that they could end it on their terms rather than leave a lot of lingering plot threads behind, which also meant getting to squeeze in Cavanagh before all was said and done. The actor previously directed Season 1’s “Last Sons of Krypton” and Season 3’s “Closer,” and he’ll also be balancing his performing duties with helming Superman & Lois’ series finale, which is titled “It Went By So Fast.”
While there’s no way we can predict whom Tom Cavanagh will play in Superman & Lois’ last episode, I am more intrigued about their identity following Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher’s tease, as they clearly wanted this character to stick around for a long time. Maybe if their dream of a seven-season run had been granted, we would have seen this person become a recurring player on Superman & Lois, or perhaps even join the main cast. Alas, that’s not the way the cards were dealt in the end, but at least this mystery DC character will get to shine on the small screen for a little bit in the near future.
As a result of budget cuts, Superman & Lois Season 4 is comprised of just 10 episodes, and only Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Alex Garfin, Michael Bishop and Michael Cudlitz, who debuted as Lex Luthor towards the end of Season 3, will be credited as main cast members. However, Dylan Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck and Sofia Hasmik will all still appear in Season 4, just in fewer episodes. Along with Tom Cavanagh, other new faces stopping by Superman & Lois this season include Yvonne Chapman’s Amanda McCoy and Douglas Smith’s Jimmy Olsen.
Superman & Lois Season 4’s first two episodes premiere Monday, October 7 on The CW. Stream the previous three seasons with a Max subscription while waiting for more news about the final batch of episodes.
