Arrow-verse fans have been without their fall dose of superhero fun in 2020, but 2021 will bring back the franchise's heavy hitters, along with some new ones like Superman & Lois, which show great promise. The series just got more interesting recently as it was announced that a new actor has been cast to play a villain previously played by another actor in Supergirl. Adam Rayner has joined Superman & Lois and will be playing the role of Morgan Edge.
Morgan Edge started off in DC Comics as a media mogul who owned the Daily Planet but transitioned into a villain. As previously mentioned, this character already existed in the Arrow-verse via Supergirl, and was played by Adrian Pasdar in Season 3. Deadline did not report the details of the casting, so it's unsure whether or not Adam Rayner's Morgan Edge is perhaps an alternate version of the Supergirl character, or this is just a straight-up recasting. The description for the character called this Edge a self-made mogul, whose ability to inspire others has led to his success, as well as others demise.
Superman & Lois will be Adam Rayner's first time in the Arrow-verse, but far from his first time on television. Rayner was most recently a part of ABC's one-season series The Fix, but might be most well-known for his role as Barry in the FX series Tyrant. As Barry Al-Fayeed, Rayner certainly brought us a compelling character who walked the line between hero and villain, so it's possible Superman & Lois could see him doing the same.
According to star Tyler Hoechlin, Superman & Lois is attempting to do something different with this particular corner of DC. When talking about his new Superman suit, Hoechlin remarked that the series is "unique" and will feature things audiences have never seen before. It stands to reason the same could be said for the series' villains, and that the show may be taking a page out of Smallville's book and putting its own spin on the universe.
That may sound far-fetched to Arrow-verse fans who haven't been following the development of series, but it's worth noting that Superman & Lois made some pretty big changes to the characters, post-Crisis mega crossover. As an example, Superman and Lois had one son pre-Crisis, and now, afterward, have two teenage sons. Plus, this show will literally be set in Smallville, and feature characters like Lana Lang. Like Tyler Hoechlin said, this is set to be a different type of Superman show than audiences are used to, though the jury is out on whether or not that will be a good or bad thing.
While we don't know just yet how many episodes will feature Adam Rayner, Superman & Lois is set to premiere on The CW, Tuesday, February 23, so we don't have very long to wait to find out. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on the series as the weeks go on, and for more news happening in television and movies.
