The Problem With Doomsday

WARNING:  This post contains SPOILERS for the season 2 premiere of Superman & Lois!

I would like to think of myself as a bigger Superman fan than the average Joe.  I've been following/reading Superman comics since The Death of Superman event that started 30 years ago this November. This storyline introduced us to a villain known as Doomsday. It was later that we would find out this creature had Kryptonian origins and would be responsible for the death of The Man of Steel.  It is arguably the biggest event in comics history.  Since then, Doomsday has been used in DC Comics in many ways as the big boogie man for not only Kal-El but also other heroes in the DCU.  Doomsday has also been used in other mediums. Superman/Doomsday, Justice League Unlimited, Smallville, Krypton, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a just some of the times Doomsday has shown up on screens big and small.  But with a character like this I feel like he is a crux that some creators lean on too quickly when making a Superman story.  I was quite shocked when Zack Snyder put Doomsday in the second installment of a new Superman movie franchise.  Doomsday is a third, fourth, or even fifth film villain I believe.  It's not a second film, or even second season, villain for The Man of Tomorrow.

In the season premiere of Superman & Lois earthquakes begin to happen in Smallville.  At the end of the episode, we see a hand punch out of rock deep beneath Smallville quarry.  Wearing a greenish outfit, and given that it's buried deep in the Earth, most people assume it's none other than Doomsday himself come to take on Tyler Hoechlin's Superman for this season of The CW series.  But my question is why introduce the biggest storyline in Superman mythology, his greatest battle, in just season 2 of a TV series?  I'm assuming since this is a more seasoned Superman that he's faced most of his rogue's gallery like Metallo and Brainiac (even though Supergirl used a lot of Superman characters and storylines) but it seems he has not yet faced his own death.  

My other worry is that if we're about to get Superman vs Doomsday it will need good special effects to do it justice.  Even though I thought Doomsday was used way too soon in the DCEU, Doomsday did look good, and its battle with DC's Trinity had an epic feel.  The series Smallville brought the character of Doomsday in on season 8 of the series and was played by Sam Witer with a dual identity plot.  But every time he fought Tom Welling it just wasn't satisfying on a CW series budget.  While Superman & Lois I feel has better effects than most Arrowverse series the creators would have to blow an entire season's budget to make it the epic battle it deserves.  To be honest, my favorite version of the fight between Superman and Doomsday is in the animated film, The Death of Superman. 

 The Syfy series Krypton also brought in the character of Doomsday in its second season.  The show was a prequel set on the not-yet-destroyed planet but saw Doomsday's Kryptonian origins.  Bringing in the creature that killed Superman is kind of top-of-the-hill as far as storylines go.  Something that can kill The Last Son of Krypton is the biggest challenge.  As excited as I was to see Doomsday brought to this series, I thought they were writing themselves into a corner much too soon. When Superman fought Zod and his gang of Kryptonians in his first film, Man of Steel, I thought they started too high on the difficulty level. Metallo, Lex Luthor, Parasite; these are more Earth-based smaller villains that can start a new Superman series and then you work your way up to the bigger villains like Zod, Brainiac, Darkseid, and Doomsday.  At least Smallville waited eight years. The last few Superman interpretations can't seem to wait till year 3.  

Now, personally, I don't see Doomsday as Superman's greatest villain.  To me, that title goes to Darkseid.  He's almost as smart as Lex Luthor, and almost as strong as Doomsday.  Superman stands for hope and freedom, while Darkseid stands for fear and oppression.  But Doomsday is a force of nature that (at first appearance) doesn't think, doesn't sleep, and doesn't tire. It just destroys.  Bringing in a force of nature like that so early in a fresh Superman TV (or film) series I feel like gives you little room to one-up the stakes for what we all would hope to be many more seasons. 

Showrunner Tom Belbing has confirmed we will get a full reveal of Doomsday by episode 3 this season, but where are they going with it?  One theory I have is that they may do the full Death/Reign/Return of Superman in this series.  In the comics, Superman's death brings four other characters in to try and replace him.  The phrase "Eradicator" has been brought up in the series.  John Henry Irons a.k.a. "Steel" is already here, and we have a "Superboy" as well. If they wanted to do a version of Reign of the Supermen all they would need to bring in is the villainous "Cyborg Superman". Tackling that three-part storyline over the course of one or two seasons of TV would be something I am interested in.  However, like I've said, a good budget (and story) is needed to do it right.  I just hope the super creators realize it.

Superman & Lois has been my favorite interpretation of the character in a while.  His speech to Jordan in episode 6 last season about the responsibility he feels every time he steps out as Superman was perfect! I think the writers really get what the Man of Steel stands for, and how his relationship with Lois fits into it.  I just hope they have the next three season already planned and bringing in Doomsday is the beginning of great foes, and not the best villain Tyler Hoechlin will have in this series.