Superman & Lois season two kept up the thrills of its premiere this week by featuring the surprise return of the first season’s big bad. Episode two, “The Ties That Bind,” saw Tal-Rho — once known as shady CEO Morgan Edge before he was outed as Superman’s evil Kryptonian half-brother — make a shock comeback when Kal-El was forced to turn to him for help. Star Adam Raynor is teasing this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Tal, either.
While chatting with Entertainment Weekly about his unexpectedly speedy return following Tal’s defeat in the season one finale, Raynor explained that he fills the role of uneasy ally this year instead of the antagonist, calling himself the “Hannibal Lecter to [Superman’s] Clarice Starling.” But how will Tal’s return line up with the impending threat of Doomsday, as confirmed by the season two premiere?
Raynor wouldn’t be drawn on that, but he did promise the two brothers will continue to butt heads.
“I provide assistance to Kal,” Raynor said. “Better way to put it is we find ourselves for us together again. The exact nature of his involvement…. I don’t know yet, to what extent he gets involved when the true climactic nature of the threat becomes clear. I don’t know that yet, but we do continue to get thrown together.”
After suffering from strange visions, Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent is forced to go to his incarcerated brother for advice. This leads Tal to take them to his own Fortress of Solitude, where they use an A.I. of their mother, Lara-El, to solve the mystery. While it’s a touching family reunion for Kal, Tal is overwhelmed with jealousy upon seeing his mother bond with his hated brother. Raynor hinted at more of this to come with his one-sentence tease of his character’s new arc: “The big thing is that we get to [see] another emotional hole in Tal’s life.”
Kal’s visions turn out to be an indication that he has some kind of connection to the ferocious being buried under Smallville, the being we know to be Doomsday. Going by previous comments made by showrunner Todd Helbing, we can expect our first full look at the monstrous villain in next week’s episode three. Don’t miss Superman & Lois as it continues Tuesdays on The CW.
