The Man of Steel will be facing a familiar threat in the upcoming episodes of Superman & Lois. Previously, it had been revealed that The Walking Dead star Michael Cudlitz would be playing a new incarnation of wealthy supervillain Lex Luthor in the show's third season. Season 3 debuted in March, and now Lex's arrival seems to be happening imminently, as he's the focus of the latest teaser promoting the rest of the season. You can watch the video below.
Lex hasn't popped up in the first two seasons of the series because the character has been incarcerated for the past two decades in this particular Superman canon. The teaser reveals our first look at Cudlitz getting released and getting back on the streets, where he will undoubtedly be creating some problems for Superman. It's also clear that Tyler Hoechlin's Superman and this version of Lex have a history, though the extent of which hasn't yet been revealed. Lex Luthor sometimes figures out Superman's real identity in DC stories, and it's possible that will be a route they take with Superman & Lois.
Cudlitz also joins a Walking Dead co-star as the villains for season 3 of Superman & Lois. Chad Coleman, aka Tyreese on The Walking Dead, plays Bruno Mannheim on The CW series. It remains to be seen how much these characters will be mingling in Superman & Lois, though seeing them together will be interesting for Walking Dead fans.
Michael Cudlitz Is the New Lex Luthor
Superman & Lois was previously revealed to not be set within the Arrowverse directly, so that left the door open for someone besides Jon Cryer to play a variant of Lex Luthor. Cudlitz has teased that the goal for this version was to present a Lex Luthor that fans haven't seen before.
"The whole point of it was this is different than anything that you've seen in live-action for Lex," Cudlitz explained to Entertainment Weekly, also revealing at the time that his Lex wouldn't be showing up right away. "It's a slow burn before Lex shows up, so it's earned, but his whole point of view in the world is different. His demeanor, his tone is different, and he is going to be the greatest oppositional force to Superman and Lois that they're ever going to face."
He added, "I cannot wait to share with the fans how much fun we've been having. Personally, I've always felt Lex was just misunderstood."
New episodes of Superman & Lois debut on Tuesdays on The CW.