DC FanDome: Superman and Lois’s Tyler Hoechlin is getting a “really badass” new super-suit

The say clothes make the man. Does the same old adage apply to a Superman as well? With all the various actors who have brought DC Comics’ Man of Steel to life onscreen, we’ve seen a lot of variations on the iconic red and blue pyjamas. The most recent Superman actor, Tyler Hoechlin, has a mostly good super-suit which he wore in a number of guest appearance in The CW’s Supergirl and Arrowverse crossover episodes. But with the upcoming Superman and Lois, Hoechlin is set to headline his own TV series alongside titular co-star Elizabeth Tulloch, and a new show calls for a new outfit.

That was revealed during the Superman and Lois panel at DC FanDome this weekend past, and the reason for upgrading Hoechlin’s duds to a new “really badass” version is actually very practical one according to showrunner Todd Helbing:

Originally, [Superman] came on for the crossovers and that suit just wasn’t built to sustain a series. [This show] gave us a fresh slate: ‘Yeah, let’s make a new suit.’ There’s gonna be a really badass Superman suit in this show that I’m pretty excited about.

I’m really intrigued to see how this new suit is redesigned. Hoechlin’s previous suit was solid, but I just hated the way the cape attached with those big red clasps. As for Hoechlin, In his limited guest appearances thus far he has actually been damn fantastic in the dual role of Clark Kent and Superman – in fact, I would say he’s one of the best we’ve ever had. But even though he’s already shown his Man of Steel mettle brilliantly, the actor said the the “surreal” experience of dressing up as Superman still hasn’t sunk in yet.

Putting the suit on for the first time was the most surreal moment, just because any other time that you would be wearing that suit is probably on Halloween, and that’s about it. Otherwise, I don’t know why you’re putting it on or why you have one in the first place. So putting it on and as you’re seeing it and realizing, ‘This is not just for a day. We’re gonna shoot this, we’re gonna tell the story that involves this character,’ I don’t think that it’s sunk in and if it hasn’t by now, it probably never will. I think being the one wearing it as opposed to seeing someone else in it, is a different experience.

Helbing also spoke about how Superman and Lois will be introducing a different angle than what we’ve previously seen with these characters as it picks up the storyline from Supergirl in which Tulloch’s Lois Lane has given birth to twin boys. Those boys – named Jonathan (after Clark Kent’s father) and Jordan – are now teenage boys offering some unique challenges to their parents.

As a father who happens to have two boys, that felt like a really great way to bring in some personal experience to tell a story that is as grounded as you can possibly be to have Superman in it. And as a couple, we really get to lean into Clark and Lois not being Superman and the most famous journalist in the world, but really as parents. What is that like when you have jobs like that? Which a lot of people can relate to nowadays.

Superman and Lois has already wrapped up production – luckily before COVID-19 shut everything down – and is currently scheduled to debut on The CW in January 2021.