Superman & Lois will include the crazy scientist Thaddeus Killgrave as a villain in season 1. Breathing new life into the franchise, Superman & Lois is The CW’s latest addition to the Arrowverse. The show features Teen Wolf star Tyler Hoechlin and Grimm actress Elizabeth Tulloch as the titular couple, who made their DC debuts with Supergirl before joining a wider roster of superheroes in ambitious annual crossover events like “Elseworlds.” In October 2019, after the explosive events of the “Crisis of Infinite Earth,” it was announced that Hoechlin and Tulloch would get their own spin-off series which would explore their characters’ lives as they return to their hometown in Smallville with their teenage sons Jonathan and Jordan. The show commenced production in Vancouver last October, and its first episode landed on The CW on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
When Superman and Lois was first confirmed, several fans expected it to face a major villain dilemma as the Arrowverse had already adapted so many of the Man of Steel’s foes in previous shows. The “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” nevertheless, offered the opportunity to reinvent some old enemies like Lex Luthor, Silver Banshee, Toyman, Parasite, Mister Mxyzptlk, General Zod, and Metallo. But the show chose to introduce a new villain in Wolé Parks’ Stranger, a mysterious traveler insistent on proving to the world that it doesn’t need Superman. Superman and Lois did retain Morgan Edge, the notorious business mogul from Supergirl. However, even that character was recast, with Adam Rayner taking over from Adrian Pasdar. Now the show is taking to add another antagonist, who, too, hasn’t appeared in any other CW superhero show.
On Monday, in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Todd Helbing revealed that the mad comics scientist Thaddeus Killgrave would make his TV debut in Superman and Lois‘s inaugural season. Helbing did not spill any details about Killgrave’s role in the show, but he mentioned that during its initial episodes Superman and Lois would feature individual enemies for Clark and his wife. Their storylines, however, would ultimately “merge in a way that’s entertaining and satisfactory and speaks to the mythology of Superman.” Helbing added he wants his show to stand out from other Arrowverse series, so he is making sure the number of villains is just right, not too many, not too few.
“Sometimes the Superman story is a true Superman story, and it’s just him being kickass and influences the story in a way that you might not expect, which is episode 3. Sometimes it’s a new villain, but it speaks to the larger picture of the season. Sometimes it has to do with the mythology of the season.
We didn’t want to do freak-of-the-week [like Smallville], we didn’t necessarily want to do one villain, and we didn’t necessarily want to do what [The Flash showrunner] Eric Wallace is doing, where he has a graphic-novel approach. We kind of wanted to do our own thing, but the true north was really: How is the family reacting to what is going on around them? And what’s the true meaning of that?”
Created by John Byrne and John Beatty, Killgrave first appeared in Superman Vol. 2 #19. A notable wicked whizz from Superman’s rogue gallery, he invents gadgets and weapons to defeat the Man of Tomorrow. He also supplies his inventions to other villains, who in turn use them in their own fights against the caped superhero. For instance, once Killgrave made a thermonuclear bomb for Joker, so he could use it on Superman. In the comics, Killgrave works for the criminal organization Intergang until Superman dismantles the group and gets the crazy scientist arrested for using Hi-Tech to kill him.
Killgrave’s ruthless and indifferent disposition sets him up as a fitting, and downright terrifying Superman villain. In the comics, he left no stone unturned to take the superhero down, paying no regard to the fact that he is threatening the lives of people in Metropolis with his catastrophic technology. This heartlessness means that Killgrave could also be a potential danger for Clark’s family, as he might try to harm his sons and wife in order to put the superhero in a weak spot.
At the moment, it’s hard to predict who could end up essaying the mad scientist or if the character is related to the show’s other villains. But it’s likely that the character would be connected to Rayner’s Edge, who was also an Intergang agent in the comics. Supergirl did not depict Edge’s Intergang affiliation. But since Superman & Lois have tweaked the character’s storyline, it is possible that the organized crime group takes a central role in the new series. For now, the freshman CW show has aired just one episode. Hopefully, fans will learn more about Killgrave as the show progresses.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
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