Superman & Lois showrunners talk season 3's new Jonathan Kent, Lex Luthor's arrival and more

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... a new season of Superman & Lois!

The CW's Superman family drama is finally back with new episodes this week, and showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher, who are currently finishing the season 3 finale, tell EW that season 3 is soaring to new heights.

"It's built differently than our other seasons," Fletcher says. "We have these two different villains, and Lex Luthor doesn't show up where you'd expect him — it sneaks up on you. There's a lot happening, especially at the end of a lot of episodes, and we're filming a finale that is our biggest by far. When the third season ends, it's as big as we've ever gone."

Below, Helbing and Fletcher tell EW more about Lex Luthor's arrival, the new actor playing Jonathan Kent, and more.

Colin Bentley/The CW Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch on 'Superman & Lois'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you first sat down to figure out season 3, what were your main goals you wanted to accomplish with the story?

TODD HELBING: Brett and I, at the end of last season, just wanted to sleep. And we got to, which was nice. [Laughs] But there are a couple things — we really started talking about the Lois story, and we really wanted to get into the Lois and Clark relationship a lot more. COVID was such a beast up here [while filming in Vancouver] and it just prevented us from doing those things last season; we shut down multiple times in season 2. We really wanted to dive into this emotional journey with Lois and see how it trickled down to everybody else, not just in the Kent family, but in Smallville. And we also wanted to go down the Bruno Manheim story and have that influence all the other storylines.

BRENT FLETCHER: And then also finding new relationships to uncover. With Natalie, she's done the kid scientist thing, and we wanted to feel what her life as a teenager was like. We wanted to see what Jordan and Sarah looked like apart and what that path looked like for both of them. We wanted to see what Jonathan, who has been adrift for so much of last year, how he tries to find his way again.

Now that The Flash is ending, and you revealed in the season 2 finale that Superman & Lois is no longer on the same Earth as the Arrowverse, how does that impact this show moving forward?

HELBING: It frees up some villains in a way that we couldn't [use] before, one of those is Lex Luthor who is coming to the show [played by Michael Cudlitz]. We love Jon Cryer, we think his work on Supergirl was amazing. But we wanted to do our own stamp [on that character]. It allows us to get some of the villains that we probably would've stayed away from, to see if we can get the permission to use them now. I'm excited for everybody to finally meet Lex.

How will this new version of Lex compare to what we've seen before from all the live-action adaptations of the character?

FLETCHER: It's a lot different. That was the fun of it — when we talked to DC, we had a very definite take. The whole point of it was this is different than anything that you've seen in live-action for Lex. 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. When we talked to Michael about it, he was really excited about the take, and we just knew that was who we wanted standing toe-to-toe with those two.

There's also Bruno Manheim and Intergang — what can we expect to see from those new villains?

HELBING: Our objective is always to present a "villain," really more of an antagonist than a mustache-twirling villain, in a way that you may not agree with what they do, but maybe you understand their point of view. I'm excited for everyone to see Chad Coleman [in the role]. At first blush, you may lump him into something, but as you get to know him, you're surprised, and you start to understand some of his decisions — some are really bad, some are very evil, but some are really good. He's a complicated person, like all of us, and we're really proud of what the story is with him.

FLETCHER: His character is based on hard truths. He grew up in an area that was left behind. And even though Superman was saving the world, it didn't change the situation that he found himself in, and he had to find his own path. He makes a lot of points that make Superman uncomfortable. His actions may not be anything we agree with, but we can understand his point of view. As the season unpacks, you'll find a really interesting humanity there as well as some twists and turns. There's a lot to unpack that doesn't present itself at the beginning, and we're really excited for everyone to see where it goes.

At the end of season 2 you mentioned this season was going to be much more of a family affair, with Jonathan getting more into the action. How are you bringing him more into the fold?

HELBING: As we start the season, he's still a little adrift. He's 16-year-old kid, and he moved to this small town. He's trying to find himself. Coach Gaines is still pissed at him about ruining the football season. He has some hurdles to get over, but as the season progresses, there's something that, in episode 3, will kickstart a fire that's lit, and then an opportunity presents itself and we explore the beginnings of this path that is going to be really fruitful for him.

With Jonathan being recast this season, what can you say about why Jordan Elsass left the show and how you landed on Michael Bishop to take over the role?

HELBING: It's just an unfortunate circumstance that we all found ourselves in. David Rappaport is an amazing casting agent and gave us a lot of choices quickly, but Michael, from the beginning, he just had that essence where you're like, "Wow, he really understands who Jon Kent is." When we cast him, he was thrown in this wild circumstance — he had just flown from Australia, had a test, got the job, and had a bag of clothes, and that's it. We had a lot of discussions where we basically sat him down and gave him what our interpretation was, but gave him the room to develop it himself.

Does the show address the recasting onscreen in any way?

HELBING: We just wanted it to feel organic and not to hit the audience over the head with, "This is a new actor playing the role." It's more of like, "This is somebody that you should feel familiar with very quickly," and we think that you will.

Will we see Tal return after that season 2 finale cliffhanger revealed he's on Bizarro Earth?

HELBING: Unfortunately, Tal is not a part of season 3. But that does not mean that he won't be back on the show [in future seasons]. We all love Adam Rayner.

FLETCHER: We're not giving that up. It's just the way that the story unfolded this year, there just wasn't room for it. We felt like it'll make it more exciting when the return does happen.

Superman & Lois season 3 premieres Tuesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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Related content:

• Superman & Lois casts Michael Cudlitz as Lex Luthor

• Michael Bishop joins Superman & Lois season 3 as new Jonathan Kent

• Jordan Elsass exiting Superman & Lois ahead of season 3

• Superman & Lois showrunner explains the show's place in the Arrowverse