Review: My Adventures with Superman “Into the New World”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Some time after Brainiac’s invasion, Kara has settled in on Earth and Clark and the gang are living peacefully, until a tip from Lois’ dad about an abandoned secret lab called Project Caliban, which uncovers more questions and a giant musclebound stranger.
OUR TAKE
After a two year break, our adventures with Super Jack Quaid continue with the show’s first new season since last year’s Superman movie! Which incidentally also had a version of Bizarro in it. Yes, we have our introduction to Superman’s famous deformed clone, though this time less deformed and more of a superpowered Tarzan raised in captivity. Instead of being an envious and/or confused distortion of the Man of Steel, he’s a failed weapon who was abandoned and raised by a well meaning scientist, Dr. Binder, to be kind and gentle with his powers, which Kara instantly recognizes as the exact opposite of what Brainiac did to her. Kinda makes me wonder what the conflict or arc is going to be for this Bizarro if he already knows he’s supposed to be a good person and, despite having oversized muscles, still has that adorable babyface of Clark’s, which I can’t help but see as a missed opportunity. For all the (rather forced, imo) prejudice Superman faced last season that Lex helped push into motion, imagine how much more fear and distrust he would have had to deal with if he looked more like Quasimodo instead of a conventionally attractive white guy. But the season is still young and I gotta see how they handle this first before I can critique anything about it.
And based on the season’s trailer and updated intro, he won’t be the only Superman knock-off we’ll be getting, as Hank Henshaw, the pretty boy pilot we met last season who was horribly disfigured in the background of the fight with Brainiac, will be suiting up as some version of Cyborg Superman under Lex’s employ. Additionally, a version of Superboy will also be appearing down the line dressed in his 90’s look, though whether he will also be a clone is unclear, and his resemblance to Lois makes me wonder if he might be pulling a Future Trunks (we already know they like Dragon Ball references) and be a time travelling descendant of her and Clark. This would add pressure to Lois’ feelings of anxiety about her and Clark’s relationship that got hinted at here when he started throwing a bunch of plans at her, and while I don’t have any doubts they’ll still end up together (nor do I feel doubts about Jimmy and Kara since this episode further telegraphed it), seeing an alternate future could help in them figure out what future for themselves they want to pursue. Overall, this is a solid season opener that opens the door for a lot more interesting things to come. My one worry is that the show may rest on its laurels of its anime-esque aesthetic like they did before, but we’ll just have to watch and find out.
