The Superman & Lois Series Finale Made History With An Unexpected Death

Heavy spoilers ahead for the "Superman & Lois" finale.

The era of the Arrowverse is officially over, as is the era of DC superheroes on The CW. It's fitting, then, that what started with "Smallville" telling the origin of Superman over 20 years ago would end with "Superman & Lois" bringing the story of the Man of Steel to a definitive end.

Unlike most shows in the Arrowverse, "Superman & Lois" didn't take on the form of an origin story. Instead, the show followed Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) after he had already spent 20 years on the job as the Man of Tomorrow, married Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), and had two teenage sons. By the time we meet him, this version of Superman has already accomplished nearly everything you'd expect the character to go through in a movie trilogy, having even defeated Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) and sent him to jail before the start of the series.

This was indeed a truly special show, one that managed to do a lot of unprecedented things with its characters. "Superman & Lois" gave us a poignant and nuanced story about Lois Lane being diagnosed with breast cancer; it killed Jor-El's hologram and introduced the hologram for Superman's mom, Lara (Mariana Klaveno); it turned Bizarro into Doomsday; it had Clark reveal his identity to the world; it even had the Man of Steel slowly lose his powers and become human.

In the series finale, "Superman & Lois" brought the fight between Superman and Doomsday to its conclusion, with the monster formerly known as Bizarro allowing himself to be thrown into the sun in a rather tragic moment before Superman finally fought Lex Luthor wearing his power suit. With both iconic villains defeated, we then jump forward in time, first showing Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) marrying John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks), then flashing forward to the last years of Superman and Lois's lives. That's right, "Superman & Lois" just made history by giving us the first live-action deaths of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, the first proper, conclusive resolution to a Superman story.

It's rather cool to think that, more than any other superhero, Superman has had every aspect of his life explored in a live-action TV series. "Krypton" showed his ancestry and where he came from, "Smallville" revealed his origin story, "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" told us his love story, and now "Superman & Lois" has shown us the legacy he left behind and the last years of his life.

"Superman & Lois" was always about, well, Superman and Lois. Sure, it had plenty of superhero action, the Man of Steel being a badass, and moments with his sons learning what it means to be a hero. At the end of the day, however, the focus was always on the relationship between Lois and Clark, as well as the challenges they face as parents and a couple, whether it was fighting Luthor as he tried to destroy Lois' reputation or facing Lois' cancer diagnosis together.

Just as the series began with Clark narrating his own origin story, it ended with Clark narrating the last years of his and Lois' lives. The two grew old, with Clark losing his powers and becoming the regular guy he always pretended to be. For 32 years, Clark and Lois worked with charities to make the world a better place while their kids grew up, got married, and had many kids of their own. In a loving tribute to Margot Kidder, actor Elizabeth Tullock deliberately asked for bangs and for Lois to wear light blue in her last few scenes, homaging the star of 1978's "Superman."

Unfortunately, Lois' cancer returned after many years, and this time she couldn't beat it. In an emotional scene that Tulloch plays spectacularly, Lois calls out to her dad, Sam Lane, then passes away surrounded by her husband and her sons.

As much as the show focused on Clark, "Superman & Lois" gave equal footing to Lois, showing to be a badass reporter, a badass mom, and a badass woman, though not one without flaws. Throughout the series' four seasons, we saw how Lois' aggressive journalistic practices also came at a cost. Not only did she have many enemies and haters, but it also became clear in the final season that Lois did have a personal vendetta against Lex Luthor for his crusade against Superman, and that she would do anything to put him away and keep Clark safe — even inadvertently (but very much willingly) getting Lex sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. And yet, she fought for independent journalism and for Smallville, all the while standing up against billionaire bullies like Morgan Edge and Lex Luthor through death threats and attempts on her and her family's life. It's a great portrayal of the character.

One of the most affecting things about the "Superman & Lois" finale was that, after revealing his secret identity to the world, Clark dedicated his life not to fighting super villains, but to starting a charitable foundation with Lois and opening a hospital. Finally, Clark realized Bruno Mannheim was right in that Superman wasn't doing enough to actually help all people. He was always reacting to crises instead of acting to prevent or actually stop crises in the first place. It's the most heroic thing Superman ever did, to use his status as a symbol to not just provide hope but to actually help bring change to the world.

And then, he dies. In the season 4 premiere, Superman died when fighting Doomsday, a fantastic adaptation of the "Death of Superman" story arc from the comics. Then, in the series finale, "Superman & Lois" killed Clark Kent. Having passed on the torch of Superman to his sons, Clark spent the rest of his days being a regular guy, living with Lois until she passed, adopting a dog (named Krypto!), and being surrounded by his friends and family. For a guy whose powers were always a responsibility and a job rather than a blessing, it's significant that the end of Clark's life was spent as a regular human doing what humans do: celebrating a life well led and spending time with loved ones.

That Clark collapsed and nearly died from a heart attack in the same spot his own father died from a heart attack is already moving and beautiful, but to see Clark's heart finally give out and the Man of Tomorrow pass away is heartbreaking. Sure, the character has died in the past (even semi-permanently in "All-Star Superman"), but never like this. "Superman & Lois" did what no other Superman adaptation has done and gave Clark Kent a proper ending in death.

Tyler Hoechlin truly was a marvelous Superman. Not since Christopher Reeve has the character been so accessible, nor has an actor so effortlessly conveyed the humanity of the character and made him easy to connect with. With a new live-action Superman on the horizon, it should not be forgotten just how much "Superman & Lois" did for the character and for the mythos of the Man of Steel.

"Superman & Lois" is streaming in its entirety on the CW app.