My Adventures with Superman 3×08, 3×09 and 3×10 Review: “The Return”

The final three episodes of My Adventures with Superman season 3 were all about Clark trying to regain his superpowers while the rest of the cast focused on defeating the Eradicator.

Episode 8, titled ‘It’s Reigning (Super) Men’, picked up from where episode 7 ended. Jon had returned to the present, but this time around he was accompanied by a Kryptonian young woman. While Clark and Lois were excited to reunite with Jon so soon, it was immediately made clear that this wasn’t the Jon they had bonded with during episodes 4 and 5.

I had been wondering about time travel rules in My Adventures with Superman. Though at first it felt like the writers weren’t going to think too much about maintaining the timeline, episode 8 showcased that the shenanigans during the fourth and fifth chapters had indeed altered the future. Apparently, the Jon from the previous episodes had ceased to exist. In his place was this new Jon who had grown up in a world without Superman and had to fight against a bunch of Eradicators. Another addition was Jon’s sibling named Lara Kent. Things were so bad in Jon’s timeline that he and Lara were sent back to the “present” to make things right.

While Lara was more open to bonding with the younger versions of her parents, Jon being distant from them made sense. Jon wasn’t a fan of growing up under Superman’s shadow. In his opinion, there was no reason to be friendly with the present versions of Clark and Lois because that wouldn’t change his reality and everything he had already been through. Also, Jon and Lara were sent back to complete a very important mission. There was no time for familial distractions.

I liked how the writers explored Jon’s personality. He was compared to Superman from a very young age and felt the need to prove himself. According to Jon, anything he did was never good enough for Lois (who was a General in his timeline). Jon was also not a fan of how future Lois’s plan would always be about somehow bringing back Superman or preventing Clark’s death instead of showing confidence in Jon’s abilities to take his father’s mantle. Also, Jon and Lois were a bit too alike. Hence, the mother and son constantly butting heads, similar to present Lois’s rocky relationship with her father.

In contrast, Lara had grown up being the “perfect” soldier for future Lois. Lara was all about following her mother’s orders, which conflicted with Lara’s more friendly personality, which resembled her father’s demeanor.

As for the mission, it turns out Jon and Lara had been ordered to kill Lex in the present. Why? It’s because Lex was responsible for creating the Eradicator.

Though My Adventures with Superman changed things up from the Reign of the Supermen comic book story by having Jon be Superboy, it did call back to the comic book version of Superboy by having the Eradicator be an artificially created being housing Kryptonian DNA as well as Lex’s brain matter. Fueled by his fear (and hatred) of aliens, Lex’s current plan was to create a constantly evolving organic form he could control with his mind.

I liked how Slade wasn’t a fan of Lex’s plan, especially considering how things with Cyborg Superman didn’t go the way Lex had expected. Amanda Waller showing up to shut down Lex’s Eradicator Project was the right move. However, you could tell it was too late. The Eradicator was breaking out of containment.

The battle with the Eradicator (who refused to be controlled by Lex) helped give context to the horrific future Jon and Lara had come from. Unlike most monsters, the Eradicator was smart and had fast regeneration. Seeing it mimic the voices of the main cast to ambush them added an enjoyably tense feel during the underground fight sequences.

With Superman off the board due to being powerless, Kara stepped up big time to protect Jon and Lara. You could tell Kara wasn’t going to win against the Eradicator, but it still made for a very exciting fight scene. Kara being badly injured felt impactful even though it was obvious she wasn’t going to die.

Episode 9, titled ‘Vae Victis’, was about Clark heeding the recent visions and going to the Fortress of Solitude to find a way to regain his powers. In the meantime, we got to see Kara recover while Lois tried to connect with Jon.

I appreciated the writers not magically making things right between Lois and Jon. Even though this was a younger Lois, Jon had a whole lot of baggage to address, making it tough (and believable) for him to interact with Lois as her own person and not just a younger version of Future Lois. Yay to Kara stepping in to talk to Jon and get him ready for the upcoming battle.

Our heroes needed all the help they could get. So, it was exciting to see a bunch of characters, including Livewire, Head Wave, Dr. Irons, etc., showing up to work with Waller’s Checkmate Team to defend Earth. Even Lex came up with a plan. He didn’t like Kryptonians. But that didn’t mean Lex wouldn’t do what he could to protect Earth from an alien invasion. Yeah, Lex required a bit of persuading from Jimmy to step up to be the “hero” he claimed to be. But at least Lex decided to stay and help out, even putting his life on the line.

As for Clark, he visited the Fortress of Solitude with Clone Superman. The assistant Brianiac robots inside the Fortress were willing to aid Clark. He was the Last Son of Krypton after all. However, Clark needed to prove his worthiness to continue the Kryptonian legacy.

Having the test be a psychological one made sense. The writers took the moment to psychologically send Clark back in time when his ancestors faced an invasion. Clark was to survive the invasion without relying on his Superman abilities. The core of the test had to do with the robots expecting Clark to be as ruthless as his ancestors, which was in contrast to Clark’s moral compass. No matter how dire the situation got, Clark always found a way to de-escalate the situation and work toward finding peace.

It wasn’t the most in-depth writing, but it still hit the spot when it came to revealing the identity of the robots and how it linked to the “invaders” of Krypton. The robots not accepting Clark’s penchant for peace and finding strength in love made sense to me. They had been married to their way of life for centuries, and being asked by Clark to change Kryptonian rules made them feel that all those years of slavery would be for nought. Clark managing to persuade the robots seemed rushed and more could have been explored, but as I said, the writing managed to do what it was supposed to. The narrative had to progress, especially being so close to the finale.

Going back to the fight with the Eradicator, I liked the design of the newest foe. Apparently, he had been traveling through time and defeating Supes and his family. Of course, he had been learning and evolving through the process, with his current form being a lot more human than his initial Eradicator form.

My only gripe with the Eradicator battle, which kept going into episode 10, titled ‘The Return’, would be how it didn’t involve Livewire, Dr. Irons, and more. The Checkmate Team and the rest of the soldiers got defeated a bit too quickly for my liking. Yes, we got Jon, Lara, and Kara trying to put up a fight against the OP Eradicator and his copies, but I would have still liked to have seen the humans do more while equipped with Kryptonian tech.

With death seeming inevitable, Jon and Lois finally bonded. As far as Lois was concerned, Jon was more than enough. He was a hero in his own right. Jon didn’t need to try to be like Clark for Lois to love him. And of course, with the main cast looking death in the eye, that’s exactly when Clark showed up after having regained his superpowers via the mini sun powering the Fortress of Solitude.

Keeping true to his character, Clark tried to understand the reasoning behind Eradicator’s mission to eliminate Kryptonians across time. Eradicator had been operating on his original programming by Lex to attack aliens because of fear. There was no room for compassion or even experiencing life without such hatred.

I couldn’t help but smile when Clark got serious in the fight and defeated Eradicator because according to Clark such kind of hatred was not a good enough reason to go around destroying everything. Clark was going to make the Eradicator surrender.

Another moment I liked was the Eradicator not turning into a good person due to Clark’s Talk No-Jutsu. The Eradicator kept true to his nature, and that meant he would rather die than surrender to Superman. I do enjoy villains remaining villains, even to their own demise.

With the Eradicator defeated, it was time for Jon and Lara to go back to their time. There was no guarantee about what kind of reality they would return to. But at least, the two had spent some quality time with their parents. And no matter what might happen, Clark and Lois were sure their kids were up to the task.

‘The Return’ concluded with Lois adopting Krypto for Clark and… drumroll… proposing to Clark!

I’m so glad the writers didn’t end on a cliffhanger. They actually had Clark say yes to Lois’s proposal. Also, asking Clark to marry her was a major moment for Lois’ character, who had been hesitating to take the next step due to a bunch of uncertainties. However, recent events had helped Lois rethink her position. Whatever the future might have planned for Lois, she wanted to face it together with Clark.

There’s been no news about My Adventures with Superman being renewed for a fourth season. However, as a fan of this animated show, I sure would like to see this cast return for more adventures! It really is one of the most enjoyable pieces of Superman-centric media out there.

Did you watch My Adventures with Superman season 3 episodes 8, 9, and 10? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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