Warning: This article contains spoilers for Tuesday’s episode ofSuperman & Lois, “Man of Steel.”
It turns out Wole Parks’Captain Luthorisn’t a Luthor after all.
(Shaquille O’Neal played a version of the character in a 1997 movie that’s better left forgotten.)
DC Comics
In turn, John Henry and Nat started building a battlesuit to fight Superman.
(The suit’s A.I.
was originally set for Lex Luthor, hence the naming mix-up.)
Wolé Parks as the Stranger on ‘Superman & Lois’.Bettina Strauss/The CW
John Henry eventually discovered Kal-El’s location and took the suit out to kill him.
Unfortunately, that was the last time he saw his daughter before arriving on Earth-Prime.
In the present, Superman came face-to-face with John Henry once again.
‘Superman & Lois’ showrunner Todd Helbing and writer Jai Jamison.Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images
John Henry ended the episode behind bars at the DoD.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with you, Todd.
How early in the development process did you know the Stranger would actually be John Henry Irons?
Wolé Parks and Elizabeth Tulloch on ‘Superman & Lois’.The CW
TODD HELBING:It was a little bit of a problem.
We knew from day one that we just didn’t want to do a classic villain.
We wanted to do something cool with Luthor.
I mean, that was really early on.
And I can’t remember when I called you, Wole.
That was in like June or something, right?
WOLE PARKS:Yeah, it was like June or July.
Or something like that.
And then we can do Nat, and we can just expand this family."
And it was just one thing after the other.
And then the story got so much richer and deeper.
So it sounds like you had theCaptain Luthor bit first, and then this came later?
Any argument, if you understand both sides, it just makes the argument that much richer.
And with a character, if you empathize with them, it makes it so much richer.
And that was it.
Jai, how did you react when this pitch came up in the writers' room?
JAI JAMISON:I remember the first week we got a packet with possible characters to use.
And I was flipping through and I was like, “Oh, John Henry.
Oh, that’s interesting.”
And I kept moving.
It’s one of those ideas that I wish I had thought of.
But, I grew up [with] theReturn of Supermanrun.
That was when I was reading Superman.
And I just got so excited.
Todd will tell you, I spent so much time thinking about John Henry’s Earth and background.
We got to slow down just a second.
So it was fantastic.
JAMISON:From the beginning, there’s this idea that John Henry is the hero of his story.
And Wole, what was your reaction?
PARKS:It was interesting because when I first auditioned, it was Lex Luthor.
I read theDeath of Superman.
I watchedBatman: The Animated Series,Superman: The Animated Series,Justice League,Justice League Unlimited.
I watched all that actually rewatched it even after I got the show.
So I was just excited about the idea of playing Lex Luthor.
And I told him, “Just tell me what I need to know.
I don’t want to know stuff.
I kind of want to find out as we go along.”
And he’s like, “No, you’re gonna wanna know this.”
I was about 10 or 11.
And I remember seeing that as a kid.
And you know how it is: Back then, there wasn’t a lot of diverse representation.
I felt overwhelmed and appreciative.
Just because I’d done all this work for Lex.
Then it’s like, “Oh, that’s not going to work.
He’s not a megalomaniac.”
How did you change your performance after finding out?
So I started doing a lot of research on soldiers, and soldiers with PTSD.
Because this is a military guy, he’s not a rich guy.
Morgan Edge [Adam Rayner] seems to err more on the Lex Luthor kind of vibe.
This guy doesn’t come from that world.
My perspective on him changed.
He got a lot darker, as far as his perspective.
I remember Todd [said], “He’s on a mission.
He’s on a mission.”
I’m like, “This is true.
I need to kill Superman.”
He left his daughter.
He lost his wife, his friends.
The idea of having to fight a bunch of Supermen is crazy, if you really think about it.
So for him, the only thing he has driving him is his hatred for Superman.
And in a way, if he loses that, what is his identity?
That’s another journey he has to continue going on as the season progresses.
This show is already filled with and focused on parent-child relationships.
Jai and Todd, can you talk about adding another one of those dynamics to the mix?
JAMISON:Bringing that in was the second game changer.
I’m not a father, but I have a younger sister.
So I kind of wrote Nat towards her, actually.
It was actually interesting, all the stuff in the bunker?
So it feels a little method.
Where it’s the other world, right?
John Henry is the Superman of his world.
Wole, did you find it helpful to have another actor directing you?
My first day was when we did all the bunker stuff, which was kind of crazy.
So the first scene is us saying goodbye.
So it’s like, “Hi, nice to meet you.
But David gave the space for that to happen, that’s the thing which was beautiful about that.
Because he understands [and] really helped create an environment to foster that.
And I hope it came through.
I can’t say enough positive things about David.
How did it feel to wield Steel’s hammer in that final fight?
PARKS:Let me tell you about this hammer.
Believe it or not, it was cool.
No, it was super-cool.
Like, an inch thick in diameter and then maybe two and a half feet long.
The thing is like three inches thick, it’s got this big-ass top, the head of it.
I’m like, “I can’t throw this around.
Everything we worked on is out the window.”
So partially it was like, “Whoa, this is really cool.”
But again, it was super-cool.
you might’t, I mean, the idea to hold this thing, this iconic weapon?
It felt absolutely amazing.
And one of them was just ginormous.
And it’s like, “Well, is that one too small?
Is that one too big?
We don’t want it to look like Thor’s hammer.
How is this different?”
You know what I mean?
It’s like, “Is this going to be too heavy for Wole?
Is it not going to be heavy enough?
What is going on?”
You touched on exploring what it looks like when someone like John Henry loses their mission.
What do you think it would take for Captain Luthor to change his mind about this Superman?
PARKS:I don’t want to really get into heavy spoilers.
We will see some of that stuff happen.
And I think to me, that is his journey.
Which we’re going to see, in the next couple episodes, is just acceptance.
“If I would have done this, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
If this would have happened,” somehow he could have changed the past.
But you’re able to’t change the past, because the past is the past.
Todd, will we see Nat again?
HELBING:Yeah, I think you’ll see her.
There’s some cool stuff coming up.
I’ll just say what we always go back to is family.
Superman & Loisairs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.
This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
