Superman & Lois is the next Arrowverse series to join The CW, but several iconic Superman villains have already made it into the franchise in one way or another. While the Man of Steel has mostly been a recurring guest player on Supergirl since Tyler Hoechlin took on the role in season 2, The CW’s DC TV universe has still managed to use a lot of his villains. Given that the two Kryptonian cousins have shared rouge’s gallery in the mythology, it made sense to bring in some of these iconic foes to take on Kara Zor-El. From enemies such as Parasite, Livewire, Lex Luthor, Toyman, Morgan Edge to Metallo, the Girl of Steel has had her hands full with some of these Metropolis based forces.
As Hoechlin is getting a spinoff that debuts in 2021, Supergirl will likely begin to transition away from using the Man of Steel's rogue’s gallery. While many such villains have already been introduced in the Arrowverse and faced their fates previously, there are still plenty of Superman villains that have yet to appear. Some have not even been teased at, like Black Zero, Conduit, and Jax-Ur. The spinoff series can be where the CW universe finally begins to utilize other corners of Superman’s line-up of villains. Having said that, the Arrowverse has teased several more Superman villains through Easter eggs or references without having the characters appear in the flesh.
While little is known about the latest Superman television series, it’s highly likely the writers will include at least some of these teased Superman foes in the show. With the central plot of Superman & Lois being focused on Lois and Clark dealing with the challenges of parenthood, anything is possible with what sorts of threats Superman will face. The following is every Superman villain that the Arrowverse has referenced but hasn’t used yet.
Lobo
When it comes to iconic bounty hunters, Lobo is on that list in the DC Universe as he has evolved from a villain into an antihero over the years. Even though Krypton became the first series to introduce him in live-action, Supergirl season 1 at least got to tease his existence in the Arrowverse. In the 14th episode “Truth, Justice and the American Way”, when investigating a serial killer going after aliens, Alex Danvers discusses with J’onn J’onzz if it might be a specific intergalactic bounty hunter that they have crossed paths with before. But the former D.E.O. director debunked that possibility as they’d know if he was on Earth. Given how much of a wild card Lobo is, having him appear on Superman & Lois would give Clark a challenge to deal with, especially if the writers go the antihero route for the character.
General Zod
One of Krypton’s deadliest forces that has made it into the Arrowverse is General Zod, but not quite entirely: During the Supergirl season 2 finale, viewers see Mark Gibbon appear as the iconic Kryptonian antagonist, but only as a hallucination when Clark is under the effect of Silver Kryptonite. After being poisoned by Queen Rhea, Superman starts seeing Zod and tries to defeat him. But in fact, he was fighting Kara the entire time. Given that this wasn’t the real Zod, his status in the Arrowverse has been an intriguing mystery.
Initially, Zod was declared dead as Clark had killed him in 2018; however, Zod was later mentioned to be alive in the 31st century, because the Legion of Super-Heroes had battled him at one point. Since Crisis on Infinite Earths created Earth-Prime, it’s unclear what Zod’s specific status is — which may have been intentional, leaving the door open for Superman & Lois to use him.
Intergang
While Darkseid has yet to appear in the Arrowverse, the Apokolips-weapon wielding force Intergang has been mentioned both on Earth-1 and Earth-38, along with their leader Bruno Mannheim. On Supergirl’s Earth, Intergang was known as a terrorist organization that was a platform that helped terrorists and mercenaries connect. The Earth-38 version of Bruno was established as being a corrupt businessman that had worked with Lex previously. However, the Earth-1 counterparts were slightly different when Arrow referenced Intergang and Bruno in the sixth season.
During the trial of Oliver Queen, Intergang is referenced as being an organization that connects serial killers and CEOs. Alexa Van Owen, who was the prosecutor of Oliver’s trial, was the DA that also prosecuted Bruno. As he got sent to jail, that became the end of Intergang on Earth-1. As the last crossover managed to shake up the Arrowverse’s continuity, perhaps a more definitive version of Intergang will emerge on Superman & Lois.
Imperiex
Best known for being the main villain of DC’s Our Worlds at War storyline, Imperiex has been a recurring Superman foe throughout his time in the comics. Unlike most of Kal-El’s villains, this one was referenced on a different Arrowverse show rather than on Supergirl. In Legends of Tomorrow season 1, Rip Hunter mentions Imperiex during the 7th episode “Marooned.” When some of the Legends were taken by pirates, Rip has active the Imperiex-Protocol which makes the Waverider start attacking the enemy’s ship. What Rip’s exact history is with the universe-destroying villain has never been specified.
Brainiac
Ever since Brainiac 5 entered the Arrowverse, he has been the primary focus out of all the Coluan-based characters. As he debuted in Supergirl season 3, he ended up having to stick around in the present rather than returning to the 31st century. This had to do with the fact that a “distant relative” of his had created a dangerous plague that became lethal to all A.I.s except for him which is why Brainiac 5 couldn’t go back with the Legion. Because of that, he sends Winn Schott into the future to find a way to stop his relative and make it safe for Brainiac 5 to return home. Despite never being referred to by name, this relative is, without a doubt, Vril Dox a.k.a. Brainiac. Even after the Crisis, Brainiac still seems to be undefeated, which could pave the way for him to battle Superman if the spinoff ever explores him outside of Supergirl.
Doomsday
One of Superman’s biggest villains to be referenced recently was the creature that killed the Man of Steel in Dan Jurgens’ iconic storyline The Death of Superman: Doomsday. While the powerful killer has been seen in live-action on Smallville, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Krypton; Doomsday was namedropped during the 5-part crossover in 2019. When Lois and Clark are first seen together during part 1 of Crisis on Infinite Earths, she ends up referencing Doomsday as one of the threats that Superman has gone up against in the past. However, unlike most incarnations to adapt the storyline, it seems that Doomsday never killed Clark during their encounter as the creature was defeated by the Man of Steel. Nothing else is specified about their battle, but it makes sense for them to establish this in a pre-Crisis world.
Now that Crisis on Infinite Earths has rebooted the Arrowverse, it’s very likely that they referenced Doomsday as a throwaway line so that they can at some point adapt The Death and Return of Superman. With Superman & Lois set to become one of the leading shows of the Arrowverse that has created its own Justice League, it only makes sense for that story to be seen on The CW in the future. That would be a perfect storyline for the franchise to do down the line as the next big 4 or 5-part event now that Superman is around regularly in the Arrowverse.