While Supergirl has utilized a number of Superman foes in the Arrowverse, Superman & Lois can get a do-over with some of them after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Before the Man of Steel got his own series on The CW, Kara Zor-El was the network's residential Kryptonian for over five years. This year, Superman & Lois joined the CW slate while the Girl of Steel will be wrapping up her run after Supergirl season 6 comes to an end. However, prior to Kal-El getting his own Arrowverse series, Kara had gone up against several of Superman's most iconic villains from the comics in the earlier seasons. It makes sense as both Superman and Supergirl do have a shared rogues' gallery in the comics, while also having a number of their own villains, too.

When Supergirl was still taking place in its own universe, many of the Superman baddies got defeated on Earth-38. Many of them were even destroyed long before Superman & Lois was even a thing. Certain enemies from Clark's mythology were either only on Supergirl for a handful of episodes or they appeared as a series regular for one season only. However, this was when Supergirl and Superman didn't exist in the same world as the other Arrowverse heroes. Thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths, The CW officially brought all their DC shows together in the same universe. But Earth-Prime wasn't the only big change as all the Arrowverse shows were able to retool their overall continuity, including Supergirl and Superman & Lois.

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Since Superman & Lois premiered, they have already demonstrated the ways they can retcon some of the things Supergirl had done in relation to Clark's history. Thanks to Crisis, that created the history of Lois and Clark having two sons instead of just one like on Earth-38. Another example, the villain Morgan Edge got recast, with Adrian Pasdar being replaced with Adam Rayner. But the show also retooled his character to be significantly different from how he was when appearing in Supergirl season 3. If Superman & Lois can change one villain, then there's nothing to stop them from doing it with other Superman baddies that appeared on Supergirl. While characters like Silver Banshee and Livewire will more than likely always remain solely Supergirl characters, there are a number of Superman villains that Superman & Lois can reinvent post-Crisis.

Maxwell Lord

In Supergirl season 1, Peter Facinelli joined the DC drama as the villainous Maxwell Lord who was an on-and-off-again foe for Kara and her team. However, this interpretation of the character had little to do with the comic counterpart. For instance, this version of Maxwell Lord never had the telepathic metahuman abilities that he's known to have in the comics. Lord has become one of the telepaths that can even affect Superman, but that's something Supergirl erased for his TV appearance. Facinelli's version was also depicted as a scientist and engineer that runs the company Lord Technologies. If anything, Facinelli was more based on Lex Luthor than he was Maxwell Lord.

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While Supergirl season 1 ended with Max Lord having a mysterious encounter with General Sam Lane, Facinelli hasn't been back ever since. They never followed through with what Lord and the General were up to after their final scene in the finale. Ironically enough, General Lane never returned either and was instead recast for Superman & Lois. Besides a few references in the following seasons, Lord hasn't shown up again, especially after Supergirl became a bigger part of the Arrowverse. When Supergirl was officially getting renewed for a second season by moving over from CBS to The CW, that may have possibly affected the character not being brought back. But through Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman & Lois could not only reboot Maxwell Lord but also recast the part, since it seems like Facinelli has moved on from his DC TV part.

Metallo

When Supergirl season 2 premiered on The CW, that was also when Tyler Hoechlin made his debut as Superman in the Arrowverse. As The CW brought in the latest take on the Man of Steel, Kara and Clark spent the first two episodes teaming up against another big Superman baddie. John Corben a.k.a. Metallo got his latest live-action debut only a few years after Smallville season 9 had featured him. This version of Metallo was created by Lillian Luthor as part of Project Cadmus, but surprisingly, Corben's time in the Arrowverse was very brief. After appearing for three episodes on Supergirl, Corben eventually died, and instead, they created other Metallos after his passing.

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Even though Corben had a short run on Supergirl, Frederick Schmidt did get to play a different Metallo from Earth-X during the Crisis on Earth-X crossover. This version was a full-on cyborg, more resembling the comics, but it was just for the crossover. Now that Crisis on Infinite Earths has given the Arrowverse a clean slate, it would be a shame if Superman & Lois never got a chance to include Metallo. Given that the original Corben wasn't given a chance to develop, that's where a character reboot could benefit the villain. He's one of the more challenging villains for the Last Son of Krypton and it would be intriguing to see how Superman & Lois could flesh him out over the span of an extended arc.

Parasite

Supergirl Parasite in Changing Seaosn 2

Metallo wasn't the only big Superman villain that didn't last for long on Supergirl as this was also the case for Parasite. During the second season, Rudy Jones is introduced to the Arrowverse as an environmental scientist. This take on Parasite comes in the form of Rudy getting infected by an Angon alien parasite that transforms him into the DC Comics villain. This was a slight departure from the comics as Parasite is usually born after Rudy gets into an accidental experiment or is exposed to biohazard energy. Supergirl's Parasite was also a villain that they killed off after Rudy exploded from having overloaded on energy absorption. But Rudy wasn't the Arrowverse iteration of Parasite as Supergirl season 4 introduced DC Comics' Raymond Jensen who was briefly the second Parasite on the show.

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Similar to Metallo, Parasite is another big Superman villain that Supergirl had an oddly brief time with before all versions of them got killed off. Given that Superman did exist at the time, one would think that those foes would just have their clashes with him offscreen. If this had been a version of the DC Universe where Superman didn't exist, it would make more sense to have them written off. Just like Metallo, Parasite is also one of Clark's deadlier antagonists from the mythology where he can cause Superman to become powerless. However, in a post-Crisis DCEU, Superman & Lois can retcon Parasite's death and bring Rudy back with a fresh take for the Arrowverse.

General Zod

Superman-Villains-Arrowverse-General-Zod

Another major Superman villain that had a run history on Supergirl was General Zod, whose status was always a little unclear. While the real Zod hasn't shown up in the flesh, Supergirl season 2 had Mark Gibbon appear in the season finale, but with a twist. As Queen Rhea had infected Clark with Silver Kryptonite, it caused him to see Zod as an illusion. While Superman thought he was fighting Zod, Clark was actually attacking his own cousin who tried to get him to snap out of it. However, it had been established that Arrowverse's Superman had actually killed Zod at some point. But in Supergirl season 3, it was revealed that Zod had somehow been resurrected and had fought the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st century.

Ever since then, Supergirl has never again referenced Zod, and even after Crisis on Infinite Earths, his status is unknown. It was never explained if Zod was brought back in the 31st century or if he's revived sometime in the 21st century before going to the future. Due to how important Zod is in Superman's mythology, it would be a shame if the Arrowverse never got a proper chance to explore him, especially now that Superman & Lois exists. Zod is a crucial part of Krypton's entire legacy and he's always been one of Kal-El's more complex antagonists. Given how Zod has been more frequent in live-action over the last 10 years, it only makes sense that the Arrowverse's Superman gets to take him on eventually.

Since Supergirl never really did anything more with Zod, it leaves the door open for Superman & Lois. It probably wouldn't happen until several seasons later, but it would be weird for a Superman show to never have Zod appear at least once. They could recast Zod, as Gibbon would likely not be brought back with it having been several years since his last appearance. It would allow the Arrowverse drama to not only give Zod another live-action treatment, but could create a whole new arc for one of the last remaining Kryptonians in Superman. Hopefully, Superman & Lois will get a fresh start, thanks to Crisis, with some of the villains that Supergirl utilized in the early seasons.

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