Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Superman & Lois season 2, episode 9.
Jordan Kent’s airborne heroic save on Superman & Lois is both a Man of Steel Easter egg and sets him up to fill in for his missing father. Jordan's (Alex Garfin) growing powers in Superman & Lois have been one of the cornerstones of the show so far. With Jordan drawing closer and closer to the heights of his father Clark's (Tyler Hoechlin) superpowers, he's made huge jumps forward in the past few episodes.
In Superman & Lois season 2, episode 9, titled "30 Days and 30 Nights", Superman has gone missing after flying into the Bizarro world to bring back Ally Alston (Rya Kihlstedt). While John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) is saving lives in Superman's absence, Jordan also makes a major save of his own. When Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez) is trapped in a burning building while fighting a fire, Jordan arrives to rescue him, pulling him away from an explosion by making a huge leap out of a nearby window.
With Jordan stepping up to potential flight, he's become much better equipped to save lives in the way that Clark does. The icing on the cake is that Superman & Lois has also treated viewers to a Man of Steel Easter egg that also tips its hat to the beginnings of Superman's flight. After Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) puts on his famed red and blue suit for the first time, he makes his first attempt to fly. The new Superman make numerous huge leaps across the snowy arctic before finally managing to fly. On Superman & Lois, Jordan's first successful launch from the ground is a similar leap, as he explains to his brother Jonathan (Jordan Elsass), but both also are subtle tributes to Superman's power of flight not being part of his original conception.
When he was originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, Superman wasn't as powerful as he'd later be, and did not possess the ability to fly. The Last Son of Krypton's early adventures saw him make gigantic leaps from one location to another. Man of Steel's first flight scene showing Superman initially struggling to fly was a veiled Easter egg to the origins of his capacity to soar into the sky. Superman & Lois takes much the same approach with Jordan, showing him to leaping as he gradually develops the power of flight.
With Superman & Lois on a break until April 26, 2022, Jordan will surely continue his heroic rise during his father's inexplicable absence. This also raises big questions about what Jordan's role on the show will be when Clark inevitably returns. This could hint that Jordan might, if not team-up with his father directly, begin his own heroic life, possibly in the vein of Clark's journey on Smallville. It certainly seems very unlikely that Jordan will be relegated to the background with fully developed Kryptonian abilities. With a growing number of saves on his part, Jordan's heroic career is only likely to continue.
In any case, Jordan's leap unequivocally signifies how far he's come in terms of his powers. Though Superman is presently AWOL, Jordan is able to do more than he ever thought possible in stepping into a hero role. Along the way Superman & Lois reminded viewers, as Man of Steel did, that all Kryptonians had to leap before they could fly.