Warning: Spoilers for Superman & Lois season 2, episode 3.
Despite the show’s Bizarro reveal, Doomsday may still be the main villain of Superman & Lois season 2. The first three episodes heavily implied that Doomsday’s Arrowverse debut was imminent, but all of the show’s teases turned out to be red herrings. The character believed to be Doomsday was ultimately revealed to be an entirely different Superman villain – Bizarro.
Ever since the Superman & Lois season 2 premiere, plenty of attention has been focused on the mysterious creature wreaking havoc beneath Smallville. Hints dropped in the episodes and comments made by Superman & Lois showrunner Todd Helbing created a great deal of hype for Doomsday’s arrival. All of the setup and anticipation about Doomsday only made it all the more shocking when Bizarro made his grand entrance. From the looks of things, Doomsday was never the threat that Clark (Tyler Hoechlin), Lois (Bitsie Tulloch), and Steel (Wolé Parks) needed to be worried about. Now, the implication is that Superman will be fighting Bizarro in season 2 instead.
Doomsday wasn’t the cause of the earthquakes, but that reveal doesn’t necessarily rule him out as the season’s big bad. Superman & Lois season 2, episode 3, titled “The Thing in the Mines”, indicated that Bizarro will be the Man of Steel’s next big threat, but also created the impression that he may not be a long-term antagonist. Bizarro asking to be left alone during their fight was consistent with his portrayal in DC Comics, where he’s typically depicted as a misunderstood anti-hero. If Superman & Lois continues to lean into these aspects of Bizarro’s character, a peaceful resolution could eventually be reached, thus allowing the focus to shift to a different villain – namely Doomsday.
Given what’s known about Bizarro in the comics and the notion that he may be a pawn of Dr. Faulkner (Catherine Lough Haggquist) in Superman & Lois, it’s highly likely that some other character is the season’s real man villain. Since the show has teased him so many times already, Doomsday remains a strong candidate for this role. He existed in the Arrowverse before the Crisis, and could very well be around somewhere in the new timeline. However, it’s possible that Earth-Prime’s Clark hasn’t fought him yet.
There are varying theories on how Doomsday could emerge. Since not all versions of Doomsday are monsters from Krypton, there’s a possibility that he’ll be created from Bizarro. Some are speculating that the character could slowly transform into Doomsday over the course of the season. Or, Doomsday could be the endgame for the show’s Bizarro plan in an entirely different way. Not unlike how Clark’s conflict with Steel played out in Superman & Lois season 1, what transpires between Superman and Bizarro could culminate in a team-up by the end of the season. If characters as powerful as Clark and Bizarro were to join forces, the show would need a villain like Doomsday to provide a worthwhile challenge to them.
Superman & Lois releases new episodes on Tuesdays on The CW.