The story that the Arrowverse is giving Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) in Superman & Lois is the opposite of what Smallville did with its young Superman played by Tom Welling. There are strong parallels between the shows, even though they follow Clark at two entirely different periods of his life.
Smallville was, of course, a story about Clark becoming Superman, whereas Superman & Lois centers around a Man of Steel who has been saving the world for many years. Now, he has a wife and two teenage children. At least one of them, Jordan (Alex Garfin), seems to have inherited a fraction of Superman’s Kryptonian powers. Jordan coming to terms with his new abilities and the fact that they’re not quite as potent as his father’s is one of many new challenges that Clark is facing in his new Arrowverse series.
Due to the nature of the show, the problems that Clark has are very different from the ones he had in Smallville. The show has actually flipped Smallville season 1’s story in more than one way. In the pilot episode, Clark had to tell both of the sons the truth about his alien origins after they discovered his ship under the barn. This mirrored Smallville’s series premiere, which saw Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) take Clark down into the storm cellar to show him his spaceship. It was the moment when Clark found out that his superpowers came from being an alien. Smallville’s Clark was furious with his dad for keeping this from him, but the Arrowverse’s Clark found himself on the other side of that rage in Superman & Lois, as he had ultimately made the same decision that Jonathan did, only this time keeping his powers a secret from his own boys.
Superman & Lois episode 3 once again put Clark in the shoes of Smallville’s Jonathan Kent when Jordan signed up for the high school football team without seeking permission from his parents. Though Clark eventually relented and allowed him to play at the end of the episode, he was initially against it because he was worried that Jordan would accidentally hurt someone. This conflict strongly echoed the one that occurred in Smallville’s third episode. Not unlike Jordan, Clark was determined to play football, but Jonathan repeatedly refused to allow it for the same reasons Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent was opposed to it in the Arrowverse. As a result, Clark went against his wishes and played anyway. He quit the team by the episode's end, but his wish to play became a recurring storyline for him through season 4 when he became the star quarterback.
The comparisons with Smallville make Superman & Lois going in this direction with its Clark Kent even more interesting. For fans who watched Jonathan struggle to teach these important lessons to 14-year-old Clark in Smallville, it’s fun to see the shoe on the other foot, with a teenage Jordan giving an adult Clark the same kind of problems. Seeing how Clark will handle them as their stories move forward will be something to watch as season 1 continues to unfold.