Superman & Lois' Already Proved DC Is Finally Getting Bizarro Right
Superman & Lois includes Bizarro as its major antagonist of season 2, and the show is bringing him closer to his comic book counterpart than past adaptations. Following heavy teases of Doomsday as the villain in the first couple of episodes of season 2, episode 3 "The Thing In The Mines" finally revealed the mysterious underground presence as Bizarro. The Superman doppelgänger, also played by the show's Man of Steel Tyler Hoechlin, immediately looked to be a much darker take on the character than past versions.
This could be seen in Bizarro's torn, ragged cape and almost zombie-like appearance as he emerged from the depths of Smallville. In Superman & Lois season 2, episode 4, "The Inverse Method," Bizarro was also shown to have a generally feral nature in his confrontations with Superman. While Superman & Lois is definitely putting its own spin on Bizarro, numerous details are also making him the most comic-accurate version to date.
In "The Inverse Method," Bizarro is shown breathing fire into the icy surface of the Arctic, which depicts his comics-based power of heat breath. Additionally, while Bizarro's appearance resembles that of a walking corpse, the cracks and crevices shown in his very pale face also derive from his appearance in the comics. Add in Bizarro's reversed S on the Superman S-shield on his chest, and he's far closer to his comic book self in terms of appearance and powers than any other live-action version.
Bizarro's heat breath comes from many of his powers being inversions of those of Superman's, with others including freeze vision and vacuum breath. While he shares more standard Kryptonian powers with Superman, like invulnerability, super-strength, and flight, Bizarro is meant to generally be a flipped version of Superman, and Superman & Lois's reverse-doppelgänger Bizarro is faithful to this idea despite its tweaks to the character. This has also made him one of Superman's more outlandish villains, which has led many other live-action adaptations to alter him quite a bit in how they've brought him to life.
Past adaptations of Bizarro have included the evil Superman in Superman III and the Man of Steel clone Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow) in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Smallville also featured its own take on Bizarro as an entity from the Phantom Zone who replicates the appearance of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) after coming into contact with him. Additionally, Bizarro was also featured in the Superboy TV series, and was fairly comic accurate in terms of his appearance and other aspects but whose role was more of a societal outcast than a villain.
As his powers, appearance, and general personality show, Bizarro is one of the trickiest Superman villains to adapt to live-action. This makes it quite understandable that previous attempts have adjusted him in significant ways for the stories they're telling. As Welling's version on Smallville shows, it can sometimes even lead to a new interpretation of the character that's just as strong as his portrayal in the comics. Still, if the powers and nature of a comic book character can be successfully realized in live-action, it's always a joy for fans to see unfold before their eyes. Superman & Lois' take on Bizarro is the latest example. While not without his own necessary adjustments in being brought to life, the Bizarro of Superman & Lois nonetheless has swiftly become the most fully realized and source material reflective live-action Bizarro yet.
Superman & Lois season 2 returns Tuesday, February 22 on the CW.