Yep, the New Superman Movie Is to Blame for Superman & Lois’ Cancellation

Superman is faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive, but the one thing he simply cannot compete with is… himself.

That’s the word from Brad Schwartz, The CW’s president of entertainment, who this week shed needed light on what exactly proved to be kryptonite for the netlet’s Superman & Lois series.

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After holding court at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Schwartz revealed that regardless of Superman & Lois‘ performance — last TV season, the last Arrowverse-adjacent series standing was the network’s second-most watched program (trailing only Walker) — it was decided by Warner Bros. that the small-screen Supes should be grounded.

With James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy filming soon and due out in July 2025, “They don’t want a competing Superman product in the marketplace,” Schwartz told TheWrap. (That reveal now casts in a new light Gunn’s “praise hands emoji” reaction to Superman & Lois starting production on its final season.)

Superman: Legacy, coupled with the late-2024 release of the animated Creature Commandoes series on Max, marks the launch of the “new DCU” being shepherd by DC Studios co-CEOs Gunn and Peter Safran. The cast includes David Corenswet (The Politician) as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo (Santa Clarita Diet) as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult (The Great) as Lex Luthor and Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamorpho.

How Did The CW Previously Explain Cancelled DC Shows?

Previously, The CW’s Schwartz had suggested that economics were at least partly to blame for the powering down of Arrowverse series.

DC superhero shows “were the hallmarks of The CW for a long time,” Schwartz said back in May at the network Upfronts. “As we look forward and try to make this network bigger and profitable, frankly, as much as we all love those shows and they had their time, they’re not working on linear,”

“Superman & Lois, creatively, is very strong,” Schwartz pointed out then. “It does well in broadcast, it does well in digital… but it’s expensive [and] doesn’t make money for us. And we don’t have the rights to the prior seasons. You need to have a library [for people to find a show]… and the prior seasons are [on Max].”

When Superman & Lois was renewed for what would be its final season (being held for fall 2024), it was hit by significant budget cuts, impacting both the size of its cast and its writing staff. To that end, a number of former series regulars — Wolé Parks as John Henry, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana, Inde Navarrette as Sarah, Tayler Buck as Natalie, Erik Valdez as Kyle, Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy and Dylan Walsh as Sam — did not return full-time.

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