Thanks to a two-season order, My Adventures With Superman is back with us after a short wait, and these first two episodes have already proven that this season is likely to go above and beyond what the first season was even capable of.
My Adventures With Superman left off with Superman (Jack Quaid) getting exposed to Kryptonite for the first time when it’s revealed to him that the Supermen of other universes are evil. Clark’s pod also ends up reacting to the kryptonite, reenacting an invasion similar to Zero Day. Superman manages to stop the invaders with the kryptonite, risking his own life, but is thankfully rescued by his father, Jor-El (Jason Marnocha). Sam Lane (Joel De La Fuente) prepares to kill Superman, but Lois ( Alice Lee) manages to successfully plead for his life, leading to Sam’s departure. Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid) reveals at dinner that he has sold his Flamaebird channel to the Daily Planet and is now a millionaire. It ends with the reveal of Brainiac informing, who seems to be General Zod, about Earth. A lot of questions went unanswered about where that Kryptonian ship came from. Who the other Kryptonian is, and so much more. Thankfully, these first two episodes already provide the answers we need.
The first season of My Adventures With Superman showed us how they would reinvent the Superman mythos while also staying true to the long history that the character has. It was something that I wasn’t on board with at first, but eventually, I was able to appreciate the changes for what they were. The first episode of this new season continues to do exactly that; it takes staple parts of Superman’s and completely reinvents them, providing a fresh look at stories we’ve seen again and again. The changes to Krypton’s origin and destruction and the changes to Supergirl’s origin might prove controversial to long-time fans. I was personally taken aback by these changes, but after some downtime, I’m open to seeing how these new changes change the dynamic between Superman, Supergirl, and the world surrounding them. It’s a dark take that they’re going with and while it does take inspiration from Superman The Animated Series for some of the elements of Krypton’s destruction, overall it’s a fresh new origin that we haven’t seen the likes of before and adds more reasoning to maybe why there are more evil Superman across the multiverse.
I’ve only watched the first two episodes of this season, but to just set the standards. The animation is exactly the same as the first season with no improvements, but this is to be expected as My Adventures With Superman was initially a two-season order, meaning that both the first season and this second season were created back-to-back. This isn’t a bad thing, as the animation for the first season was great, and it still has no dips in quality. The action still feels very anime-inspired, and it’s safe to say that it’s part of the show’s DNA.
The dynamic between Clark, Lois, and Jimmy is better than ever, especially with how all three of them left off. Clark and Lois are officially a couple, with Clark taking her on rooftops to eat noodles; he has to eat mild while Lois eats spicy noodles, which is ironic that the Man of Steel can’t handle a little spice but his Korean girlfriend can take all the heat. In a way, it’s sort of a metaphor for how Superman and Lois are when it comes to battles; they’re the complete opposite; Superman is the spicy noodles who can handle all the heat, while Lois is the mild who has to be careful and try not to get hurt, even though she still wants to be as involved as him. Jimmy Olsen left off last season by becoming a millionaire, and as we can see from the first two episodes, he’s taking advantage of it. It’s clear that by the end of the season, Jimmy will most likely have spent all his money, as we’re currently tracking how much money he spends on each episode, and it’s decreasing quite quickly.
We have some returning villains from Season 1 and some new villains who might prove difficult for Superman to face. We see the return of Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson), Slade (Chris Parnell), and Ivo (Jake Green), who is currently still locked up. Waller and Slade seem like they’ll still have a prominent role this season, with a major discovery that can change the course of this show entirely. In fact, they’re not the only villains that returned that will seem to pose trouble for Superman. The first season was only truly the beginning, and it seems like things are only going to get more challenging. Alex Luthor (Max Mittelman) returns, or, as he prefers to be called this season, Lex. During the first season, he was merely an assistant to Ivo, and his villain origins only began when he got disrespected by Superman, Lois, and Jimmy (mainly Lois; I still remember that slap). On the brink of giving it all up after Amazo Tech goes down under, he receives some life advice from one of our protagonists that sets him on the path to becoming the Lex Luthor that we all know. Once again, it’s ironic that our trio essentially set him on this villainous plan.
Some new villains are introduced, such as Atom Skull (Max Mittelman), who people got to see a taste of during the clip that was released from the second episode. We don’t get to see much of him on display, but if anything, we’re sure to see more of him. We also get introduced to Damage (Jason Marnocha) within the first episode of this new season; just like Atom Skull, they only get a small amount of screen time, and they do slightly feel irrelevant, especially when bigger threats are on the horizon, but hopefully both characters will see a return later in the season.
What these first two episodes do really well is answer the questions that needed answering, setting up the rest of the season with the eventual introduction of Supergirl, which is imminent, but for now, they’ll stick to teasing, but hopefully they don’t tease for too long as it would be nice to get her with some considerable runtime. Another thing that’s being teased is our big bads, Brainiac (Michael Emerson) and the mysterious Kryptonian warrior who is likely to be Zod. The teases are minimal, but they’re clearly preparing to have their official introduction with Superman this season.
My Adventures With Superman Season 2 continues to reinvent the Superman mythos in ways that could excite fans or upset them. It’s a great follow-up to Season 1 that doesn’t waste any time moving the story along to its next stage. Everything needed to go forward is told to us in just the first episode, which is well paced and has a great story, animation, and humour. The same can also be said for the second episode, and it sets a precedent that we can expect for the remainder of the season.
My Adventures With Superman Season 2 premieres on May 25 with two episodes on Adult Swim followed by one new episode every Saturday.
