Just A Theory: The Black Suit and 7734 on “Superman and Lois”

At the end of the second episode of “Superman and Lois” we saw an alternate earth, where Captain Alex Luthor fought alongside General Sam Lane against what appeared to be an evil version of Superman/Kal-El specific to their earth or timeline. And THAT version of Superman on THAT earth was wearing the iconic black or recovery suit.

The black suit or recovery suit or regeneration suit is rarely associated with an evil Superman in the comics – in fact more often than not Superman wears it when battling a DIFFERNT evil superman that is actually impersonating the real Superman and wearing that Superman’s traditional suit. There is another storyline in an animated film featuring Superman going after a clone that was sent by the Toyman. There is also storyline where a clone of Superman acts in a black suit under the control of Darkseid in the new 52’s “Earth 2” and is eventually taken out by Val-Zod. But other than that – when the ACTUAL Superman of that comic’s specific earth dons the black suit, it usually means he has been injured (as the black suit is better and amplifying the rays from the sun for restoring and repairing Superman). This first occurred back in Action Comics 689 (agreed to be the first canon appearance of the black suit – though the suit looks wildly different from later incarnations). The black suit has also been used when Kal-El wants to work incognito as we saw in “Superman: Lois And Clark: Road To Rebirth” back in 2012. In that miniseries, there were two Supermen were on the same planet when one entered this universe of an earth destroyed in another universe. The incognito black suit superman eventually takes over for the current earth’s Superman when that Superman is sidelined.

So what does an appearance of a black suit Superman from another earth, that is also apparently evil, mean for the future of the “Superman and Lois”? Well I have some wild ideas today for you to disprove, laugh at, or maybe enjoy. But first, three preliminary questions that can help with the theories…

Preliminary Question One: How and why does Captain Luthor know of the name “Kal-El” and why does he ONLY call Superman that – not Clark Kent, not Superman?

It’s very noticeable that Captain Alex Luthor refers to Superman only as “Kal-El” – so he clearly knows his true kryptonian identity. Why not call him Clark? Does he not know he is Clark Kent? That is what I assumed at first as he has not attacked Clark Kent and certainly would have known that. But why not Superman? Could he recognize by face or is the way he recognized him through his actions? Unknown. But I think it is more likely than not that prior to their confrontation above earth in the pilot, I’m not sure Captain Luthor could have recognized Clark as Superman in a line-up. Rather I am guessing that his use of the name Kal-El comes from a military debriefing. And as he told Sam Lane later on in the episode, he calls him that as a reminder that he is not human. He is not SuperMAN – he is Kal-El, an alien, a threat.

Preliminary Question Two: Is the earth of Captain Luthor an alternate earth or an alternate timeline in the future?

There were some theories floating around that Captain Alex Luthor was a future descendant of Lex and not from a different earth but in this episode we did see a Sam Luthor that seemed to be a similar age so I am leaning to that being a different earth. It also does not appear to be too long since Luthor was on the field of battle – he has similar scars in the flashback (?) that we see at the end of episode 2 of “Superman and Lois”.

With that being said, things can still mirror in this earth or timeline – and dramatically I think that’s what producers want us to ask: 1.) How did THAT Superman become evil? and 2.) How could OUR Superman become evil?

Preliminary Question Three: What is the significance of Captain Luthor’s 7734 dog tags?

We saw that Captain Luthor’s Mechdroid gave Sam Lane a dog tag towards the end of the show and asked him for his help in defeating Superman and said the phrase “to hell and back”. What does this mean? Well it is likely referencing Sam Lane’s Project 7734 from the Action Comics(begins around 870ish)/Superman/Supergirl series. In this project, Sam created a secret government program in response to Brainiac’s reveal that Kandor existed and Superman resulting action bringing those survivors to earth.

I honestly have not read the entire run – just some of the Action Comics parts that kicked it off so this summary is taken from a wiki and the great Comics Explained youtube series (check that dude out if you have not already). Anyway, Sam’s program 7734 was meant to monitor and protect earth from any alien populations/invasions but specifically the new Kryptonians from the relocated Kandor. Sam teamed up with Lex Luthor citing similar interests and after numerous failed tries at turning humans against Kryptonians through staged attacks involving Doomsday, Metallo, Sam and Lex eventually align themselves with a new mysterious Superwoman who battles on the side of the Project against Superman and Supergirl. The pair ultimately expose her as the younger sister of Lois Lane and Sam’s daughter Lucy Lane. The project’s number is the same as that on the badge. Now can this exact story happen in “Superman and Lois”? No. But something like it could. Imagine a world where Jordan gets so fed up he battles on the side of Sam and Captain Luthor.

So, what does this mean for the show’s storyline considering 1.) the nature of the recovery suit, 2.) the history of the suit in the comics, and 3.) what we know from above about the characters on the show so far. Could our Clark Kent/Superman follow the path of the Superman from Captain Luthor’s earth and turn evil – and if so, why?

BLACK SUIT THEORIES

So then why a black suit – and what could the suit on the other earth or (possibly) timeline mean for the future of our Superman on “Superman and Lois”?

THEORY 1: An Attack on Superman Injures Jordan or Jonathan, Setting Him On A Path Of Destruction

The idea here is that like in the comics, Sam Lane fakes an attack on Clark to gain public sentiment for Project 7734. But this backfires when Jordan or Jonathan gets injured in the attack – possibly killed. Clark will also get injured during the attack. He will then dawn the black suit for recovery/regeneration purposes which turbocharges him at his most emotionally vulnerable moment, and when he acts with vengeance upon Sam and Project 7734. And he is going to turn into an evil Superman.

Now maybe this is a little crazy because I can’t see a world where Sam Lane would harm his grandsons. BUT could there be a world where he fakes an attack on Superman to create public trust (much like Same Lane faked a Doomsday attack on the new Kryptonians in Action Comics to garner sympathy from the general public for Project 7734). Think about this – may Sam fakes an attack on Superman but either Superman gets hurt or before he is harmed, Jordan steps in and is hurt – possibly killed. Maybe. But I don’t see a show where Jordan or Jonathan is not part of it. Then again, they could be injured in the attack – which might have the same effect on Superman if he is already mad at Sam Lane – as it seems their relationship is growing more and more antagonistic.

THEORY 2: Jordan gets the suit as a way to augment his powers and the Superman in Captain Luthor’s timeline

Clark gives the suit to Jordan to help jumpstart his powers causing some unintended use of the powers that Sam Lane deems dangerous. Sam then wants to imprison Jordan “for safety reasons” causing Clark to go crazy wearing the black suit.

Could there be a world where Jordan gets the black suit by going to the Fortress of Solitude and experimenting and using it as a way to augment his powers? Remember – the black suit does a better job of amplifying the sun’s rays than Superman’s basic suit so it could be a situation where Jordan jumpstarts his powers and becomes a true Kryptonian. Jordan seems to act emotionally and his powers seem to manifest that way – or at least have in the two times they have vested.

The first time he feared for his brother and the second time he feared for his brother and was also angry and his inability to act. So maybe the amplified powers create an amplified emotional state and Jordan becomes too much to handle. Now sure – this is out there. But if Captain Luthor’s earth was not our timeline there could be a way where OUR earth is beginning to branch towards the fate of THAT earth – albeit with a different person – so could there be a world where it is Jordan standing over Sam Lane and Captain Luthor on the field of battle? Maybe – but probably not. Seems unlikely but worth mentioning.

3.) Theory 3 – Sam Lane Imprisons Jordan for Safety/ Clark Does Not Take It Too Well

I could also see Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman turning dark. We saw the beginning of that when he learned Sam Lane was stockpiling kryptonite towards the end of last night’s episode. Now imagine if that animosity grows over the course of the season and includes some kind of turn where his son would be imprisoned or put in danger by the action of Sam Lane. The biggest problem with this theory is WHY is he wearing the black suit? Is he trying to distance himself with the Superman imagery? I really like this idea for why Superman could go bad but I don’t get the entire timelines of the two different earths matching up this way.

4.) Theory 4: Two Supermen, One Earth – aka there is another, potentially rogue Kal-El lurking on this earth, in the shadows who has followed Captain Luthor, and will be mistaken for our Kal-El, reigniting their conflict.

This theory is a little out there but it is not entirely unfounded and could be the easiest to execute in terms of character motivation. The general idea is that the other evil Kal-El from Captain Luthor’s earth is still alive and followed Captain Luthor to the earth of “Superman and Lois”. That OTHER evil Kal-El is currently lurking in the shadows, studying our Clark Kent/Superman. That OTHER Kal-El moves into action one day to attack Captain Luthor, causing collateral damage/harm to innocent humans, and is also mistaken for Clark Kent/Superman in the process. Sam could ramp up Project 7734 after a few more incidents with the OTHER Superman thinking that it is in fact Clark, which annoys Clark. Clark is injured and sidelined (unbeknownst to Sam and Captain Luthor) and the OTHER evil Kal-El steps into his role and goes to war with Sam and Captain Luthor. Clark then can still be the “good guy” and ultimately recover and come to the aid of Sam and Luthor and actually fight alongside them against the OTHER evil Kal-El.

This would be a sort of riff on the “Earth 2” comics storyline where Darskeid groomed a Superman clone called Brutaal, who came to our earth and was initially mistaken for the real Superman, who had passed. Eventually he is defeated by Val-Zod.

And this theory is also founded in the storyline from “Superman: Lois and Clark – The Road To Rebirth” which saw a different GOOD Superman come to an earth where a Superman was already in place. The secret Superman (if you will) lurked in the shadows, and again only wore the black suit, but ultimately stepped in for the original earth’s Superman when that Superman died.

My conclusion is that it’s going to be some combination where Sam Lane begins a Project 7734 over the course of the season with good intentions but it goes bad. Considering his kryptonite stockpile, he’s already halfway there. And that will cause his relationship with Clark to sour even further. – potentially because of some harm or possible harm that comes to Jordan and/or Jonathan – and which actually harms our Superman, necessitating he wear the black suit to heal. This all results in our Superman and Sam Lane (with the cooperation of Captain Luthor) at opposite ends of a huge conflict – with Lois, the Kent sons, and the rest of the earth in the balance.