At last, Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan) will be making her long-awaited return to the Arrowverse with a recurring role on the upcoming Superman and Lois Season 2. Given Lucy’s extensive history in the comic books and the potential for her relationships with the various characters appearing regularly on the show, it’s quite exciting to see Lucy return after almost six years since her disappearance from the universe.
Lucy Lane’s last appearance was at the end of Supergirl season 1, as J’onn J’onnz (David Harewood) was re-appointed to Director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO). After her relationship with James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) failed due to his burgeoning feelings for Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist), Lucy learned that Kara was secretly the famous Supergirl, and she lost her position as Director of the DEO. It was unclear what her role on Supergirl would have been if the show was renewed. However, the show was canceled at CBS before changing over to The CW, and filming subsequently moved from California to Canada. With all of the changes that came with the series’ new home at The CW, Lucy was cut from the line-up of characters in National City. The series and Arrowverse as a whole had completely forgotten she existed, never mentioning her again… until now.
One of the biggest questions for Superman and Lois to address with Lucy’s forthcoming visit is what she’s been up to since she completely disappeared. It seemed that she would be leading the DEO alongside J’onn, having a different view on how to handle the threats that plagued National City and the world. But, obviously, that did not happen. Because she was never mentioned either, there hasn’t even been a tease of what Lucy had moved on to do in life. Plus, with Crisis on Infinite Earths having changed the Arrowverse in so many noticeable ways, how did this impact Lucy? Does this Lucy Lane have the same history as the one we’ve previously met? Superman and Lois has free reign to do whatever it pleases with the character (though not that they need it, considering how they’ve already ignored what was previously established on Supergirl). For instance, did Lucy have the same rocky relationship with James on this new Earth? Does she have the same non-existent relationship with her sister?
During Supergirl season 1, Lucy’s relationship with her sister, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), was teased to be tense, and we were led to believe that the two were completely estranged. Considering Lois seems to have a very different relationship with her father, General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh) on this new Earth, it’s possible we’ll see a much different take on Lois and Lucy’s sisterhood. However, even if that is the case, there are some things that need to be cleared up with Lucy coming to Smallville. Lucy may not remember her other life before Crisis—that remains to be seen—but we know that Lois does. So, the show needs to dive into the past we are familiar with, exploring what exactly went wrong between Lucy and Lois to leave them so separated from one another — a major departure from their relationship in the comics. Or, if these two are close in this new timeline, at least detail the differences between Earth-Prime and Earth-38 so we're left with an accurate picture of what’s going on with no outstanding questions. Lois and Lucy have the potential for such a strong relationship, especially if Lucy does remember that Kara Danvers is Supergirl, as it leads to the possibility that Lucy could learn or already know that Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) is Superman.
On Supergirl and Earth-38, General Lane did not know Clark’s secret and was actively fighting against Superman, but he’s one of the few who do know on the current Earth-Prime. Whatever the case for Lucy is, we desperately need to see more relationships between the women of Superman and Lois, and Lucy’s arrival is the perfect chance to really show a healthy, supportive relationship… and dig further into the Lane family history.
Lucy arriving in Smallville also presents an interesting opportunity to explore whatever relationship she may have with Clark, since he has been married to Lois for nearly two decades in this new universe. If she did date James, how did that complicate their brother/sister (in-law) routine… since it did not end well? How did they move past that? Do they even have a relationship, if Lois and Lucy do not get along? There are a lot of unanswered questions to explore, which is what is making this appearance so exciting. It’s a shame that Dewan will not be joining the show as a series regular, and that seems unlikely given her current competing role on ABC’s The Rookie.
On Supergirl, it seemed that Lucy was specifically created to eventually carry the title of Superwoman and work alongside Kara to protect the world. In the comics, Lucy has held this title before, getting powers from a suit that simulated Kryptonian powers. Given how Superman and Lois focused so heavily on Kryptonian powers manifesting in new ways, and will continue to do so as Jordan’s (Alex Garfin) powers grow, this seems like a great opportunity to follow through on this. Whether it’s by the suit or some play on Kryptonite, as we saw in season 1 with Leslie Larr (Stacey Farber) and Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner), there are many routes to giving Lucy the ability to step up as Superwoman. Given her history in the military and high intelligence, she would be quite a threat as an official superhero with the perfect mentor in her brother-in-law.
Even if Lucy doesn’t stick around on Superman and Lois, the other Arrowverse shows have proven that these characters can come back around frequently to help save the world — something we’ll be seeing shortly with The Flash’s five-episode Armageddon event beginning on November 16. It would be nice to have Superwoman around with Supergirl ending shortly, and Lucy Lane is the perfect character to take on this title. And, who knows, maybe we could get a Superwoman TV show down the road?
Regardless, there’s a lot left to answer and even more to explore with Lucy’s upcoming appearance on Superman and Lois Season 2. No pressure.
Superman and Lois Season 2 will air in 2022 on The CW. Season 1 is currently streaming on HBO Max.