Superman & Lois' Tyler Hoechlin explains why the Man of Steel is more relevant than ever
This article was written independently by Entertainment Weekly's editorial team and meets our editorial standards. The CW is a paid advertising partner in Winter 2021.
How do you make Superman relevant and interesting? That question inevitably arises in any conversation about the Man of Tomorrow, and it's easy to understand why. The do-gooding Man of Steel is extremely powerful, near invincible, sometimes too perfect, and his eternal optimism can come across as cheesy in these cynical times. But for Tyler Hoechlin, who stars as the Boy Scout on the CW's Superman & Lois, Superman's relevancy has never been in question.
"As far as being relevant, the one thing I always look at is, 'When is it irrelevant that you need someone who is always there to do good?'" the 33-year-old actor tells EW. "I hope to God we don't have a time where we don't think it's important to have people around who just stand up for what's right and help those who can't help themselves kind of thing. For me, that relevant question always come back to that. I don't know a time that we're ever not going to need people who step in to do good and do the right thing."
The latest Arrowverse spin-off, Superman & Lois, sends the iconic titular couple into unknown territory, for live-action at least. The series follows Clark Kent and his wife, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), as they move from Metropolis to Smallville to raise their twin teenage sons, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alexander Garfin). Even though Clark feels the pressure of being a superhero and parent, he doesn't lose his trademark hopefulness, which is one of the reasons Hoechlin has enjoyed playing the character.
"We always need optimism. We always need to be hopeful. If we ever get to the point where we're waking up and no one is hopeful for the future, then what are we doing?" says Hoechlin, who made his debut as Superman in Supergirl's second season. "So I really enjoy and appreciate about the character that even though this isn't his home, it's become his home, but it's not and he doesn't have to do this. But I think the fact that he continues to believe in humanity and a better tomorrow for the human race and continues to fight for that says a lot about his character."
In fact, Hoechlin tries his hardest to adopt Superman's cheery worldview in his every day life.
"I grew up an eternal optimist and romantic, and then I think I went through a cynical phase in my 20s and then just decided, 'You know what? This sucks, I don't like looking at the world this way,'" he says. "At least for me, on a daily basis it's feeling like a choice: How do I want to look at things? And I just realized that I'd rather look at the world through a romantic, glass- half-full kind of view, and hope that glass would be completely full at some point [rather] than assume that it's never going to get there. That's just, to me, not a way to wake up every day. So, I like playing a character who seems to wake up on a daily basis with that same mindset and point of view."
Superman & Lois also stars Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Dylan Walsh, and Wolé Parks. It premieres Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.
(Video provided by the CW)
Related content: