“Superman and Lois,” the CW show centering Clark Kent, Lois Lane and their sons, Jonathan and Jordan, has been running since February 2021. While Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jonathan Kent are all pre-established characters with extensive comic book lore, Alex Garfin’s character, Jordan, was created just for the show.
I was able to catch Garfin on Zoom on the day of the finale to talk about all things “Superman,” as well as Lois, Jordan Kent and spotty Wi-Fi connections (which also applied to my computer — sorry Alex). He was gracious and kindly answered every question.
The finale, which was released on Monday, Dec 2., is an exciting way to wrap up this chapter. “It feels great. I was going through photos and I’m going to do a big finale post on my Instagram and it’s bizarre looking back at four years of your life. I suppose it’s a lot like looking back at four years of college. These were my four college years, anyway, so I kind of had a very perfect little segment of my life going up to Vancouver every single September until around April, and basically had a college experience doing this show,” Garfin stated.
When it comes to this fourth season, its existence wasn’t always set in stone. “It’s funny because, you know, by season two I would have told you that we had a season nine — even 10, the way things were headed. But around midway through season three, we realized that there were some structural changes going on … and yeah, I really thought that by the end I wasn’t going to get a season four.” said Garfin.
It made season four that much more of a little bonus, so you kind of got to appreciate it. I feel like you can only appreciate things when you’re not holding onto them so precious, if you get to mourn something and then come back to it, you really get a lovely point.
Jordan Kent, existing as one of the only original characters in the show, is a unique and interesting character that adds a lot of depth to “Superman & Lois.” “Getting to land this thing on its feet — no pun intended — is pretty special, especially given how we did it in a way that has never been done on another ‘Superman’ iteration before.”
“I had the honor of being able to play a character that really came out of his shell throughout the entirety of the show. Have ups and downs — his progression definitely wasn’t linear, but neither is anyone’s.
Alex Garfin’, Star of ‘Superman and Lois’
Garfin is appreciative of the fans of all versions of “Superman.” When I brought up “Smallville,” which was the CW’s first true superhero DC show, he touched on what it’s like to enter that universe. “‘Smallville’ was a monolith in itself. I always try to make sure that we leave some appreciation for how much road they paved. It’s also kind of crazy because it was the first CW show — or at that point, WB/Warner Brothers in the DC universe — mine’s the last, so from the pilot of ‘Smallville’ all the way to the finale of ‘Superman & Lois’ tonight. That is the whole CW’s experience with superheroes, and that’s pretty special.”
The entire thing is just so special, and even though they’re completely different shows, some of “Smallville” does bleed into “Superman & Lois”; i.e., the struggle with football. “That stuff is really fun as well, just because at the time, I was a scrawny little theater kid and had barely been to the gym before at that point. I’m not even a football fan; I’m a baseball fan, so I had to learn all the rules,” he laughed and said, “I remember Jordan Elsass also had to learn all of the rules and all that stuff, which I find hilarious because his character is supposed to be that guy, you know?”
“I was lucky enough that my character really gets to change in that matter — very much unlike a lot of the characters even in the show. When you have something like ‘Superman & Lois,’ I mean, these characters are pretty much set in stone. You can play them how you want to play them but there are ideas at this point. That’s why Tyler and Bitsie did such a phenomenal job — they took these ideas and turned them into real, honest human beings.”
When it comes to Jordan Kent’s character development, much happened to make him a true and honest character. “I had the honor of being able to play a character that really came out of his shell throughout the entirety of the show. Have ups and downs — his progression definitely wasn’t linear, but neither is anyone’s. By the end of the show, I’m really proud of who he became — and very attached to him as well.”
And a lot of work went into portraying the Kent family. “In the pilot there’s a very intimate moment between Clark and Jordan — you feel very vulnerable as the character, and you feel very vulnerable as the actor. It’s in the writing a lot of the times, and you can kind of coast along the writing and really allow it to seep in.”
“I can only appreciate when people get mad at Jordan Kent,” said Garfin. “Usually when a fan is frustrated with the character, it’s on purpose. It’s that journey they want you to go on, they want you to feel the frustration of the other characters as well … people who blame the actor I think are some of the greatest fans, because they’re so into it. They believe it.”
Garfin has a dedicated fan base; for example, @dailyalexgarfin on Instagram (which posts the same picture of him every day). “I honestly think it’s hilarious, and I really appreciate the support. I think it shows that my fan base is really in tune to who I am.”
And finally, we got to the finale. “We’re about to do something that no one’s ever done before on a ‘Superman’ iteration, so that’s pretty special. You can expect a big fight — and the last couple of minutes are really special … it’s very bold,” said Garfin. “Jordan grows up a lot — especially in the finale.”
Be sure to catch Garfin in “Superman & Lois” and get ready for an unbelievably incredible show.
I watched the series. It piqued my interest and curiosity. IMHO the team of Berlanti Schechter could produce a winner (like Supergirl season one was) when they really put forth an effort AND had such collaboration with producers like Ali Adler. But Superman and Lois (which had the potential Supergirl season one had) was riddled with the same lackluster / winding down to ordinariness platform that Supergirl season two thru six were. The on blip in that radar screen was the Doomsday element but each temporary solution was cheesier than the last… and then to end thing with Luthor like that… what a misinterpretation of Jerry Siegel’s and Joe Shuster’s vision.