Superman & Lois might have set up a major change for John Henry Irons heading into season 3. After unfortunately numerous episode delays for Superman & Lois season 2, the season is set to wrap up on Tuesday, June 28, and the stakes could not be higher. Not only has Ally Allston (Rya Kihlstedt) begun merging Earth Prime with the Bizarro World, but Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) is unable to put a stop to her plan after the villainess drained his powers from him.
Clark Kent's family and friends have been doing everything possible to help on both restoring Clark's powers and stopping Ally, with John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) even flying into space in his technologically-enhanced suit to prevent Ally's plan. Unfortunately, John was unable to stop Ally, with the cult leader-turned-supervillainess sending a bolt of energy through his suit leaving it damaged and John adrift in the space between the two universes. With this, Superman & Lois might have just set up John donning his comic book-accurate Steel suit.
After the damage inflicted on the suit by Ally as the energy-absorbing Parasite, the first priority is simply getting John back to Earth-Prime. With his suit damaged and its communication equipment de-activated, much to the worry of John's daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck), repairing it and making it durable enough to withstand such attacks from Ally will be the next step for him. This could lead John to also adjust his suit further, adding the red cape and S-shield from his comic book origins, with John fully becoming Steel at last.
The history of John's metallic suit as Steel goes back to his origins as a hero. During the Reign of the Supermen comics story, following on The Death of Superman (with the show reworking some elements of Superman's death story), John was one of several Superman successors to emerge. Using his knowledge of weapons and metallurgy, John created a flying, armored suit with a red cape and S-shield like Superman's and took on the moniker of the Man of Steel. After Superman's resurrection, John shortened his hero name to simply Steel, though the version of John's suit seen in the comics has not yet been seen on Superman & Lois.
John's origins on Superman & Lois differ a fair amount from the comics, with John originating from a different universe and initially attempting to eliminate Superman after the Man of Steel of his world went bad. Eventually, Clark and John became close allies towards the end of Superman & Lois season 1, with John continuing to use his flying suit and making periodical technical upgrades to it. John has been operating in the Steel role ever since in the show, but with his suit more akin to a futuristic astronaut than what he wears in the comics. The newest need for repairs on John's suit could be just the opening to add a little superheroic decoration to it.
Admittedly, applying a face to John's helmet as seen in his comic book and animated appearances will be a bit of a challenge. The full upgrade to John's proper Steel armor might also be something that Superman & Lois saves for the closing scenes of season 2 or the beginning of season 3. Still, after the disastrous 1997 Steel movie, Superman & Lois has given John Henry Irons a vastly superior second live-action jump, and audiences might at last have reason to expect to see him fight alongside Superman with his own red cape and S bolted onto his suit's chest soon.
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