WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 10, "O Mother, Where Art Thou?," which aired Tuesday on The CW.
In last week's episode of Superman & Lois, Morgan Edge made a shocking revelation: he explained that he was a Kryptonian, just like Superman, and that he had been on Earth as long as Kal-El. This was a massive claim, and Superman was left with just as many questions as the viewers.
Now, in the series' latest offering, "O Mother, Where Art Thou?," Edge's origin is revealed, and Superman finds out what happened to him when he first arrived on Earth. And it turns out that the villain's story is similar to the origin of the alternate version of Superman found in the popular event series, Flashpoint.
Flashpoint was an event series published by DC in 2011 by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. In the comic, Barry Allen went back in time to save the life of his mother, and, in doing so, he created a ripple effect that completely altered the timeline. As a result, a new, alternate reality was created where Barry was never the Flash, Thomas Wayne was Batman and were the kingdoms of Atlantis and Themyscira were at war. What's more, in this timeline, Superman was not the Earth's greatest protector. In reality, baby Kal-El had arrived on the planet in his Kryptonian rocket, but the ripple in time from Barry's change made it so that the spaceship didn't land in Smallville. In this version, the rocket crashed into Metropolis, and the baby fell into the custody of the government.
Instead of being raised on a farm by loving parents where he was thought the values of truth, justice and the American way, Kal-El was kept locked up in a secure government facility as part of "Project Superman." They studied him and kept him away from sunlight for all of his life, and, as a result, he grew pale and thin. Thankfully, in the hopes of restoring the timeline, Barry, Cyborg and Batman broke Superman out of the facility, freeing him from the government's grasp. When he finally bathed in yellow sunlight, he quickly unleashed his powers on his captors.
Now, in Superman & Lois, there is no Barry Allen and no changes to the timeline. However, the origin of Flashpoint Superman appears to have served as inspiration for what happened to Edge. In "O Mother, Where Art Thou?," Edge reveals that his rocket landed in the British countryside, where he wasn't found by a happy couple. Instead, he was quickly hunted for being different, and after a mob of people cornered the young Kryptonian, they locked him up for years in an underground prison, where he was studied and experimented on. Eventually, he was able to escape, and once he was finally powered by sunlight again, he used his heat-vision to kill those who were keeping him prisoner.
There are clear similarities between Superman & Lois' Edge and Flashpoint Superman. Both traveled from Krypton to Earth in a rocket that didn't land in Smallville and were kept locked up for years until they eventually escaped. There are differences between the two, of course, but borrowing these elements from Flashpoint Superman not only explains why the villain was nowhere to be seen in his young years but also why he hates humans so much.
Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Dylan Walsh, Alex Garfin, Jordan Elsass, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Inde Navarrette and Wolé Parks. The series airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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