WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 2, Episode 4, "The Inverse Method," which aired Tuesday, Feb. 2 on The CW.
Superman & Lois Season 2 has upped the ante by putting the pressure on the Kent family as both Lois and Clark face threats, foreign and familiar, while their teenage sons Jordan and Jonathan encounter challenges of their own. The most pressing crisis facing Superman in Season 2 is Bizarro, with the diametrically inverted Man of Steel bursting free from mines on the outskirts of Smallville and crushing anyone standing in his way. Capable of overpowering both Superman and Steel, Bizarro has the heroes on the defensive, but fortunately, Superman & Lois appears to be teeing up another teenage superhero to turn the tide: Natalie Irons as Steel.
The Arrowverse Natalie is the daughter of an alternate universe's John Henry Irons and Lois Lane, safely arriving from her doomed world to the Arrowverse and moving onto the Kent family farm with her father at the start of Season 2. Boasting a genius-level intellect, Natalie has demonstrated a natural aptitude in advanced mechanics, restoring Sarah Cushing's old muscle car while providing repairs and upgrades to her father's Steel power suit. However, Henry may soon be forced to turn over the mantle of Steel to a successor, whether he likes it or not, and Natalie is the best candidate for the job.
Every time Steel has fought against Bizarro, he has barely emerged with his life. Their first skirmish resulted in the Steel suit enduring catastrophic damage, with Natalie surprised by the sheer amount of repair work needed to make it mission-ready again. A rematch on the Bolivian salt flats resulted in Steel being critically injured by Bizarro and Superman bringing the comatose Henry to a hospital to recover. The full extent of Henry's wounds are currently unknown, but with the Man of Steel already at a severe disadvantage against Bizarro due to his telepathic link to the supervillain, this leaves Natalie, along with Jordan and his own burgeoning Kryptonian powers, as the two heroes most likely to step up as needed reinforcements.
Natalie's comic book counterpart is Natasha Irons, Henry's niece, created by Louise Simonson and Chris Batista in 1994's Steel #1 (vol. 2). A born engineering genius, Natasha helps her uncle and Superman whenever possible before taking on the mantle of Steel after Henry was gravely wounded during a showdown with Darkseid at the height of the Imperiex War. Natasha had her own specially designed Steel armor developed, though later developed superpowers of her own and relinquished the mantle of Steel back to her uncle. By the start of the DC Rebirth era, Natasha's powers had disappeared and she resumed her superhero role as Steel alongside Henry.
Superman & Lois Season 2 has followed Natalie Irons finding her place in the Arrowverse, even becoming something of a surrogate sister to Jordan and Jonathan -- even a half-sister of sorts due to her alternate universe parentage -- as she joins them as a high school classmate. With Henry out of commission for the foreseeable future, Natalie might find her true calling as a superhero and the latest character to hold the mantle of Steel, improving the power suit for the inevitable confrontation with Bizarro to be better equipped to defeat the supervillain. And given Natalie's comic book history, this superhero destiny was slated for Natalie all along.
Developed for television by Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing, Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW.
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