Brosnahan isn’t wrong about Lois’ status. In All-Star Superman, the Grant Morrison-penned comic that provided the most inspiration for Gunn’s approach, Clark gifts Lois with powers like his, allowing her to fight by his side as Superwoman. The Superwoman persona was recently brought into mainline DC Comics, as Lois currently uses that identity in the pages of Superman and Action Comics.
However, some who saw Superman might be wary of Lois becoming Superwoman, and not just because the movie already has too many metahumans. The most notable Superwoman in DC Comics was indeed Lois Lane, but her partner isn’t Superman; i’s Ultraman, who served as one of the chief antagonists in Gunn’s new movie.
Of course Gunn used a very different version of Ultraman for his Superman, essentially applying the name to Bizzaro, a flawed clone of Superman that is created by Lex Luthor. In the world of DC Comics, Ultraman is the Kal-El of Earth-3, a reality in which the evil Crime Syndicate of America rules without pity. On Earth-3, Ultraman and Superwoman have a contentious relationship, one built on their shared love of terrifying civilians. Comics are odd, huh?
With that said, the Superwoman moniker does predate the Earth-3 version and does fit very much in Gunn’s high-concept take on the DC Universe. In a story from 1943’s Action Comics #60, written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by George Roussos, Lois gains powers when Superman gives her an emergency blood transfusion after she gets hit by a car. As Superwoman, Lois goes about saving the day, rescuing both Clark Kent and Superman, before losing her powers and having her experiences dismissed as just a dream.
Is that a ridiculous premise? Of course. But Superman showed that Gunn has no problem embracing the ridiculous. Between Luthor’s army of smart-computer monkeys, the underground black hole lair, and a Ninth-Dimensional imp (Mr. Mxyzptlk, right?) fighting the Justice Gang in the background, Gunn loves all of the excesses of superhero comics.
Moreover, a Superwoman story would very much fit the type of reporter that Brosnahan plays in Superman. In her primary plot, Lois teams with Mr. Terrific to find the pocket dimension prison where Luthor is holding Superman. Along the way, she’s exposed to powerful energies that threaten to destroy her. Of course Lois getting in over her head while searching for a story has long been a part of Superman lore. But Gunn and Brosnahan never let the trope overshadow the emotional stakes of the character. Even when she’s flying a spaceship or staring at a black hole, Lois acts out of her moral principles and her feelings toward Clark, keeping the story real even as it gets absurd.
