Warning! Spoilers ahead for Superman & Lois season 1 episode, “The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower.”
the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. Who is Larr in Superman & Lois, what are her powers, and what is she doing on Earth-Prime?
During the episode, Lois continued her investigation into Morgan Edge, which led to her speaking with Sharon Powell, whose son disappeared after taking up a job with the shady businessman. When Lois pays a visit to Sharon to follow up on the story, she's attacked by a man sent by Edge. However, when Superman came to fight him, he was surprised to learn the mystery man had superpowers. In the final scene, the superpowered lackey is speaking with someone, presumably Edge, asking how Larr is going to “take care of it.” A woman, Larr, stands in the middle of the street and it isn’t long before she eviscerates Edge’s lackey with her heat vision.
In October 2020, Superman & Lois cast Stacey Farber in the role of Leslie Larr, with a press release indicating that she would be the assistant to one of the world's most powerful people. At the time, there was speculation that this person would be Lex Luthor. But, now that the series has aired, it seems like Larr is working for none other than Morgan Edge. However, it's important to note that the character of Leslie Larr won't be found in the comics and there's isn't much to know about her or her role on the show just yet. In that vein, Farber's role remains a big mystery for now and there's no telling what she'll get up to in the series. All that said, there are possibilities from the comics that can be drawn from to piece together who this mystery woman might actually be. It could be that Leslie Larr is actually a cover-up for Lesla-Lar, a fellow (if obscure) Kryptonian, or even a few characters who go by the name of Lara who are linked to Superman's family.
Who Is Lesla-Lar In The Comics?
Lesla-Lar was a Kryptonian scientist who was incredibly envious of Supergirl because of the attention she received by Earth's people. Lesla-Lar managed to survive the planet's destruction because she lived in the bottle city of Kandor that was minimized by Brainiac and is harbored inside Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Lesla-Lar's jealousy of Supergirl grew so strong that she shrunk the superhero, removed her powers, and brought her to Kandor before taking her place on Earth. It was petty and vindictive. Supergirl's enemy even made plans to kill Lex after he killed Superman, but her schemes were revealed and she was eventually arrested by Kandorian authorities and, later, killed in the Phantom Zone, the pocket dimension that acts as Kryptonian prison. To be sure, Lesla-Lar doesn't have too long of a history in DC Comics when compared to other characters from the Superman/Supergirl mythos.
However, if Leslie Larr is revealed to be Lesla-Lar, then it's possible Superman & Lois will turn her into the nemesis of the Man of Steel instead of Supergirl, allying her with Morgan Edge instead of Lex Luthor is also another twist from the comics. To be sure, her backstory will likely be altered to suit the Arrowverse series, especially now that she's on Earth-Prime and doesn't seem to be impersonating Kara, though that remains to be seen. Thanks to her Kryptonian physiology, Lesla-Lar has all the same powers as Superman and Supergirl if under Earth's sun, including super-hearing and the heat vision Superman & Lois' Leslie Larr used on Edge's lackey. The character's true identity on the show has yet to be revealed, but it's hard not to notice the similarities between Leslie Larr and Lesla-Lar's names.
Leslie Larr Or Lara?
Another possibility is that Leslie Larr is a cover-up identity of the Kryptonian Lara from the comics. Of course, there are actually three versions of Lara, the first being Lara Lor-Van, Kal-El’s biological mother who died when Krypton was destroyed. However, there isn’t too much to know about her besides the fact she is Clark’s mom. And, while it would be incredibly interesting for Superman to cross paths with and potentially fight his mother, there is another Lara who could prove a worthy adversary while changing the dynamics of the Kent family. Lara Lane-Kent is the future daughter of Lois and Clark, shown to him by the antagonist Mr. Mxyzptlk. In this imaginary future, Clark teaches Lara, who takes up the mantle of Supergirl, how to use her abilities. This future never actually happened, of course, and it was dreamed up by the Man of Steel in the comic book Injustice: Gods Among Us after he was tricked by the Joker to kill a pregnant Lois (a problematic aspect of the storyline to be sure).
The third option from the comics is Earth-31’s Lara, the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman and also the future Supergirl on that planet. Within the scope of Superman & Lois, however, the introduction of Lana Lane-Kent makes the most sense. Because of “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” her world (and parents) may have been destroyed and, like Wolé Parks’ Lex Luthor, she could have survived long enough to arrive on Earth-Prime before working with Morgan Edge. As a daughter of Lois and Clark, it adds another layer to the already complicated dynamics of the Kent family and gives Jordan and Jonathan a potential sister to build a relationship with despite her seeming evil for now.
Larr’s powers also reveal that she is likely Kryptonian, sharing the same heat vision (or laser eyes, as Jordan Kent calls it) powers as Superman. What’s more, she is wearing a necklace with a red gem. It’s possible that this is red Kryptonite, which can remove Kryptonians’ inhibitions, thus making them more deadly and dangerous with their powers. This could explain why she is working with Edge to begin with, while also setting up a potential confrontation between her and Superman. Superman & Lois doesn’t reveal much else about Larr or her powers, but viewers can guess that there is a lot more to her than meets the eye. Ultimately, her introduction could change the course of season 1 for the better.