Warning: Mild spoilers ahead for Superman & Lois season 2.
Superman & Lois season 2 might fix DC’s long standing Kryptonian issue. The Man of Steel was surprised to learn he had a half-brother in Superman & Lois season 1 — Morgan Edge (aka, Tal-Rho) was the son of Kal-El’s mother, Lara, and the villainous Zeta-Rho. However, a potential development in Tal-Rho’s story could alter a long held perception regarding Kryptonians.
In Superman & Lois season 2, episode 2, Clark is having strong and mysterious visions. Believing it has something to do with lingering Kryptonian memories from the Eradicator’s onslaught in season 1, Superman goes to Tal-Rho for help. Claiming he’s now powerless after the events of the season 1 finale, Tal takes Clark and Jordan to his own version of the Fortress of Solitude to see Lara in the hope of finding answers. However, Tal-Rho turns on Clark and attacks Jordan, only stopping from killing him because their mother tells him to do so. Despite their tense relationship, Lara still sees the good in her son and, while Clark doesn’t feel the same at the moment, he wants to believe there’s a potential for goodness in Tal-Rho.
While it’s a small moment, Tal-Rho’s face changes when he hears that Superman believes in him to change, suggesting Superman & Lois season 2 could give him a redemption arc despite him being Clark’s enemy in season 1. This would give him a chance to be better than his father, choosing to make good choices instead of caving under the pressure of what he’s been taught. Crucially, however, a potential redemption arc for Morgan Edge could also change how people perceive Kryptonians who are not Superman. In most DC stories — be they in the comics or in live-action TV shows and movies — the majority of Kryptonians have historically been portrayed as morally gray figures at best and horribly villainous at worst. From General Zod to Doomsday, a supervillain genetically engineered by Kryptonian scientists, to Zeta-Rho and the Kryptonians whose consciousnesses possessed humans in Superman & Lois season 1 without questioning their actions thereafter. There always seems to be a Kryptonian trying to hatch a nefarious plan.
Save for Superman, his cousin Supergirl, and their respective parents, Kryptonians don’t have a particularly sparkling reputation. In Supergirl, the Kryptonians living in Argo City, a surviving part of the planet, were portrayed as beings who simply wanted to lead a normal life, but they weren’t given much attention by comparison to the antagonists. Ultimately, Superman & Lois season 2 has the opportunity to change that through Morgan Edge. If he begins to feel guilty about what he did in season 1 or, at the very least, develops his ideas and a deeper understanding of his own potential and morals, there’s hope for Tal-Rho to become a more fully realized person with an adjusted moral com.
At the end of the day, Krypton was a planet with millions — if not billions — of people. It’s not possible for so many of them to have had questionable intentions and outright villainous plans. While it makes sense for stories to center Superman fighting other Kryptonians considering his powers, it’s about time others from Krypton get to show a different side of themselves. Superman & Lois season 2 could make Tal-Rho a lot more dynamic as a person if he goes on a redemptive journey, one that could also see him working alongside Superman. At the very least, it would be one step closer to alleviating the skewed perception surrounding Kryptonians.