WARNING: This interview includes spoilers from My Adventures with Superman season 3, episode 10, “The Return.”
It has been a big DC summer for Superman in one of his most beloved incarnations of all time.
Throughout My Adventures with Superman season 3, the Adult Swim show dealt with numerous iconic arcs from the Man of Steel’s comic canon, while also adding new twists to it. While Krypton’s last son was left without his powers after his clash with Cyborg Superman, the Metropolis hero managed to restore his abilities and finish the war with Eradicator once and for all. However, Kal-El had to strike a deal, adding a large mystery to the titular protagonist.
As My Adventures with Superman season 3 has finished its run, ScreenRant spoke with showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher about the finale and the future of the DC animated series. Throughout the interview, the duo opens up about the development of Superboy, the possibility of expanding this particular take on the DC canon, and the status of season 4.
Jake Wyatt & Brendan Clogher On Anime Inspiration For Superboy’s My Adventures With Superman Season 3 Debut
ScreenRant: Season 3 blew me away. I know that anime has always been a big influence on this show, but was there any time where someone in the writers’ room went, “It would be cool if DC did its own version of Sailor Moon R?” Because that is exactly the vibe I got from Superboy’s arrival. So, can you talk about, like, developing this season with his introduction, and all the time travel aspects?
Jake Wyatt: The Chibiusa of it all? That’s funny, man. I didn’t even think about that. I am now, and I’m like, “Oh, I can see it.” But every once in a while we go and watch something with the writers or with the artists, and we’re like, “Yeah, this is something me and Brendan love,” and after it’s done, they’re like, “You guys just took that. You just took that wholecloth and put it in.” It’ll be stuff we hadn’t noticed. I love Sailor Moon R, but I hadn’t realized that the Jon is like Chibiusa. But he is, you’re right!
Brendan Clogher: Chibiusa and Trunks came out together, right?
Jake Wyatt: Yeah, Chibiusa and Trunks were in the zeitgeist at the same time. I think part of the reason he comes off that way is that, before his future challenged our heroes physically, we wanted him to challenge Clark and Lois emotionally.
That’s the Trunks and Chibiusa of it. Chibiusa is like, “Genuinely, who do you think you are?” She’s here to challenge their sense of self, and Trunks is like, “I’m here to challenge your ability to survive physically.” It’s the physical self and not the emotional self. I hadn’t picked up on that, but you’re 1000% right, that’s straight up what we did.
Brendan Clogher: We’ve watched too much anime, man.
Will There Be More Superman Stunt Casting In The Future After Darren Criss?
ScreenRant: Are there any other Superman legacy actors that you want to get on? When I spoke to Jack [Quaid] two years ago, he said he’s always wanted to work more with David Corenswet. Are there other castings you guys had in mind, or any chance that David could show up as a different DC character?
Jake Wyatt: Oh, my gosh, if we do another AU multi-dimensional episode, it would be super fun to have David and Jack together onscreen. That would be a blast. We’ll take any legacy casting we can, because we’re big ol’ fans. We asked casting, “Can we have Nick Cage read for Jor-El?” And they’re like, “Could you just shut up?”
Stunt casting is always fun. We usually end up casting for both the character and the performance, and to a degree, for who’s available. But we like to stunt cast when we can. We’re always looking for ways to do it.
Brendan Clogher: Yeah, but that Nick Cage one is a pipe dream.
What Is Going On With My Adventures With Superman Season 4 After The Lois/Clark Proposal?
ScreenRant: I always love talking about Clois, and they’re very much moving forward as a couple. Obviously, you guys are not going to give us the marriage that easily, and we know Clark has made some sort of deal. How badly is this deal going to get in the way of his proposal? And of him being Superman in general.
Jake Wyatt: Clark does not fully understand the terms of the deal yet, and then there are other problems that he doesn’t know about when it comes to the sacrifices he made to get his powers back, and the things that are threatening them. If we get a season 4, we’re going to find out all about them.
Brendan Clogher: We pitched seasons 3 and 4 to the studio together, and they greenlit season 3. But we do have a plan for season 4, and if we get it, we’ll be ready for it. We just need the money.
Expanding The My Adventures With Superman Universe
ScreenRant: I love you guys being so casual about the Teen Titans cosplayers running around there, and Black Canary being a singer in this world. How far does your DC Universe go? Do some of these characters exist alongside Superman, or are they just comic properties? Are there plans to really flesh out this world, where we could see a Justice League or Teen Titans at some point?
Jake Wyatt: That is a studio-level decision, but we’re prepared to go as far as they need or allow us to.
Brendan Clogher: We’ll go all the way!
Jake Wyatt: We always talk about how My Adventures with Superman ends for us when he becomes the Bruce Timm Superman; when he’s all the way there. Superman: The Animated Series his ultimate form – that’s the Superman of the comics, and the Superman of the movies – and our guy is not quite there. He’s doesn’t quite have it locked down yet.
When he gets there, our adventure with Superman as our protagonist is over. He becomes something else. It’s something cool, but it’s not what we’re going to make the show about. But the universe has pretty much infinite potential. Some of these seeds that we plant, kind of like how Brendan planted the seeds of Lex Luthor and Hank Henshaw in the early seasons, we don’t know which the weather let blossom. This time, it’s Jessica Cruz. But we love Black Canary, and we love the Teen Titans. Those are formative properties.
Brendan Clogher: We’re in the DC Universe, right? Everything you know and love could be a part of this version of the show. All of DC could be in the My Adventures-verse, so to speak. But we’ll work with what we’re allowed to play with, and we love to play with what we’ve got.
Jake Wyatt: And it comes down to what’s right for the culture at the moment. In a weird way, we got lucky, because it was Superman’s time. When we pitched the show, there was the live-action show, and now there’s the James Gunn movies. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Right now, it’s Lantern time, and we’ve got the Gunn-verse live-action show and our adaptation. Whatever the culture and the economics permit us to make, we make. Yeah.
What Did Lex See & Why Is He Worried?
ScreenRant: What is it that Lex has seen? What does he know of what’s coming? Do you guys know already, or is that something you would develop further in season 4?
Brendan Clogher: That’s season 4. We have a pretty solid idea of what he’s seen, and hopefully, we get to show you if we get season 4. But we have a current plan for that, and we do know what he’s seen.
Jake Wyatt: It’s Brendan’s plan. When they told us we needed to pitch, we were still working on season 2. We went and got dim sum, and I was so exhausted. But Brendan was like, “Here are all my ideas,” while I’m writing them down and trying to Tetris them. Like, “Does this work connected to that?” All of that is dim sum. Season 4 is the rest of the noodles, or the rest of the dumplings,
Brendan Clogher: There is a scene boarded at the end of season 2 that is what he sees, but we had to cut it. That scene is just waiting for a version of itself to be actually be in the show. When we cut stuff, we don’t just throw it away. We go, “Well, this is cool,” and save it.
Jake Wyatt: It’s cosmic, though. We are going to extend the universe if we get season 4.
About My Adventures With Superman Season 3
“Clark has truly become Superman and made peace with his Kryptonian origins – he’s ready to settle down! But Lois, who has finally become the Planet’s star reporter, is NOT. Jimmy has evolved from freelance photographer to celebrity journalist—but he’s still intimidated by the romantic attentions of the newly arrived Kara Zor‑El, who’s trying to find her place on Earth. In our latest action, comedy, and romance-packed season, this found family will have to confront powerful new enemies that challenge Superman, threaten their future, and test the bonds holding them together. Can our heroes save their tomorrow–before it destroys today?”
My Adventures with Superman season 3, along with seasons 1-2, are available to stream on HBO Max.
- Release Date
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July 7, 2023
- Network
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Adult Swim
- Showrunner
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Jake Wyatt
