The Season 2 Finale of My Adventures with Superman has been released: Explosively packed with action and driven by meaningful storytelling.
“My Adventures with Supergirl” brings a great resolution to Clark and Kara's storylines. The first scene immediately opens with Brainiac's red laser beam viciously charging toward Metropolis as its citizens (including our knocked-out superheroes) fear for their lives. The way the camera work and musical score are executed during this intro is wonderfully satisfying and sets a strong emotional tone for what’s to come. You can truly tell that this episode is a high-scale event and the increase in quality shines.
We then see Amanda Waller as she & Lex Luthor fight off dozens of Brainiac’s troops that have infested the city’s streets. She attempts to communicate with her operative, Slade Wilson, but he's unresponsive. Under pressure, she yells at Lex to shut down the hacked Project M bots they initially sent out to defeat Superman but he responds with "What do you think I'm trying to do?! It's not my fault that you asked for an unbeatable army!" During this conversation, the audience gets a signal that the goals of both parties are no longer the same: Amanda wants to use her expertise to protect Earth, while Lex most likely wants to utilize his skills to elevate in power.
Lois, Jimmy, and Steve escape the heat of the battle and wind up bumping into John Irons (Steel), who’s suited up, to help them protect them from Brainiac’s wrath. On the other side of town, Kara & Clark are surprisingly greeted by Livewire, Heatwave, and other Intergang members. As you may know, these individuals played a key role in causing trouble last season but this time, they are willing to be a part of positive change to help Superman restore order to the city. I admire how the villains displayed humanity and compassion for a brief period, despite not necessarily being "heroes"—it gives the sense of unity between these characters a deeper meaning, showing how much of an impact Superman has on the citizens of his city.
While Intergang and Dr. Irons hold off the troops of bots, Kara & Clark storm into Braniac’s ship where they begin the showdown many fans, including myself, have been waiting for. Before the fight starts, Braniac tells them that Jor-El held peace talks with enemies to avoid further bloodshed but desperate to carry on his sole duty of destruction, Braniac shockingly reveals that HE was the one who destroyed Kyrpton, killing Kal-El’s parents and the entire civilization. I thought Clark was going berserk shortly after learning that information, but I was impressed to see how well he managed to keep his composure despite everything else around him crashing down. As an additional blow, Brainiac lures Kara under his manipulative control once more to betray her cousin & take on the mission to kill him once and for all.
If you thought the enhancements in animation were great this season, the final fight sequence is REMARKABLY stunning. The colors and details are vividly eye-striking, and the emotional depth within Clark and Kara’s faces makes this one episode truly make you feel like you’re watching a feature film instead of a series. Jack Quaid and Kiana Madeira's voice acting performances are breathtaking— I never thought a project could be this great in raw quality. Instead of physically fighting Kara, Clark uses the wonderful power of his heart to neutralize his immensely rage-filled cousin. Jimmy and Lois, watching this fight unfold in real-time, understand how Kara needs people to show her that she’s not alone and that there’s more to life than being under authoritative control. Feeling the emotional comfort that Clark, Jimmy, and Lois surrounded her with, Kara can permanently break free from the shackles of mind control and teams up with Clark to push Brainaic’s ship out of Earth’s orbit.
Out of desperation to earn a victory, Brainiac uses Kryptonite to turn his ship into a massive force that knocks Kara into the Sun—in a way that tricks the audience into believing that she died: but we discover (through Clark rushing after to save her) that the Sun heightens Kryptonian abilities. The duo, now activated by the solar energy of the Sun as Superman and Supergirl, use their newfound resource of power to blast Brainiac along with his ship into smithereens. The day has been saved, and the citizens of Metropolis no longer have to live in fear of an alien invader. Superman and Supergirl return to Earth under their human identities and reunite with Jimmy and Lois. The last few shots of the episode set up a new Season 3 storyline for Lex Luthor and Slade Wilson as they look up at a famously recognizable building in DC Comics history that’s been newly constructed, Lex Corp. At the Daily Planet, Lois and Clark finally talk about her moving to Gotham to elevate her career alongside Vicky Vale. She tells him she’d rather stay with the man she loves and carve out her journalistic prominence as Lois Lane. For a split second, the way Clark held the newspaper as he said he'd fly over to Gotham anytime Lois needed him, almost made me think that we were about to get a tease of the city that is home to billionaire playboy/masked vigilante many fans want Superman to encounter, Bruce Wayne (a.k.a Batman). Even though we did not get a complete visual of the city, that small moment officially opens the door to the possibility of having an expanded 'My Adventures' universe with other famous DC heroes.
Rating: 5/5
Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Season 2 is NOW STREAMING on Max.
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