“She Can Really Hold Her Own”

Superman is finally back, but rather than just focusing on the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) himself, the newest film also shines a big spotlight on his companions. This largely includes the so-called “Justice Gang,” consisting of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). However, this also includes Clark Kent’s comrades at the Daily Planet, and no character is more pivotal than Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan).

Long before the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star took the reins of the character, a number of performers have played Lois Lane over the years. One of the most recent examples is Elizabeth Tulloch, who played the part in six seasons of Superman & Lois. Though the show may have ended, Tulloch has been an active supporter of James Gunn‘s new DCU, and is even partnering with Milk Bone to host a dog-friendly screening of the new Superman film. To discuss her time as Lois and what’s next for the character, we had the chance to speak with Tulloch ahead of the Krypto-endorsed screening.

Elizabeth Tulloch Still Holds ‘Superman & Lois’ in High Regard

“We were the first live-action version of them as parents — that will go down in history.”

COLLIDER: The week has come where we are finally seeing a brand new iteration of Superman on the big screen, which is very exciting. You, of course, are well-versed in that world with Superman & Lois, which also ended up being the grand finale of what we now know as the Arrowverse — which is one of the longest and best dynasties of recent DC filmmaking. Now that the Arrowverse has concluded, what do you think of as the legacy of Superman & Lois, both for you personally and professionally as an actor?

ELIZABETH TULLOCH: One of the things I’m proudest of, besides the show being so incredibly well received from the get-go, is I think people were anticipating it to be one way, and we technically weren’t a part of the Arrowverse, which was sort of confusing, but we started there. Superman & Lois wasn’t a part of it. We were on a different Earth, which I still don’t really understand. I usually have Tyler [Hoechlin] answer that question when we’re at Comic-Con or something, and it pops up. But I will say, our entire team of writers, led by Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher, tackled some really tough subjects. We tackled social anxiety, especially in Season 1, with our kid. Obviously, Lois’ breast cancer storyline in Season 3 was a really big deal. I was initially worried about the whole cancer storyline when they first pitched it to me, but it ends up being something that, at almost every Comic-Con I do or when I meet fans, really touched them personally. They’re seeing that on a superhero show when it’s something that, “I’ve been dealing with, or my mom’s been dealing with, or my sister, my girlfriend…” Or guys. Men get breast cancer, too. That’s what I’m really proud of.

They really wrote a grounded version of Clark and Lois that people can relate to. Obviously, we haven’t seen a live-action version of them as parents before. That will go down in history as we were the first to have done that. I’m sure it’ll pop up again. Our Season 4 has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and we were dealing with huge budget cuts, cast cuts, not knowing if we were going to finish this early. There were certain storylines, like with Brainiac, that we really wanted to do, that we didn’t get to do. So, that’s kind of a bummer. But we were really happy we got to at least get an amazing version of Doomsday. We ended with an amazing version of Doomsday. I’m really proud of our Doomsday. We have the best VFX team, and we got to end with Lex Luthor. So, even though we didn’t get to all the storylines that I know they’d initially planned for, the fans really loved the final season. So, I’m really happy.

That’s amazing. I love that you brought up the cancer storyline for Lois, too, because I think what a lot of people love about this interpretation of Superman and Lois is that it did manage to touch on a lot of those serious themes, while also giving us, for what felt like the first time in a long time, a very uplifting version of Superman and Lois that wasn’t so much doom and gloom that actually really explored the characters.

TULLOCH: Todd Helbing, who created Superman & Lois, gets it. He also has two young sons. He’s a family guy. Having had very little exposure to Superman, I’d only seen the first [Richard] Donner film. Then, when I got cast, I purposely avoided anything else. This will be the second when I go to the screening for Milk-Bone with 40 other dogs on Thursday, which I’m really excited about. It’s Marvin’s favorite training treat, too, so I’m hoping there will be some around for him because he’s getting glammed. He’s getting his first grooming that day for the screening.

I think that’s a great interpretation of the character, and that very much seems to be an influence for the new movie coming out, which has very much promoted itself as, “This is a much more lighthearted Superman.”

TULLOCH: Yeah, I didn’t have a lot of exposure, but I know that some fans were wanting the more hopeful, optimistic version back, and I feel like that’s what Tyler and our showrunners delivered. Then, of course, they’re talking a lot about Krypto in the new Superman, but we threw in a Krypto at the very last minute ourselves, who was really cute and apparently having the same issues that they were having on the movie, which is that any time Tyler was lying down, the golden retriever would just start kissing his face, and he wasn’t supposed to do that. [Laughs]

Elizabeth Tulloch’s Advice for the Next Generation of Lois Lanes

“I’m such a dog person, and I didn’t get to work with the dog who played Krypto — I was bummed! I heard he was almost problematically friendly.”

David Cornenswet, very recently at the Superman premiere, mentioned that he had spoken to some previous Supermen who were before him, one of them being Tyler. Were you able to do something similar with Rachel Brosnahan? Were you able to connect at all?

TULLOCH: No. What I had done when we finished filming was I did an Instagram post thanking everybody who’d been involved with the show. It was a role I’d been playing on screen for six years by that point, and I just set up wishing the best to Rachel Brosnahan, kind of passing the torch. She responded, but that’s been the extent of our interaction.

Related

The 10 Best Episodes of ‘Superman & Lois,’ Ranked

Yes, we’re still crying over “It Went By So Fast.”

Since, like you said, you’ve played Lois for six years, be it Rachel or whoever takes on the Lois mantle on a show, video game, or movie, what would be your biggest piece of advice for someone who wants to play Lois Lane or is playing Lois Lane? Is there anything about playing Lois that surprised you as an actor?

TULLOCH: I wouldn’t say “surprised.” I feel like I was cast for a reason. She and I have a lot in common. I would say the things that any Lois going forward really needs to bring to the table are her feistiness and her determination. I tried to play her in perfect, and I think the writers really helped with that. She’s a little klutzy. But one of the things that differentiated our version is that we didn’t have a Lois who was constantly getting herself into trouble, and Clark was bailing her out. That happens a little bit, but you’re seeing a more mature version of Lois Lane who can really hold her own in our show, in Superman & Lois. I haven’t seen the movie yet. I’m so excited for Thursday’s screening. But I would say it’s that strength and that self-belief and self-confidence that I would think any Lois really needs to bring to that role.

That’s fantastic. You also mentioned earlier that right at the very end, Superman & Lois introduced Krypto. If we were to get another season of the show, or maybe just in your head, how do you think that the Clark family is adjusting to Krypto as a member of the family?

TULLOCH: I don’t know. People ask all the time, “Do you think we could revive the show?” And I’m like, “Stranger things have happened.” It could all be a dream, you know? What if it’s all a dream? I was bummed, though, because I love dogs. I am such a dog person, and I did not get to work with the dog. I forget the dog’s name who was cast as Krypto. That was kind of when Clark Kent aged after Lois had passed that we finally got the dog, and I heard the dog was so sweet and just kissing everyone and was almost problematically friendly. But, yeah, I always was pushing to have a dog around just because it’s funny.

Elizabeth Tulloch Would Love To Return to the DC Multiverse (Even if She’s Not Playing Lois)

“Oh, Catwoman. It’s kind of fun to say I’m married to Batman and Superman.”

You mentioned a future season, and I think what’s great about DC and what James Gunn is doing is that he’s really seems to be embracing different continuities that are part of the main DC Universe. But even in the context of the DC Universe, we’ve heard Michael Rosenbaum has a cameo in the new movie, Jason Momoa is coming back as a different character. Be it another season for Superman & Lois, be it a wholly different role in the DC Universe, I take it that you would want to return someday, or you’d be open to that?

TULLOCH: Oh, yeah. I would love that. I’ve been very publicly pro-James Gunn and Peter Safran. I know them both. I think very highly of both of them. They’re both really smart. I think James Gunn is a visionary. Like I said, I’m really excited for the screening on Thursday, especially because there’s going to be 40 dogs there. It’ll be awesome. But, yeah, of course, I would be so happy to show up in the DC Extended Universe in whatever capacity they’d have me.

Is there a character in the DC world besides Lois that you would want to play?

TULLOCH: Oh, Catwoman. It’s funny, too, because Tyler’s answer is always Batman. The other thing that’s funny is my husband, David Giuntoli, who’s an actor, who’s on Grimm, he’s voiced Batman and a few of the DC animated movies. So, it’s kind of fun to say I’m married to Batman and Superman.

There’s the Elseworlds pitch right there.

Superman is in theaters now.

Superman

Release Date

July 11, 2025

Runtime

130 Minutes

Director

James Gunn

Producers

Lars P. Winther, Peter Safran