“Superman & Lois,” the latest series entry into the “Arrow-verse” that is one of the defining franchises of The CW, has surprised viewers since the trailers with its similarity in feel to a big-budget film starring the Man of Steel. It also drew interest with its treatment of Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent/Superman as “Super-Dad,” with his struggle to balance his day job, super-heroics and parental duties with wife Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) at his side. The series is now five episodes into its inaugural season, with some tantalizing plot developments and cliffhangers as of this past Tuesday. But fans will have to wait almost two months to know what happens next.

Comic Book Resources tells us that the March 22 episode of “Superman & Lois” will be the last to air for some time. The CW is putting the series on hiatus, with episode 6 not expected to premiere on the network until May 18. While it is away, the “Arrow-verse” show lineup will be altered slightly, with “Supergirl” on its sixth and final season taking the Tuesday timeslot, immediately after “The Flash” on its seventh.

Why stop “Superman & Lois” when it is just getting juicy plot-wise? There was no choice due to uncontrollable circumstances plaguing the production. In other words, shooting the series has been interrupted by COVID-19. Already the pandemic had forced production to delay from its original start of March 2020, not beginning until October of that year instead. Now, a new interruption has caused a break in work, possibly extending shooting for “Superman & Lois” beyond the initial estimated completion date of June 14 this year. The series is shot in British Columbia, Canada like the rest of the “Arrow-verse” shows.

It is unfortunate for narrative and audience suspense reasons, given that “The Best of Smallville,” the episode that aired before hiatus, sees the double whammy of a Smallville school bully gaining meta-human powers and going after his target, Clark’s son Jordan (Alex Garfin), as well as the reveal of alternate-universe Captain Luthor (Wole Parks) being married to his world’s Lois, giving him a greater personal grudge against the concept of Superman. “Superman & Lois” fans would hope that they could keep their enthusiasm going throughout an eight-week wait, before the series returns to The CW.

Image courtesy of Hidden Remote