Superman & Lois' Alex Garfin Reveals Which DC Villain He Wants His Character To Battle In Smallville - Exclusive
"Superman & Lois" has gotten super creative when it comes to putting a spin on the show's villains and the deep catalog of characters from Superman's 80 years of existence. Between Lucy Lane's cult arc and Tal-Rho being Superman's long-lost half-brother, the series is tackling critical issues while creating something entirely new for fans to consume. We've never quite gotten an on-screen glimpse into Clark Kent as Super Dad along with his Superman duties, and fans are loving Alex Garfin and Jordan Elsass as Jordan and Jonathan Kent. But sometimes, it's still fun to throw some classic villains into the mix — and Garfin is eager to see one iconic villain show up in Smallville.
Alex Garfin spoke to Looper during an exclusive interview, where he revealed which villain he wants Jordan to fight as he dives deeper into vigilante territory. The actor also discussed which actors he'd love to work with in the future and what it was like seeing his on-screen brother Jordan Elsass play a Bizarro version of himself.
Garfin wants to see the biggest DC baddie
Alex Garfin has some big ideas on which villain he wants Jordan to face off against in "Superman & Lois." He said, "You know what? I would love to see him fight the Joker, even though ... I know he is a Batman villain, but it's in the DC world. It would be so much fun to fight the Joker ... Yeah, we're going to get Joaquin Phoenix [to] come on [The] CW. [...] If we can get Joaquin Phoenix, then I think we're in a good place." Okay — so who has Phoenix's number? It's for science (fiction).
However, if Garfin doesn't get to work with Phoenix on "Superman & Lois," he's happy to team up with the actor for another project — along with a few other big names. "I idolize Joaquin Phoenix. I idolize Denzel Washington ... Timothée Chalamet, we went to the same high school," Garfin explained. "He graduated [between six and eight] years before me, so there's very much a little bit of a parallel there. He did a play coming right out of high school. I did a play while still in high school. It would be cool to work with him to have the LaGuardia [High School] conversation as well. Yeah, those three people."
He enjoyed leaning into villainy
Based on The CW's latest drop of "Superman & Lois" photos, it looks like fans might be getting a Bizarro world version of Jordan, and Garfin was hyped about the idea. "I would love an opportunity to play a Bizarro version of Jordan. I would go crazy. I would put on eyeshadow," he said. "It would be an absolute blast to play a different character, although I did get that experience last year with Zeta-Rho. He was the big bad of last season. He took over my soul last year, and that was a lot of fun, but that was very much playing possessed — that was the thing we were going for. We were going for very inhuman movements, [and] everything has to feel really off."
The beauty of comic book characters is the opportunity to really lean into sci-fi elements. Garfin concurred with that sentiment, saying, "It would be interesting playing a completely different person, [the same] person, but grown up differently in that Bizarro world. I think Jordan Elsass loved playing Jon-El." He added, "I know his favorite actor [was] Heath Ledger, [and Elsass] idolizes his performance in 'The Dark Knight.' [Elsass] getting to play a villain was something I really enjoyed seeing because he really enjoyed it."
Season 2 of "Superman & Lois" returns with new episodes on Tuesday, April 26, at 8:00 p.m. ET. New episodes are available on the CW website and app the following day.