‘My Adventures With Superman’ Delivers Its Most Explosive Battle Yet in Season 3 Episode 5

‘My Adventures with Superman’ has spent nearly three seasons building a found family around Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and eventually Kara Zor El, and that patience paid off in a big way this week. Season 3, Episode 5, titled ‘The Death of Superman,’ finally let every simmering tension boil over into a citywide brawl that critics and recappers agree ranks among the show’s most ambitious outings yet.

The episode borrows its title from one of the most famous storylines in Superman history, and rather than treat that as a gimmick, it uses the weight of that name to signal real stakes for Clark Kent and the people around him. Between a transformed villain, a long awaited emotional reveal, and a bleak glimpse of the future, the episode had a lot riding on it, and most accounts suggest it delivered.

The Death of Superman Episode Finally Unleashes Hank Henshaw

The episode picks up right after Hank Henshaw’s fallout with Lex Luthor, and the fracture between the two sets the entire hour in motion. Hank, who already despises Kal El, leaves LexCorp and challenges Superman to a fight, kicking off a citywide brawl. Rather than becoming a hero in his own right, Hank wants Superman and the world to bow before him, driven by the belief that humanity betrayed him by embracing a Kryptonian instead.

The confrontation escalates quickly once the fighting reaches Metropolis proper. Hank batters Superman through the city with innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, at one point even trying to drop the Daily Planet globe on Kal and the people below to make his fury known. Superman and Supergirl arrive ready to take Hank down, but he brings his drones into the fight, and Superman appears evenly matched against him, getting dragged across skyscrapers before Hank hurls the Daily Planet sphere his way.

What makes Hank especially dangerous this time around is a new wrinkle in his design. This episode reveals that Hank possesses a core of green Kryptonite that he can use as an energy source for increased damage against Kryptonians. His body keeps changing as the fight drags on, and his increasingly non humanoid appearance comes from assimilating and self repairing with LexCorp drones, giving him a look that borrows from both Cyborg Superman and Metallo while he still wears half of his human face over the metallic circuitry underneath.

By the time the dust settles, the fight has real consequences. With Superman powerless and dying of Kryptonite poisoning, Henshaw is not content with a single Kryptonian dying alongside him and instead tries to self destruct and take the entire city with him, only pulling back after a last minute change of heart tied to learning the truth about Jon’s parentage.

Cyborg Superman Transformation Reshapes the Season

The specifics of how Hank came to be matter just as much as the fight itself. Hank was originally created to be a replacement hero for Superman, but at the time Clark was already a widely beloved public figure that nobody wanted to see replaced, which fuels much of Hank’s resentment. His actions in this episode force Superman into retirement for the time being, which ironically means the world may soon need the very kind of replacement Hank was originally built to be, even though his own meltdown ensures he cannot fill that role.

Fans expecting the title to play out literally get a twist instead. The ‘Death of Superman’ ends up being more literal than some viewers expected, though not in the way longtime comic readers might assume, since the Superman who actually dies is unlikely to be Kal El himself. Ultimately, the episode confirms that this version of the storyline is symbolic rather than a permanent ending for Kal El, echoing how Season 2’s ‘Death of Clark Kent’ represented a death of personality rather than a literal one. Hank Henshaw as Cyborg Superman is the one who is killed off for real by the episode’s end.

Jon Kent and Kara Zor-El Get Their Long Teased Reveal

Much of the episode’s emotional core rests on Jon Kent finally opening up to his aunt. Jon tries to convince Kara that he can handle Hank on his own, but she refuses to be sidelined and insists they fight together. Fearing he might lose Kara the way he lost his parents, Jon explains that after Superman and Lois died in his original timeline, Kara raised him, making the two of them especially close in the future, which is also why he had been avoiding her. The two then band together, with Jon handing Kara a piece of his tech that helps Kryptonians resist the Kryptonite radiation Hank has been giving off.

The reveal gives the entire fight a stronger emotional foundation. Jon’s avoidance of Kara throughout the season finally gets a satisfying explanation once viewers learn how close the two became in his original future, giving the action sequences a reason to matter beyond simply whether Superman wins. Kara herself gets some of the episode’s best material by refusing to be sidelined, which fits the show’s ongoing interest in giving her real agency rather than treating her as a supporting piece in someone else’s story.

Meanwhile, a second storyline plays out away from the main battle. Lois decides to borrow the family truck and heads to Metropolis with Jimmy, eventually crashing into LexCorp where Slade Wilson and Lex Luthor are standing in the lobby. Lois punches Lex in the face, and he defends his creation of Hank by explaining he built him so humanity would not have to keep relying on Superman, given how Superman always prioritized saving Lois over ordinary citizens.

Adult Swim Season Renewal Talk Adds Context to the Episode’s Momentum

Critical reaction to the episode has been largely positive, with several reviewers pointing to it as a turning point for the season. One review described it as the strongest sustained action sequence the show has produced, while noting that the sheer number of moving pieces, including the main battle, Jon’s flashbacks, and the Lois and Jimmy subplot, occasionally left the pacing feeling rushed for a single half hour episode.

The episode’s ending also sets up bigger questions for the back half of the season. The bad future glimpsed at the episode’s close features an army of Cyborg Supermen resembling the Eradicator, continuing the show’s ongoing riff on the Reign of the Supermen comic arc that has already featured Henshaw, Superboy, and John Henry Irons.

There is also encouraging news for viewers invested in the show’s future. Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang president Michael Ouweleen said during an interview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that Season 3 is performing well, though he noted a decision on Season 4 has not yet been made and now rests with DC leadership.

With Hank Henshaw’s rampage finally over and Jon Kent’s future still hanging in the balance, the remaining episodes of the season have plenty of ground to cover before the finale in August. Now that Cyborg Superman has been dealt with for good, what do you think this means for Jon’s odds of stopping the robot apocalypse he traveled back in time to prevent.