Superman battles evil while trying to conceal his alter ego, Clark Kent.
Kryptonian scientist Jor-El discovers that the planet Krypton is on the verge of destruction. However, the planet's supercomputer Brainiac denies this is the case to the planet's council and brands him a criminal, as it makes plans to escape after collecting all of Krypton's data. With no choice, Jor-El and his wife Laraprepare to send their only son, Kal-El, to a distant world, before Krypton's inevitable destruction.
Kal-El's spaceship crash-lands on Earth following its intersellar journey, where he is found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name him Clark. A few years later, a teenage Clark, living in Smallville, Kansas, soon discovers he has superpowers, which he quickly uses to save the life of his girlfriend Lana Lang, and soon is told the truth of his origins by his adoptive parents.
A few years after learning of his origins, Clark Kent lives in Metropolis as a reporter for The Daily Planet, while using his superpowers for good as the hero Superman. While Clark finds himself drawn close to his fellow colleague Lois Lane as Superman, he also finds himself dealing with escaped terrorist John Corben, who wreaks havoc with a robotic suit stolen from billionaire Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, an alien ship comes across a Kryptonian satellite, unaware that Brainiac is hidden within its mainframe.
Gangster Bruno Mannheim is running into problems with the mysterious Toyman, who uses children's toys and games to cause violence. After being abducted by Toyman, Lois learns his motivation -- his father had taken a loan from Mannheim and been set up to take the fall when the police busted one of Mannheim's criminal enterprises.
During the opening of a museum, Superman tries to stop two robbers. He fails when he falls victim to the poisoning effects of Kryptonite, one of the exhibited rocks. Lex Luthor sees the surveillance tape of the event and determines that this must be Superman's one and only weakness. Luthor orchestrates a scheme to trap Superman, place him in vicinity of the rock, and put an end to him once and for all.
Janitor Rudy Jones runs into an accident with nuclear waste and becomes Parasite. He feeds on the energy of others, with his number one choice being Superman. In doing so, he discovers Superman's identity.
Thanks to the orchestrations of Luthor, terrorist John Corben becomes Metallo, a skin-covered cyborg with a Kryptonite heart. Luthor then sets the supervillain on a quest to kill Superman, but Corben begins to question his role as Metallo when he lacks any human senses in the progress.
Brainiac, once Krypton's all-knowing planetary computer, comes to Earth as part of his information-gathering trek across the galaxy, and partners with Lex Luthor on the basis of giving technological progress to humanity. But, as Superman discovers, Brainiac's intent after gathering the world's knowledge is to destroy Earth.
Intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo is employed to capture the Man of Steel for the rare-species-collecting Preserver, who is obsessed with keeping endangered species in captivity to protect them and prevent their extinction. Superman, the last Kryptonian, is the latest catch for his collection. Upon realizing that Lobo is the last Czarnian (having killed all the others himself), he betrays the bounty hunter and adds him to the collection as well.
Superman and Lobo team up to escape the Preserver's holdings. Additionally, they must fight off a vile band of competing bounty hunters who share a vendetta against the "Main Man."
Clark's high school sweetheart Lana Lang, who is now a famous fashion designer, comes to Metropolis where she and Lex Luthor become a celebrity couple. Lana still has strong feelings for Clark; even worse, she had long ago connected Clark to Superman. Hoping to become his sidekick (and lover), she puts her own life in danger by spying on Luthor's arms sales to gain incriminating information.
Bruno Mannheim's Intergang terrorizes Metropolis with hi-tech weapons from a mysterious backer (Darkseid's minion Kanto), while SCU Inspector Dan Turpin goes on a personal hunt for answers. Turpin has been the subject of media jokes that Superman must do everything, until Superman appears on camera saying it was actually Turpin who saved Superman's life by stopping one of the deadly weapons. In the end, Manheim meets his new boss, the evil lord Darkseid, bent on conquering the universe, and filling Mannheim with dread.
When embittered scientist Earl Garver goes into a coma before revealing the location of a ticking bomb, Superman risks enlisting the Parasite to drain the information from Garver's mind. It then becomes an internal struggle in Parasite's mind as Earl tries to tempt Parasite with visions of power, whereas Rudy Jonesargues that it is simply best to defuse the bomb and accept the reward of better living conditions while serving his prison sentence.
Upon discovery of the Phantom Zone projector in his spaceship, Superman makes contact with and releases a prisoner whose sentence is complete. She is a Kryptonian named Mala, and she quickly gains the same abilities that Superman possesses. She soon becomes power-hungry and Superman feels she may have to return to the Phantom Zone. Upon this threat, Mala uses the projector to release her General, Jax-Ur.
After Jax-Ur gains his powers, he and Mala imprison Superman in the Phantom Zone, smash the projector, and begin their conquest of Earth. With the help of Professor Hamilton, Superman must find a way to escape from the Phantom Zone and deal with the two corrupt soldiers.
During a mission in space, Superman discovers a massive humanoid stone giant named the Prometheon latched to an asteroid. Prometheon's restraints break loose and he plummets to Metropolis. It causes devastation and accumulates energy by sucking up heat from firepower and power plants. The episode is named after Prometheus, who stole fire from the Greek gods.
Superman and The Flash compete in a charity running race around the world to determine who truly is the fastest man alive. Meanwhile, a menace called the Weather Wizard harnesses enough power to create devastating storms across the globe. Superman and The Flash put their race on hold, team up, and seek out the tempestuous villain.
Leslie Willis, an obnoxious shock jock and notorious critic of Superman, holds a rock concert during a thunderstorm. When lightning strikes Willis, she is discolored and transformed into the electric-powered supervillainess Livewire. Superman must discover her weakness before she sucks the city dry of electricity.
Superman encounters a clone of himself who decays into a flawed version dubbed Bizarro. The clone continuously argues, "You no am Superman. Me am Superman!" until he discovers the truth of his origins—a secret cloning operation in the mountains, led by none other than Lex Luthor. Lex hopes to create an army of Supermen at his disposal.
Lois finds herself marked for death by stalker and former LexCorp employee Edward Lytener. Superman saves her several times from the murderous attempts, but he can't protect her 24/7…
A powerful imp from the 5th dimension, named Mister Mxyzptlk, starts annoying Superman by appearing every 90 days to cause trouble and mischief. The comical villain gets equally aggravated because Superman repeatedly tricks him into saying, spelling or revealing his own name backwards, sending him back to the 5th dimension. Mister Mxyzptlk returns with a proposition for Superman—get him to say or spell his own name backwards twice in a row, and he promises to leave Superman alone forever.
An amnesiac Metallo reemerges from the ocean and washes ashore on a volcanic island. Two children find him and make him their friend. As Metallo gradually remembers more of his past, he becomes evil again and seeks revenge on Superman.
Livewire escapes from prison, eager to punish Superman for placing her there. She teams up with Parasite to cause mayhem once again.
Lois' stalker Edward Lytener returns as Luminus to seek revenge against Superman, with a way to depower him by tinting the sunlight red to match the red Kryptonian sun. He ties up and gags Jimmy and Lois and uses them as bait for Superman, who finally saves them.
Lois is thrown into a parallel universe of Metropolis where Luthor and Superman work together and rule as dictators. In this world, the alternate Lois Lane was killed and her death had traumatized Superman into joining forces with Lex to create a police state of control. When Lois learns how much Superman had cared for her, she desperately seeks a way back home so she can share her true feelings for him as well.
A common chimpanzee is found floating in space, returning from years of suspended animation in his ship. It turns out the chimpanzee, named Titano, was a beloved companion of Lois during her childhood. In space, Titano encountered a radioactive asteroid, causing him to mutate on Earth and become big trouble for Superman and Metropolis.
Brainiac's consciousness takes control of LexCorp's computer systems and traps Luthor in his own laboratory, forcing him to rebuild Brainiac's primary body in secret. After Clark questions why Lex is missing from his office, Superman and Mercy Graves team up to investigate his disappearance.
To carry his father's favor, the New God brute Kalibak goes to Earth to destroy Superman. Meanwhile, Clark's adopted parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, are visiting him in Metropolis for Father's Day. The city takes a beating as the two sons battle it out.
The Joker steals a large piece of Kryptonite and then comes to Metropolis, offering to kill Superman for Lex Luthor in exchange for one billion American dollars. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne pays a visit to Metropolis to negotiate a business deal with Lex. Bruce also uses this opportunity to suit up as Batman and hunt the clown. Superman uses his X-ray vision to discover Batman's identity while Batman uses a tracking device on Superman's cape to discover his.
The Joker kidnaps Lois Lane and uses her as bait in an attempt to kill Superman. He has her bound and gagged in his lair and sends a video message to Superman telling his location. First Superman wears a lead suit, but Joker uses acid from his flower to melt through the suit. Batman manages to stop him and save the two, causing Lex Luthor to become irritated and give him one last chance to defeat the two heroes.
After the Joker fails to defeat Superman and Batman, Lex Luthor tries to withdraw from the deal by killing the clown. This fails and leads instead to the Joker and Harley Quinn trying to take revenge on him by destroying Metropolis in a giant wing, while he uses the other half of the Kryptonite to try to stop Superman. It is ultimately up to the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight to stop this madness.
Bizarro, after visiting Superman's Fortress of Solitude, sees the demise of Krypton. Believing this is his own past, Bizarro constructs a "Krypton" in downtown Metropolis with the intent to blow it up in the same manner that Krypton exploded.
When an evil demon named Lord Karkull is unleashed, Superman attempts to enlist the aid of the now uninterested wizard superhero, Doctor Fate.
LexCorp and John Henry Irons design a powerful prototype armor suit for the Metropolis SCU, which Lex hopes will make Superman's services unneeded. The SCU officer who pilots the suit, Sergeant Mills, proves a useful partner to Superman at first, but the suit soon corrupts the officer's mind, making him violently unstable. Irons is discouraged over the failure of his project, but Superman convinces him that it would be a valuable tool if Irons can find a way to stabilize it.
Clark Kent has evidence to clear a condemned man from sentence of death, but the situation complicates when Superman survives a murder attempt on Clark planned by dirty cop Detective Bowman. Superman doesn't want to sacrifice his dual identity, but he doesn't want an innocent man to be killed for a crime he didn't commit.
John Henry Irons, an ex-employee of LexCorp, has lately been developing a new, advanced suit for himself. When Superman is caught off guard from the reappearance of Metallo, Irons must suit-up as Steel to help the Man of Steel.
Maxima, the stuck-up queen of an alien empire, discovers her perfect mate - Superman. She takes Superman back to her native planet only to learn she has been deposed due to public outrage against her.
Bruno Mannheim and Intergang have returned to Earth, but their antics are only a prelude to Darkseid's all-out assault on Earth and Superman. The courageous officer Dan Turpin helps Superman fight off swarms of Apokolips' demons. They limp on until a warrior from New Genesis, named Orion, arrives to assist them in the war. Orion, who is badly hurt is taken to STAR Labs for medical attention. Orion recovers quickly and explains the essential facts of the history between the two worlds and that Darkseid seeks to dominate Earth. Soon enough, Darkseid's forces arrive and stage an attack on an air force base which is repelled by Superman, Orion and the SCU.
After a successful attempt to stop Darkseids plans, the invasion of Earth begins and Superman gets captured and tortured. The people of Metropolis resist and try to fight the evil lord. Even after seeing Superman defeated and paraded through the streets the citizens of Metropolis continue to fight back which bolsters Superman's confidence. Superman, with the help of Turpin, manages to free himself from his bonds and subsequently a fleet of New Genesis ships arrives to stop Darkseid. Orion informs Darkseid that the ruler of New Genesis, the wise and powerful High Father, has placed Earth under his protection and as such any further aggression will breach the peace treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid calls off the attack and as a last act of spite vaporizes Dan Turpin. Superman enraged with grief begins to destroy an enemy tank. Later, on a sunny hillside with a large crowd in attendance, a Jewish funeral service is held for the fallen police officer and a Rabbi sings the Kaddish for Turpin. Superman says his goodbyes to his friend.
Superman discovers Kara, the last survivor of a Kryptonian colony named Argo, who takes the identity of her first cousin and becomes Supergirl. Anxious to fight crime like Superman, Kara soon gets more than she asked for. She and Jimmy Olsen stumble upon a teenage Intergang operation, led by the sadistic Granny Goodness.
Supergirl and Jimmy are able to eradicate Granny's manipulative hold over the teenagers, but the mistress of Apokolips wants revenge. She summons her Female Furies to teach Supergirl some manners. Suddenly, Superman comes to the rescue and fights the furies. After a while they manage to defeat him and takes him to Apokolips to face Darkseid. It's now up to Supergirl to rescue her long lost cousin.
Superman crosses paths with a fiery-tempered, metahuman thief named Volcana. She possesses pyrokinetic abilities and is on the run from a secret government agency. With the help of a telekinetic psychologist, Superman hopes to locate and help the misguided Volcana before her fire is put out permanently.
Superman learns that the Dark Knight has been missing from Gotham for some time now. Superman finds Robin, who has been battling all the crime in Batman's absence, such as Batman rogues The Penguin, The Riddler, Bane, The Mad Hatter and Roxy Rocket. Disguised as Batman, Superman helps Robin investigate why his partner has disappeared, leading up to a confrontation with Brainiac.
It is the 30th Century and the everlasting villain Brainiac has found a way to travel back in time. He returns to Smallville to destroy Clark Kent before he can become Superman. Three Legionnaires from the future travel back in time to help Clark fight Brainiac.
Lana Lang is in Metropolis managing a series of fashion shows featuring the latest top model, Darci. When an attempt is made to kidnap her, Superman discovers the kidnapping was organizaed by Toyman, who is obsessed with Darci. Both Superman and Lang suspect the model knows more than she is letting on, and discover she hides a secret behind her origins.
Mister Mxyzptlk, returns and tricks Bizarro into attacking Superman. The Man of Steel must use both brawn and intellect to fight the formidable duo.
Jax-Ur and Mala have escaped from the Phantom Zone and have subjugated an entire planet, ironically dubbing it "New Krypton." After rescuing a distraught spaceship from a black hole, Superman stumbles upon New Krypton. At first, he feels he should leave Jax-Ur and Mala alone to rule as they please, but he reconsiders when he sees they are secretly creating a navy with the intent of attacking Earth.
A member of the Green Lantern Corps crash-lands on Earth and passes his ring on to Kyle Rayner—a Daily Planet artist who becomes the next Green Lantern. With Superman's help, Kyle learns the power of the ring and quickly becomes a valuable partner. They work together to battle the power-hungry, ruthless opponent Sinestro.
Jimmy Olsen garners unwanted attention after news reporter Angela Chen dubs him "Superman's Pal." Jimmy soon runs into more trouble than usual, so Superman must come to his rescue more often. Meanwhile, Jimmy has begun dating a young Daily Planet intern, who has a "thing" for metal. She uses Jimmy to lure Superman into a trap—a confrontation with one of Superman's strongest enemies...Metallo.
Creatures of the sea are acting in strange and aggressive ways lately. It turns out Lex Luthor is undergoing an unethical, underwater experiment and has also imprisoned the legendary Aquaman. Lois and Clark must help Aquaman before a war breaks out between Earth and the City of Atlantis.
Superman and Supergirl must save Smallville, and the world, from the Reverend, a gargantuan scouting probe disguised as a human reverend named Powell, as well as its master, an even larger alien parasite that wishes to unite Earth's inhabitants in perpetual unity.
Ra's al Ghul and his Society of Shadows arrive in Metropolis to steal a mythical staff currently on exhibit. The staff can be used to steal Superman's powers and transfer them to Ra's. It is up to Batman to locate and rescue Superman from the immortal foe.
Darkseid brainwashes Superman into believing he is his adopted son. With Superman under his control, Darkseid sends him to Earth to decimate its military force.
Lex Luthor halts the invasion by temporarily weakening Superman. The Man of Steel has time to recover from Darkseid's control, but he is imprisoned by the military and he is sentenced to death. Lois helps Superman escape so that he may pursue Darkseid.
Complete episode guide for Superman: The Animated Series with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in United States.
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