My Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman: Season 2

Where to watch: Adult Swim, Max (U.S.)/Adult Swim, StackTV (Canada)

(NOTE: There may be some mild spoilers present for My Adventures with Superman's first and second seasons here, but as usual, I'll try to keep them to a minimum)

My Adventures with Superman marked an overdue return to animation for the Man of Steel last year, and while I initially wasn't sure what to make of it, the series ended up growing on me pretty quickly. Borrowing elements of shonen (read: young adult) anime in an otherwise American animated series, the series seemed like an initially odd direction to take a character that was previously trying very hard to be more serious and adult-oriented in the DC Extended Universe movies, and The CW's Superman & Lois series. In the end though, My Adventures with Superman was exactly what the character of Superman needed; A chance to lighten up, and go back to basics.

With Season 2, My Adventures with Superman drastically increases its scope as well. Maybe a little too much sometimes. Whereas Season 1 wisely focused on largely earthbound threats, which allowed the show to effectively formulate its core three ensemble of Clark Kent/Superman, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, now re-imagined as college-age interns for the Daily Planet, Season 2 finally allows My Adventures with Superman to reach for the stars, literally. That is to say, it finally starts bringing in the cosmic scale-threats that Superman has often squared off against throughout his history in DC media.

The show's newest conflict in Season 2 comes shortly after Clark discovers that there may in fact be other surviving Kryptonians somewhere in the universe. Weighing the possibility of potentially inviting another invasive alien threat to Earth by trying to contact potential survivors of his race, at least for a little while (we wouldn't really have a Season 2 plot if Clark just hid his alien beacon in his couch), Clark's fateful decision eventually puts Earth in the sights of Brainiac, a familiar, longstanding Superman Family villain from DC lore. It's a bit weird that the show used Brainiac for this Season 2 storyline, granted, when actual Kryptonian despot, General Zod would have made the most sense, but whatever. Regardless, the looming invasion by Brainiac thus seemingly validates the hardline agenda of returning government black ops handler, Amanda Waller, as well as a newly-surfaced Lex Luthor, who becomes a rising tech star after Waller appoints him as the only young man fit to develop anti-alien weapons.

Even as Season 2 of My Adventures with Superman effectively incorporates more cosmic threats, it doesn't do so at the expense of keeping its focus on the earthbound characters, which is pretty impressive. The central relationship between the three leads is still pretty great for the most part, even if there is a bit more contrived drama this season, particularly when Jimmy finds a new love interest that should be very recognizable to Superman fans. The all-important theme of friendship enduring through overwhelming odds keeps My Adventures with Superman feeling very charming overall though. I continued to enjoy it returning a lot of much-needed optimism to the modern Superman mythology during its sophomore episodes.

The caveat on this note is that the cosmic-level stakes behind Season 2 of My Adventures with Superman tend to leave the season scrambling to address all of its disparate story threads across a paltry ten episodes, which only run for 20 minutes or so apiece. I feel like, had the show been able to accommodate an extended season order of 15-20 episodes, it probably wouldn't have felt like it was jumping all over the place so much in Season 2.

Even then though, My Adventures with Superman still overall feels like it's nicely building upon the foundation set by Season 1, while leaving the series in a very strong position for the recently-confirmed Season 3. The show is still a very odd fit for the Adult Swim channel in both Canada and the U.S., since it still contains nothing even remotely objectionable for younger children, but when the worst thing you can say about a series overall is that it feels like it should be on a more general audience-friendly channel, that's probably a pretty good sign when it comes to one's enjoyment level.

I'm definitely here for a return to the brighter, more cheerful Superman portrayals that I always enjoyed growing up, a new creative mandate from DC that's also evidently continuing in next year's new live-action Superman movie. Now that I have nephews in particular, I feel even more invested in just how lovable and fun My Adventures with Superman is to watch as well. It feels like the kind of uplifting, family-friendly DC series that I could easily enjoy with my nephews someday, one that hopefully inspires spin-offs and successors in the years to come.

IF I HAD TO SCORE IT: 8/10