‘Superman & Lois’ Recasts Main Character for Season 3

Superman & Lois will have to recast a major character for Season 3 after actor Jordan Elsass left the show. Elsass was a series regular as Jonathan Kent, the son of Superman and Lois Lane. The series stars Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as the title characters, following their introduction in Supergirl.

Elsass, 20, did not report back to the Vancouver set by the deadline before Season 3 cameras begin rolling, reports Deadline. “Jordan Elsass has notified the Studio that he will not be returning to Superman & Lois for season three due to personal reasons. The role of Jonathan Kent will be recast,” a Warner Bros. Television spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday night.

The actor and his representatives have not commented on his departure. Sources told Deadline he was dealing with “serious personal issues” that were possibly related to mental health that the producers were aware of. It is also unknown if Elsass left on his own or was fired.

Elsass’ vaccination status is also in question. He reportedly had an exception to Canada’s policy against allowing unvaccinated people to visit the country, as he appeared to confirm in a quickly-deleted Instagram Story post in February. This exception allowed him to work in the country while filming Season 2. Elsass never attempted to re-enter Canada to start filming Season 3, sources told Deadline.

Back on June 22, Elsass told his fans he was taking a break from using social media because he was going to a mental health treatment facility. “I’m headed to a facility for a month to get the mental health back on track, and get the tools I need so I can help myself because right now I can’t,” he wrote at the time. “For so long I felt weak, I felt like my problems weren’t real and that everyone else’s were bigger than mine. I felt that I needed to ‘man up’ and deal with it internally. As you might imagine things got progressively worse over the past couple of years. I’m finally ready to get help and It’s a huge, huge sacrifice.”

When he published the post, he seemed intent on returning to Superman & Lois, writing that it was “so worth it” to seek treatment even if it meant limiting the amount of time he would have with his family before filming resumed. “I’m not just doing this for me but I’m doing it for the people I love. I want every single one of you to know this,” Elsass wrote.

Before starring in Superman & Lois, Elsass also starred in Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere as Reese Witherspoon’s on-screen son. He also starred in the Prime Video horror series Panic and recently filmed the TV movie Billy and the Bandit.

Superman & Lois launched in February 2021 on The CW and was developed by Greg Berlanti and Todd Hebling. It was originally conceived as part of the Arrowverse after Hoechlin and Tulloch played Superman and Lois Lane in Supergirl. However, connections between Superman & Lois and the rest of the Arrowverse have been limited. During Season 1, it was decided to set the show in an entirely different universe apart from the Arrowverse. Still, Jenna Dewan recurred as Lucy Lane in Season 2 after playing the character in Supergirl.