WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 4, "Haywire," which aired Tuesday on The CW.
In its series premiere, Superman & Lois introduced Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane. In the comics, Sam Lane is, more often than not, an antagonistic force. He is a career military man, and he sees the alien Superman and others of the same ilk as a threat to humanity. For that reason, Superman and General Lane have been enemies for a long time, a relationship that is only made more complicated by Clark Kent and Lois Lane's devoted marriage. But in the CW series, Sam Lane is different: he's rough around the edges, sure, but he sees Superman as an asset, someone who can help him protect the entire world.
As a result, on Superman & Lois, Clark and Sam are on the same side. But that all changes in the series' latest episode, "Haywire."
Ever since the start of Superman & Lois, Sam Lane and the Man of Steel have been working in partnership. Superman answers the General's calls so he can help protect the country -- and the world -- from all manner of threats. Yet, while the two may be on the same side, Sam is still a difficult man to deal with. He pushes Clark every chance he gets and he always calls into question his priorities, especially when it comes to his family.
And this is exactly what becomes the focal point in "Haywire." As Clark begins to spend more time with his twin boys, Sam takes issue with Superman being less available. Clark may be Superman, but he still has trouble juggling his two lives -- and that comes to a head when the supervillain Thaddeus Killgrave escapes from custody. Eventually, Superman defeats and captures Killgrave once again, but Sam sees this as damage done.
The General pleads his case to Clark and Lois, but his daughter sets her foot down and their disagreement ends on shaky ground. As the episode comes to a close, Sam Lane once again calls Clark for help, but once he hangs up, he shows signs that he is no longer a simple ally. Indeed, the General puts it another call ordering the creation of "Project 7734," which is meant to be a contingency to Superman.
"7734" are the numbers that appear on the dog tag that Captain Luthor gave Sam Lane in the series' second episode, "Heritage." This indicates that this new project is all but certain to stand against Superman, in some form or another. Indeed, in the comics, Project 7734 was established by Sam Lane. The project's goal was to use advanced technology and super-powered agents to protect the planet from alien invaders (such as Kryptonians). To get the results he wanted, Lane allied himself with villains such as Lex Luthor and Metallo, and he used the body of Doomsday and Brainiac to further the project's mandate.
Given all the villains that have been associated with Project 7734, it seems all but clear that this will be a dangerous outfit going forward. Sam Lane may have started out as a friend, but he has just become something closely resembling his comic-book counterpart: an enemy of Superman.
Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Dylan Walsh, Alex Garfin, Jordan Elsass, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Inde Navarrette and Wolé Parks. The series airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.