WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Pilot," the series premiere of Superman & Lois.

The pilot of Superman & Lois pays homage to Superman's history in multiple ways, some more obvious than others. One of the lesser obvious ones is an Easter egg that gives a subtle nod to the creators of the Superman comics whose history with DC is long and bumpy.

The homage occurs at the 11:19 - 11:41 mark of the pilot. Clark has just come home after a long day of reporting and saving the world. After a brief and awkward interaction with one of his sons, he gets on the phone with his foster mother. As he walks into the kitchen, a blackboard sign is visible on the right side of the screen. At the bottom, the blackboard reads “Call Siegel & Shuster.”

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This references Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of the Superman character. The phone number below even homages a piece of Superman history. It's 1-938-555-0100, and the 1-938 is a reference to the year DC acquired the rights to the Superman comic.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had been friends since high school and came up with the Superman character in 1933. Originally a villain, the two dropped their initial premise and instead turned Superman into the prototypical superhero. In 1938, they sold the rights to the Superman character over to Detective Comics — the company would later become DC Comics — for a total of $130, a move Siegel bemoaned until his death in 1996.

After selling the rights, Siegel and Shuster stayed on as writer and artist respectively for the comics. However, since they had sold the rights to the character, DC raked in the money. After leaving the company in 1947, the duo sued DC for the rights to the Superman character. A court in New York ruled in favor of the publisher. Later, another ruling awarded $94,000 to the creators for the rights to Superboy. However, in the aftermath of these suits, the byline acknowledging Siegel and Shuster as the creators was removed.

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Creators Of Superman Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

After the copyright ran out in 1966, the legal battles began again. Once more, the court ruled in favor of DC. In 1975, ahead of the first Superman movie, the two creators began a public campaign against DC, lamenting their treatment by the company. As a result, DC reinstated the dropped byline and granted both Siegel and Shuster a yearly pension of $20,000 (later $30,000).

Shuster died in 1992 at the age of 78. Siegel passed away four years later at the age of 81. However, even after their deaths, legal issues remained with the creator’s families.

Considering the turbulent backstory, it is all the more remarkable that the names of the creators made it into the Superman & Lois show. As small of a nod as it is, it is an honorable move.

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