As the final season of Superman & Lois approaches, The CW’s Arrow verse fans got a treat. They announced that “The Flash” star Tom Cavanagh (Yogi Bear, The Flash) would guest star before the show ends. However, his character was kept secret, leaving fans speculating.
This week’s episode, “Sharp Dressed Man,” finally reveals his role. It’s not a character many would have predicted. So, get ready for some spoilers if you haven’t watched the latest episode of Superman & Lois.
In the episode, Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead, Southland) who plays Lex Luthor, also directed got a makeover. He now sports his iconic bald head, clean shave, and a sharp suit. This transformation was part of his ongoing vendetta against Lois Lane.
Luthor took it further by appearing on a talk show to challenge the world’s top journalist. The show’s name is “Godfrey!” and the host? None other than Godfrey, played by Cavanagh.
For comic fans, the name Godfrey might spark memories of Glorious Godfrey. This character, created by Jack Kirby (Fantastic four, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes), first appeared in “The Forever People” #3 in 1971. Glorious Godfrey is a supervillain and one of the New Gods of Apokolips.
Darkseid sent Glorious Godfrey to Earth to prepare for his arrival by spreading division and chaos. Godfrey, an evangelist for the Anti-Life Equation, assumed the identity of G. Gordon Godfrey on Earth. He serves as a talk show host to achieve his mission.
The character drew inspiration from evangelist Billy Graham and TV pitchman Arthur Godfrey. This mix gave Glorious Godfrey a unique and recognizable identity. His role in the comics remains iconic.
Seeing Tom Cavanagh as Godfrey might surprise fans who speculated he’d play a bigger character, like Brainiac. This episode also reveals Lex’s tech guy as Milton Fine, an alias of Brainiac. But Cavanagh as Godfrey feels just right, as if the character was made for him.
Earlier this year, series co-showrunner Todd Helbing hinted that Cavanagh was the perfect fit for Godfrey. “There’s a lot of cameos, more than any other season I would say, this year. But that came out because it’s a character in the comics and I mean it’s like somebody met Tom Cavanagh, went back in time, created this character and then was like, ‘hey, you guys should cast this guy.’ You know, like that. It was the easiest casting of all time.”
Playing Godfrey adds another role to Cavanagh’s impressive Arrowverse resume. He’s known for various versions of Harrison Wells and Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash across multiple shows. Now, Godfrey rounds out his diverse character list.
“He just like, when we were trying to come up with analogues of who this guy could be, personality-wise, when we started describing him it just felt like we were describing someone Tom could play with his eyes closed, his comic timing and just everything about his energy level. It just felt perfect,” Helbing told Comic Book.