by Rollin Bishop

Everyone has their own Superman. As a man of a certain age, my Superman often boils down to the '90s Superman: The Animated Series and the various representations of the character throughout those Bruce Timm projects. Increasingly, however, I find myself impressed and intrigued by My Adventures with Superman — and I can't wait to spend my summer with it.

DC has finally announced that My Adventures with Superman is set to return to Toonami, part of Adult Swim, at midnight on Saturday, June 13, for Season 3. It'll then stream on HBO Max the following day. While a third season was previously announced back in 2024, which is when the second season aired, it's been fairly quiet on the adventure front since then.

Which makes plenty of sense. Animation takes time, and Studio Mir very obviously worked its heart out on the first two seasons. There's also the simple fact that season one and two were actually part of the same production order, and the Warner Bros. Discovery merger apparently didn't help move things along. I can't imagine the Paramount one is going to help in the future, either.

And yet, the anime-inspired Superman series soldiers on for now. Season 3 picks up after the conclusion of the last season, according to the synopsis, as Clark Kent comes to terms with his Kryptonian past and Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl) tries to figure out how she fits into everything now that she's really, truly on Earth.

While the synopsis plays it close to the chest, the first promo that goes alongside the announcement is anything but coy: "We're Cyborg Superman right out of the gate," showrunner Jake Wyatt recently told Entertainment Weekly.

While not a direct adaptation, the new season of My Adventures with Superman is "digesting" the '90s DC Comics storyline Reign of the Supermen. Without getting too into the weeds, the short version is that the comic explores what happens after a bunch of different people claim the mantle of Superman in the wake of his death. (He got better. Eventually. Sort of. It's a long story, and one My Adventures with Superman isn't necessarily telling.)

"It's less Death [of Superman] and more about, 'What's a Superman?' The fun thing about Reign of the Supermen is that it's all these impostors who have the same power set but different values," says Wyatt. You know what, Jake? You had me at "My Adventures with Superman Season 3 premieres this summer." The rest is just icing.

The show pushes all of the correct buttons for me, top to bottom, so it practically doesn't matter to me what story the team wants to tell; I'm happy to hear it, regardless. Charming, likable cast? Check. Smart dialogue that's goofy and weighty in the right ratio? Check. Fun action? Check. (Not that Studio Mir is ever to be doubted.)

But out of every possible reason to be excited for a new season, it's actually Jack Quaid, the voice of Clark Kent/Superman, that has won me over the most. There's an affable, everyman-like quality to his voice acting in My Adventures with Superman that's both disarming and powerful. If Superman is meant to be the epitome of a Scout while still being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Quaid is the one that sells that more than the animators, even.

And look, it's all in tandem, right? If it didn't look so good, wasn't animated as well, didn't have the right score or dialogue or designs… it's not like it's only Quaid. But it leans on his performance, and he performs exceptionally well. A world where "Jack Quaid" is immediately uttered somewhere after the word "Superman" in the same way as Kevin Conroy and Batman is still very much somewhere beyond where we are currently, but I wouldn't be surprised if Quaid manages to go that distance, either.