My Adventures with Superman Season 3, Episode 7 Recap & Review: “The Ex Games”

As My Adventures with Superman Season 3 marches on, nothing is going right for Clark Kent (Jack Quaid). He wants to get married and start a future with Lois Lane (Alice Lee). But she’s skeptical, having gone through a rough, neglected childhood with General Sam Lane (Joel de la Fuente). The theme of destiny keeps rattling both, which hasn’t been helped by signs that the future may well end up being a rocky road. Come the latest episode, the lovers are once more forced into assessing the path to happiness, and, well, survival. It’s even tougher now that Clark doesn’t have his super-powers.

That tragedy left him feeling human, not in a good way. His mental health has taken a major hit. He’s depressed and fallible. This is very much a far cry from the Kal-El who valiantly fought Sam’s Task Force X in Season 1 and won the General over. Clark’s Kryptonian heritage emboldened him to show Earth, in general, he was a hero, not the villain.

Season 2 further fuelled him to convert Kara Zor-El (Kiana Madeira) to his side and to stop being the “Scion” that Brainiac (Michael Emerson) wanted to keep using to conquer the universe. But while Kara is currently donning the Supergirl mantle and being a paragon of virtue, Clark can’t help but feel obsolete.

This renders his mentality frail and leaves him thinking it’s futile to contemplate a tomorrow with his soulmate. Gone are the days of impressing Lois and being her sturdy, robust bedrock. In his eyes, she has lost her Superman and potential husband.

Well, with Season 3, Episode 7, “The Ex Games,” pushing the couple into a profound test (literally), Clark and Lois attain key answers for what’s to come. And make no mistake, they rediscover they’re stronger together, and that hope, belief and optimism are indeed the way forward. Despite the odds.

My Adventures with Superman Revives Mr. Mxyzptlk With a Sadistic Challenge

The climax of Episode 6 found Lois, Clark, Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid) and Kara being teleported away right when they were all discussing their relationships. Lois was trying to get Clark to accept he may never be the Man of Steel anymore after he drained his energy stopping Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman (Max Mittelman). Meanwhile, Jimmy finally confessed his love for Kara, only for her to be disappointed he took so long and played immature games with her heart.

Luckily, the heroes haven’t been teleported to the dystopian futures seen earlier this season. Instead, they’re in a pocket universe, or distant world (hey, the show never clarifies!), where they’re due to play a competition. It’s akin to Marvel’s Battleworld from Secret Wars or the Contest of Champions stories where heroes and villains are pitted against each other.

In this case, the overseer is the mystical Imp from the Fifth Dimension, Mr. Mxyzptlk (David Errigo Jr.), who’s back after running afoul of the League of Lois Lanes in the past. This time, the magical fiend has his charming Imp wife, Glitzy (Erin Anderson), alongside him. Or, as we soon learn, his soon-to-be ex-wife. Mxyzptlk transported the heroes here to defeat a team of her choosing in a divorce war. Once Mxyzptlk wins, he gets to keep his assets.

Clark and Lois are annoyed because they thought they last left the supernatural Mxyzptlk in captive under the League. And on somewhat diplomatic, friendly terms. Well, now fans discover what Mxyzptlk did after escaping: he found romance, which then turned bitter and nasty. Mxyzptlk wants his champions to win to preserve his ego. Or else he’ll strand them on this desolate world in their tropical beach-wear forever.

As for Glitzy’s team, she is relying on variants to untie her knot in this cosmic courtroom. They are General Lois, Flamebird Jimmy, Good Lex Luthor (also voiced by Mittelman) and a Scion Kara. The teams must compete in sporty challenges and win golden keys as prizes. This will help them unlock a series of orb-shaped rings, granting them access to a mysterious relic — the Cosmic Anvil (more on this concrete-like statue later).

My Adventures with Superman Reveals Major Weaknesses – For Both Teams

Mxyzptlk is dealt a stunning blow, though. He had no clue Clark lost his alien abilities and is no longer Superman. As a result, Mxyzptlk barters with the omnipotent judge — some godlike voice that we never see on-screen — so that Scion Kara doesn’t have flight, too. Why not level the playing field? Much to the chagrin of Glitzy, of course.

Mxyzptlk is glad he isn’t totally handicapped by his bumbling, near-sighted fallacy of a Superman. This is his way of swindling Glitzy, but still adhering to the rules. Ah, the loopholes we weave.

That said, one has to wonder why Mxyzptlk wouldn’t ask for Flamebird Jimmy’s cool Power Rangers-esque armor to be taken away as well. Flamebird Jimmy does have an energy blaster in his hand, nodding to the HBO Max and Adult Swim’s cartoon love of anime.

Anyway, the first challenge finds the teams having to cross a stone bridge fit for MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge. The bridge comprises several links, creating gaps the participants must leap across. Some of the links are collapsing, complicating the feat. So, it’s as not as straightforward as the contestants think.

Nonetheless, they persist. As the race occurs, Scion Kara chucks a rock at her counterpart, reiterating she has been conditioned by her Brainiac to be wicked. Lois hits a stumbling block of her own when Clark falls off. She grabs him and pulls him up, making him feel worthless. Eventually, the heroes get their reward, but Team Glitzy does so as well. Despite the latter grabbing their key first, it’s somehow deemed a tie.

The lessons from this challenge are obvious. Team Glitzy is running on pride and hubris. That vanity will no doubt be an Achilles Heel that causes their downfall. On the other hand, Team Mxyzptlk lacks confidence and is being distracted by their opponents. Lois, for example, hates watching her bullish, effective, side-eye-throwing variant.

Kara ponders if she should be like her Scion doppelgänger to intimidate, be relevant, and powerful. Clearly, squabbling is being set up: internally and externally that could undo the mission for either squad.

My Adventures with Superman Unleashes Sinister Supergirl (Even More)

Season 2 showed why its Scion Kara was so vindictive. Brainiac wasn’t seeking dominion, randomly, per se. Nor was him craving dominion across the galaxy out of sheer morbid scientific curiosity. He conquered worlds, enslaved and assimilated — mostly destroying — so he could absorb them under the banner of Krypton. It was warped loyalty to a home that no longer existed.

Thankfully, Kara reneged on that directive after he raised her as his ‘daughter.’ With Brainiac deleted and his vitriol gone, Kara is aiming to be like her cousin. But this new Scion Kara never saw control relinquished. She believes only the strong will survive, even if it means she has to be brash and cruel.

The Karas show their true colors in the second game. They, along with the Loises, must ascend Manticore Mountain. The first to scale it wins a key. As the women make the ascension, the mountain sinks into a trench. There are parts that collapse, compounding the peril. This provides opportunity, however.

General Lois makes a cutthroat decision after silently communicating with her Kara. General Lois grabs the ‘good’ Lois and holds her as the rock they’re on sinks down into a cavernous pit. There, the fire-breathing, lion-like Manticore hunts them. While it stalks, General Lois reveals more insight into why she’s so brutal. It’s the only way to defeat haters.

She reminds Lois of Sam: practical, selfish and willing to do whatever it takes to win. General Lois pokes fun at Lois for being so soft. Somehow, she predicts all of Lois’ predicaments, including how the Lois we’re familiar with lost her fire when Clark lost his powers. That actually happened to General Lois. Sadly, her Clark lost his life also. That’s why she is so tough and unforgiving.

General Lois evolved to become a predator, not prey. Seeing this alpha leaves Lois perturbed. Is becoming this hateful apex the only way she can outlast and endure in a cold, dreary world should she lose her Clark?

This ideal of becoming a monster is recurring with Kara and the Scion. When Scion Kara falls through a hole, Kara grabs her to show the value of friendship. Alas, Scion Kara tosses her off a cliff and into the pit. There, Kara and the Loises flee from the Manticore, only to be teleported to the winners’ chamber by Mxyzptlk.

Scion Kara has the prize, gloating about being the better Supergirl. Kara can’t stand seeing this boastful version of herself. It’s worse than when she was under Brainiac’s thumb. This haunting reflection provokes her and states being a cheater is who they are. Who they were meant to be.

Scion Kara teases that Kara wanted to drop her, so she needs to stop lying to herself and embrace the darkness within. Scion Kara truly knows mind games and understands how to use the concept of betrayal to needle down into her variant’s conscience!

My Adventures with Superman Reveals Lex Luthor’s Horrific Past

This second challenge is two-pronged. Clark, Jimmy, Lex and Flamebird are dropped into the catacombs where they must locate puzzle pieces. Once they build a door out, they can escape and claim their trophy. As expected, the teams bicker. Lex admonishes Jimmy for stealing pieces meant for his team. Clark defuses the situation and partners with Lex. He wants teamwork to prevail, even if it means working with the enemy.

This creates room to get to know each other. Clark learns Lex made a “mistake” that killed that that world’s Superman. It allowed the Hunger Dogs to raid and ravage. This left Lex, General Lane and Flamebird as part of a scant resistance. This rare moment of humility stuns Clark. Maybe this means his Lex could be redeemed after realizing his Cyborg Superman creation almost endangered Earth?

In any case, Lex speaks to atonement. Side note: the Hunger Dogs were the impoverished citizens of Apokolips who rose up to fight Darkseid’s imperialism and oppression in the comics. In this cartoon, they were fascists invading. Villains who left deep scars on a traumatized Lex.

Simultaneously, Jimmy and Flamebird bond. The latter is heartbroken over losing Superman. But he didn’t mind gaining his armor from the Hunger Dogs. Ironically, in DC lore, John Stewart went undercover to catch a criminal named “Hunger Dog” and donned a similar suit. That armor is somewhat similar to what Flamebird’s wearing. Flamebird may have had a rough past but he is glad he stepped up to be a superhero.

By the time, Lex and Clark get back, more infighting occurs. Mxyzptlk watches it all, soaking it in with popcorn. But he does warn them if they don’t get it right, death will follow.

He throws the teams the final piece, leaving Jimmy and Lex tugging at each other’s throats. He enjoys the chaos, even if it means his players losing. That’s a very important thing to put a pin in for what’s to come.

Clark is adamant that Jimmy let Lex have it so they can all portal out once the door opens. Otherwise, the Hell Hippos that arise from a fiery crack will devour them.

Unfortunately, when Lex fits the piece in, he and Flamebird alone teleport out. Luckily, just when Clark and Jimmy are about to be mauled, Mxyzptlk spirits them away to the galactic ‘podium’ where Team Glitzy are now up 2-1. Mxyzptlk is pissed and urging his players to win. Avid viewers, and the diligent Lois, notice that even when they lose, their ‘coaches’ are keeping them alive.

Something is up with the floating rocks around the perimeter, too. Clark notices sand leaking from them as they orbit around all arenas. The plot thickens!

My Adventures with Superman Reveals the Truth About Destiny

The next challenge lops everyone in a maze. They all split up. Clark encounters giant ice crystals, similar to the Fortress of Solitude. He tries punching his way out, but comes to grip with his mortality as his hands bleed. Interestingly, he sees visions of his younger self flying around Smallville in the crystals. He also witnesses his older Superman self with Lois. Clark seems resigned to the fact he lost his passion and purpose, which leads to him freezing up.

Lois sees her variants from the League as she skulks through her tunnel. She ponders what’s the “one true path” they need to follow to win this test. She can’t help but feel defeated when seeing all Loises losing their Clark and plummeting into darkness. Ergo why she freezes up, fearful of the pain and anguish tomorrow could possibly bring.

Kara is tested when she sees her evil self. She knows she has rage within, evidenced by her joking how she wants to crush Mxyzptlk humanely for torturing them. When she starts to freeze up, it coincides with Jimmy talking about how he will change and be better to her. This turns out to be a poignant catalyst. Kara realizes she, too, can change. She already has.

Kara grasps that there is no one path to deciding how to live every day. That’s the beauty of life. Its unpredictable nature isn’t a flaw; it can be a strength. Second chances are always around. People are “creatures of change” meant to control their own destiny.

This test is a trick, but once Kara cracks the emotional code and sees that the future is theirs to shape, she — along with her peers who (off-screen) believe in improving — gets teleported to hold the winning orb. The score’s 2-2! Eat your World Cup-lovin’ hearts out.

The other team’s trials and tribulations aren’t seen, but they’re dropped down soaking wet. It confirms they didn’t break out their freeze. They had to be forcibly unthawed and brought here by Glitzy. They didn’t understand destiny, all because their narcissism kept them from understanding they made mistakes and need to learn from them to be better. Pride cometh before the fall.

My Adventures with Superman Reveals Mxyzptlk and Glitzy’s Dirty, Dark Secret

The final challenge to break the deadlock throws Lois and Clark, Flamebird and Scion Kara, Lex and General Lois, and Kara and Jimmy into ethereal bubbles. They must navigate these “hamster balls” and race through the obstacle course. However, Lois continues using her intrepid journalistic skills and deduces they aren’t allowed to die. Lex realizes the same.

They vocally question why both teams won the first game. Why all the keys are inserted into the same relic. And why none of them die. The teams refuse to play at this juncture. Kara defiantly defiles the contest by breaking her ball to place an exclamation mark on the protest. An irate Mxyzptlk belittles and orders them to complete the maze.

He sweetens the pot by parlaying one other nugget regarding the monument. The Cosmic Anvil is most famous from All-Star Superman, where Kal-El used the hammer to forge suns to feed his pet, Sun-Eater. In this instance, it allows the winner to reshape the universe. Mxyzptlk admits “certain immortals” can’t unlock it, but mortals can. That’s why he and Glitzy needed drone workers.

He bargains, using an incentive of achieving one’s wildest dreams. After Glitzy’s whispers suspiciously to him, he coaxes Lois to win and choose the future that makes her happy. He then throws around the principle of paradise to everyone else.

Clark can win and wish his powers back to life. Flamebird ponders bringing his Clark back, cementing he, General Lois and Good Lex were all from the same reality and had to band together as best friends when they lost Clark. General Lois isn’t up for that, however. She is torn on tinkering with reality.

Clark works his own angle. He asks if Flamebird meant to resurrect Superman. However, General Lois indicates they coped with losing Superman when Clark lost his powers. But when Clark died, they lost their glue. His human nature was still essential to the resilience and perseverance within. Without that persent, their outlook became bleak. The more you know, eh.

This shows Clark he still matters even without his powers. He is the beating heart and soul of his pack.

An inspired Clark, in his red swim top and red shorts ironically, insists they can’t trust any reward Mxyzptlk hints at. He queries about the fate of the losers, which leads to Mxyzptlk confessing they’ll be turned into “ficus” for his beloved wife. It’s a Freudian slip of the tongue that changes the landscape drastically.

Everyone’s shocked to learn that the Imps are still in love. In fact, this contest was a ruse. It wasn’t a divorce; it was them role-playing on a dastardly date devised by the deviant tricksters. The Imps keep manipulating the situation.

While Clark wants everyone to forget the game, Lex thinks his team is being discouraged because the heroes want them to lose. Clark, though, warns that Mxyzptlk always double-crosses people. Lex wants to know how a meek reporter would know this, only for Clark to reveal he’s Superman.

Lex is taken aback. Somehow, he had no clue, even though he was close with his Lois and Jimmy, and privy to many conversations in these games where he would clearly have heard both men were the same. Anyway, Lex regrets not listening to his Kal-El when he had the chance, thus he won’t make the same mistake again. They all follow Clark’s lead: no more games.

An enraged Mxyzptlk warns them they’ll perish if they don’t obey his rules. Game over! Hey, with no leverage left, it was only a matter of time before the Imp became unhinged, pouted and threw a tantrum.

Clark, at last, reveals he has been calculating his own game. The sands in the rocks actually represent an hourglass. Once they run out, the mysterious voice relays that the champions on either side can go home. The contest is done and that the pint-sized Imp can “burn in Hell.” Damn, Mxyzptlk just can’t endear himself to anyone, can he?

Glitzy departs in a huff when she sees her husband whining and rolling around. He chases after her. Notably, he doesn’t answer Lois’ question about who’s stuck to the Anvil, other than calling the person a “sore loser.”

When Mxyzptlk teleports the heroes back home, love is in the air. Jimmy and Kara plan to rebuild. Lois and Clark go for a run the next day. She’s still scared of the future. Clark assures her they’ll be okay once they face it together. Lois views him in an edified light after he feels parity and balance in existence again. Maybe they can avoid a depraved, agony-laden future?

Nope. That’s not the show’s style. The epsiode ends on a major cliffhanger with a darker version of Jon and what seems to be his sister (as she resembles Lois) arriving in a bolt of lightning from the future. Remember, when the happy Jon went back after Cyborg Superman’s defeat, the future wasn’t healed. He became a new variant, arrested by a Brainiac-Lex hybrid.

Moving forward, Episode 8 has to enlighten on that future and how the present informs it. Forget the Super Sons, Season 3 has a new spin on the Super Siblings, throwing Lois and Clark into yet another temporal quandary that could break the fabric of many realities and the ultimate timeline.

Is My Adventures with Superman Season 3, Episode 7 Good?

This chapter is a rollicking ride but it’s not perfect. It gives Mxyzptlk a fun return and shows he truly is a bastard, while enabling him to flex his power. It must also be commended for the way it uses inverted variants to teach the heroes to be good to each other, to show compassion and empathy, and understand the circle of life will always have curveballs. It’s up to us to rebound.

But the plot holes and inconsistencies felt off. Lex not knowing Clark was Superman on his world, as mentioned above, didn’t make sense. Nor did the game itself. Mxyzptlk shouldn’t have asked the ‘referee’ to de-power Scion Kara, which nullified Kara’s flight, too. He and his wife did admit later on that stronger participants would have won the keys faster, so Mxyzptlk’s counterintuitive move didn’t add up. Why stymie players who’d give you the very thing you want?

The tie also didn’t match up. Glizty’s team won the first challenge, even if by mere seconds, so that’s their victory. It is expecting a lot, however, to think this cartoon would be sealed up plot-wise. This is, after all, a show where Supergirl is often with Jimmy, Lois and Clark, yet no one can finger Clark as Superman.

Another faux pas is how we never see the ‘evil’ variants again and learn what they took away from this lesson. Maybe future episodes will show if they improved and became a better family, too. Heck, maybe we’ll learn exactly who’s embedded in the Anvil.

As it stand, these mysteries are annoying, not to mention, they leave key emotional beats hanging in the air. But be that as it may, “The Ex Games,” is filled with humor, wit and sentimental banter. It continues the playful, warm and kid-friendly energy of previous entries. It’s a visual delight, too. That’s consistent.

In the end, this episode reminds us all Superman stories, even when violent, are filled with positive, relatable pillars, such as selflessness, honesty, vulnerability, and most of all, the unity we need to espouse across the fragile world we live in today.

My Adventures With Superman Season 3 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:

My Adventures With Superman Season 3 will officially premiere Saturday, June 13 at midnight ET/PT on Adult Swim (technically Sunday at Midnight, but whatever), and later that day on HBO Max — meaning Sundays, likely at 3am ET. The season will be 10 episodes long, with one episode dropping per week until the finale.

Here’s the full list of episodes in My Adventures With Superman Season 3, with premiere dates (and as a note, we’ve included the Adult Swim premiere date; once again, it technically debuts Sunday on Adult Swim at night, and debuts on HBO Max on Sunday morning).

• Saturday, June 13, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 1
• Saturday, June 20, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 2
• Saturday, June 27, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 3
• Saturday, July 4, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 4
• Saturday, July 11, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 5
• Saturday, July 18, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 6
• Saturday, July 25, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 7
• Saturday, August 1, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 8
• Saturday, August 8, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 9
• Saturday, August 15, 2026: My Adventures With Superman Season 3, Episode 10 *Season Finale*