'Superman & Lois' showrunner and star paid homage to the superhero's first comic appearance in the series premiere

• Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Superman & Lois."
• In a flashback, Clark Kent wears an early version of the Superman suit in a nod to the comics.
• Showrunner Todd Helbing and star Tyler Hoechlin spoke about bringing the Easter egg to life.

The two-hour premiere of "Superman & Lois" has a big Easter Egg for fans of the hero.

In a flashback montage at the episode's start, Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) is seen during his earlier days as the superhero in a retro suit that's a nod to the character's first comic appearance and to Max Fleischer's Superman cartoons from the '40s.

"There's a classic Action Comics cover with Superman saving this green car," showrunner Todd Helbing told Insider during a Television Critics Association panel earlier this month about that moment.

"We sort of upgraded the car, made it a little bit more contemporary," Helbing continued. "That was something that we wanted to do. I love doing Easter eggs and I love doing comic book covers if we can recreate them. So that just felt like such a great, perfect beat to put into this montage in telling this, the beginning of our story and setting up the show."

Helbing added that he chose to recreate Fleischer's version of Superman's suit because "it's so iconic. It was one of the first and just to see Tyler in that was pretty cool."

In the brief scene, Superman is seen saving a boy from a bright green vehicle in Metropolis. As he lowers it gently to the ground, the scene mimics the cover of Action Comics No. 1.

As Kent heads over to the boy, he's seen wearing an earlier version of the Superman suit that resembles the one Supes wore in Paramount's '40s cartoons. Unlike the more modern suit, this one features a red "S" on a black background with a gold outline.

On the show, Clark explains that his mom made the suit.

"There's something about putting on the one that we wear most of the time," Hoechlin told Insider of what it was like wearing the suit. "It's great, but there was something different about that."

The actor added that it "was kind of as cool as it got" to pay homage by wearing a retro suit in the series.

"I remember putting it on, just laughing," Hoechlin added. "It was crazy to really feel that effect of how long this character has been around and to kind of go back to where it started, and then to be where we are now creating something new."

"Superman & Lois" airs Tuesdays on the CW at 8 p.m. ET/PT.