When Supergirl makes the leap from CBS to The CW next season, it will introduce a bunch of new faces to the mix. Not only will Superman be making his official, non-blurry debut on the show, he’ll also be joined by five new additions to the cast, including two series regulars. The most notable of these is Lena Luthor, the little sister of iconic Superman villain Lex Luthor.
According to a casting call acquired by TVLine, Lena is somewhere between 25-35 and arrives in National City to “get out from under the shadow of her infamous brother.” She’s reportedly “sexy and smart and determined to get what she wants,” although whether she’ll also turn out to be a villain remains to be seen. Lex himself hasn’t appeared on the show yet, but the show does know a thing or two about casting little sisters: Jenna Dewan Tatum already plays Lois Lane’s kid sister Lucy.
The second series regular is a character named Nick Farrow, a new employee at CatCo Worldwide Media who “butts heads” with Kara. Nick’s the playboy son of a famous reporter and he’s looking for a fresh start in National City. As TVLine writes, “The question of whether he can leave behind his former selfish and hedonistic ways will constantly arise. In hanging out with Kara, the hero in Nick might finally come out.” Nick is the only new character who doesn’t seem to have a comic book origin, although he could potentially be a familiar character with a new name.
The rest of the roles are recurring: The Doctor is the leader of the nefarious Project Cadmus who wants to implant alien tech in her illegally held patients. (TVLine speculates she might be based on the comic character Serling Roquette.) Meanwhile, Snapper Carr is a veteran journalist hired by Calista Flockhart’s Cat Grant to give CatCo a more “old school” news division (in the comics Snapper Car is a Justice League sidekick, but that doesn’t sound like the case here). And, finally, Maggie is a detective who specializes in alien and metahuman threats and works for the newly formed and terribly named “Science Police.” She seems to be based on Maggie “Maggs” Sawyer, a comic book character known for her long-term relationships with Batwoman. (According to TVLine, Maggie will be openly gay on the show as well.)
It’s a lot of new players for a series that was already overstuffed with characters. Though it’s only speculation at this point, that could mean Supergirl is looking to pare back some of its cast from the first season. Initial concerns that Flockhart might not want to stay with the production when it moved to Vancouver were squashed by early reports that she was eager to return. Now, however, Warner Bros. told TVGuide.com it has “no comment” on Flockhart’s future on Supergirl. That doesn’t necessarily mean the worst, however. It could be that Cat will be reduced to a recurring character, with Snapper positioned as her surrogate in the CatCo scenes. Or maybe Flockhart is still on board as a regular, and Supergirl just felt like adding a few more characters to be at the receiving end of her pithy one-liners.