There’s some pretty exciting news today for fans of the Man of Steel and his various spinoffs! DC Comics has just revealed that CBS’ upcoming “Supergirl” series has added both Dean Cain and Helen Slater to the cast! The former is best known for playing Clark Kent/Superman on “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” while the latter headlined the 1984 Supergirl feature film.
Cain and Slater join Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El, Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, Chyler Leigh as Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, and David Harewood as Hank Henshaw.
This casting move is not entirely dissimilar to the inclusion of John Wesley Shipp on The CW’s “The Flash.” There, the star of the ’90s “The Flash” series plays Barry Allen’s father. Indeed, even Cain and Slater themselves previously appeared on “Smallville” in brand new roles. Knowing the importance of the multiverse in the DC Comics continuity, however, fans are likely to wonder if any of these ongoing metanarrative references might one day become a plot point within the narrative itself. After all, DC’s summer crossover “Convergence” is offering fans the return of pre-New 52 iterations of its heroes. Time will tell if we might one day see something similar to that play out on the small screen.
Hailing from Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions (who also produce the hit DC Comics series “Arrow” and “The Flash” for The CW), “Supergirl” is based on the characters from DC Comics and centers on Kara Zor-El, who comes to Earth after escaping the destruction of Krypton. After many years hiding her abilities, she joins the ranks of her cousin Superman to become the hero she was meant to be.
The pilot episode was written by Ali Adler (“No Ordinary Family”) and Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash”). They will also executive produce along with Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV. The show has a series commitment at CBS.
