As fans might’ve guessed from watching last night’s Supergirl season 3 finale, Chris Wood is bowing out of the role of Daxamite hero Mon-El and won’t be returning as a regular for season 4 of The CW’s DC TV show. Yesterday’s closer to the current run saw the character decide to leave behind Central City – and his former lover Kara Zor-El – to continue his duties as a protector of the world in the far future, as part of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Executive producer Robert Rovner explained to TVLine that Mon-El’s exit completes a two-year arc they always had in mind for him, ever since Wood first joined Supergirl at the beginning of season 2.
“The plan for Chris was always to have him on the show for two years. We’ve loved telling Mon-El’s story, as well as the story we’ve told for him and Kara. We hope the fans felt that it was a satisfying conclusion.”
Fellow EP Jessica Queller went on to elaborate on the thinking behind splitting Kara and Mon up in a permanent way. She described it as reflecting the classic romantic movie Casablanca, which famously ends with the main characters forced to part from each other. Queller explained that their decision shows how much the pair have grown as heroes.
“They both have destinies in different times as heroes. What they did was the sort-of Casablanca decision of putting what’s most important to them — which is saving the world — first. It’s a little bittersweet that one destiny is to be a hero in this time and one’s destiny is to run the Legion in another time, but I think they grew a lot from knowing one another. They have respect for one another, and they have a respect for the decisions they respectively made.”
Mon-El sure has matured a lot since we first met him, back when he was a runaway prince used to a pampered lifestyle and not ready to use his super-powers to help mankind. He might have made the noble decision to travel back to the future, but that doesn’t mean there’s no chance Chris Wood could return at some point. Rovner pointed out that, if the story requires it, he could well come back.
“We love working with Chris, so we’d love to have Mon-El back someday if the story takes us there and if Chris is available.”
Of course, Wood isn’t the only regular Supergirl will lose next season. Jeremy Jordan is moving into recurring status for the next run as Winn Schott decided to go to the future with Mon and the Legion in the season 3 finale. In his place, Jesse Rath has been promoted to regular in his role as Brainiac-5.
