Things may soon become difficult for the cast of Supergirl, as the producers intend to introduce yet another element from the DC Universe to the show. With the recent reveal that J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter has been posing as Hank Henshaw for years, it stands to reason that not only will we learn more of his backstory, but characters familiar to him will appear.
If you happened to guess that a White Martian will show up, then you are correct. In a recent inverview with ComicBook.com, actor David Harewood spoke of the upcoming reveal and how it will affect his character emotionally:
There is – in Episode Eleven – we have a visitor from another planet who’s a White Martian. There are two Martian species – it feels really weird talking about this (laughs) I’ve not been able to say anything about it – there is a Green Martian species and a White Martian species and the White Martians, in our story, are responsible for the death of the whole of the Green Martians. It was a fire and they burned them and we get to see a lot of that.
It’s very emotional. It was a very emotional episode for me, just thinking about the whole idea of genocide and, you know, people being burned alive. I think it was around the same time as the Paris attacks. it was very emotional. The whole idea of it was weird for me to be playing, but I think it’s going to be a very emotional, powerful episode because you get to see a little bit – the fans are going to be, I think, really delighted to see this because I don’t think, technically, it’s been able to be done before, but I think we’re, thankfully, now living in an age where you get great people like Armen [V. Kevorkian] – our Visual Effects Director – who’s just fantastic and he’s capable of just bringing some of stuff to life and I think fans are really going to get to see a version of Martian Manhunter on the screen that they’ve just never, ever seen before.
There’s going to be something in it for the fans and something in it for just the general viewers because it’s some pretty emotional stuff to cover.
Should you be unfamiliar with the White Martian concept, I’ll refer you to JLA: New World Order by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter. This story arc from 1997 saw the Justice League of America reunite to combat a serious threat from the red planet. Considering this is regarded to be a definitive work, it wouldn’t surprise me if it has some influence on the TV show.
One thing we can’t ignore is that not all White Martians are villainous. Case in point: Miss Martian, who became a beloved character on the animated series, Young Justice. While we may not hear the phrase “Hello, Megan!” on Supergirl in the immediate future, it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that the character will one day be utilized.
Supergirl returns with new episodes Monday, January 4 on CBS.
