Just last night, we lamented the fact that we had very little knowledge of how CBS’ Supergirl series would be imagining Superman’s Kryptonian cousin for the small screen, but our pleas were answered swiftly thanks to TV Line. Today, the site released a casting breakdown detailing Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler’s vision of the iconic superheroine, and they deviate from the source material in quite a few ways.
In the books, Kara Zor-El escaped Krypton’s destruction just as Kal-El did, but arrives on Earth years after he’s already stepped into the spotlight as Superman. She has a hard time adjusting to her newfound abilities on Earth, forcing her cousin to teach her how to use her powers for good. Because Superman is currently busy on the big screen and wasn’t ever likely to show up on Supergirl, I wondered how the series would side step his place in Kara’s story. As it turns out, they’ll ignore it altogether and forge their own path, creating a new mythology around the character, which is described as follows:
Kara at age 12 was sent from her dying home planet of Krypton to Earth, where she was taken in by the Danvers, a foster family who taught her to be careful with her extraordinary powers. After repressing said skills for more than a decade, Kara is forced to bust out her super moves in public during an unexpected disaster. Energized by her heroism for the first time in her life, she begins embracing her abilities in the name of helping the people of her city, earning herself a super moniker along the way.
When the series was first announced, I was worried that it might just be another Smallville, which told the story of how Clark Kent discovered his powers and Kryptonian heritage over the course of ten years before becoming Superman. So, it’s nice to hear that the Supergirl series will, like The Flash (which Berlanti already produces), hit the ground running and begin with Kara fully aware of her capabilities and willing to harness her destiny.
As far as how Kara herself will be portrayed, the series is seeking a Caucasian actress between the ages of 22 and 26. Also being sought is a brand new character, Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, Kara’s 26 year-old foster sister, who’s described as “beautiful, science-minded and brilliant.” She is, however, both jealous and fascinated by Kara, which leads her to study alien anthropology, sociology and culture, which lands her a job at a secret government organization.
With Supergirl already making deviations from the source material, I wonder if “Alex” will eventually come to resent her foster sister, become her nemesis, and serve as the show’s version of Lex Luthor. That’s just speculation on my part, so we’ll just have to see how things play out before making any bets just yet.
Tell us, what do you think of these new details? Would you be interested in this series, or is Supergirl straying too far from the comic books? Sound off in the comments section below.
