Supergirl season 4 was set to add Star Trek: The Next Generation legend Brent Spiner to its line-up in the important recurring role of the Vice President of the United States. Unfortunately, though, Spiner’s had to step back from the part due to a family issue. And instead of rewriting scripts until the actor may become available again, Supergirl‘s production team has decided to just recast the role completely.
In place of Spiner, they’ve gone for another sci-fi icon from the 1990s. Bruce Boxleitner, most known for his role in Babylon 5, will be stepping into Spiner’s shoes to play Vice President Baker. Presumably, the character description released online a few weeks ago is still relevant, in which case Baker is set to be “adept and politically minded,” and “makes for an unlikely leader, but steps up in a big way when his country needs him most.”
As we previously theorized, this description doesn’t bode well for President Olivia Marsdin, as played by Wonder Woman icon Lynda Carter. The actress recently revealed that she was returning to The CW show for the first time since season 2, so we hoped we might see a lot more of her this year. However, it looks like something happens to Marsdin, which means Baker has to step in and take charge of the country.
Boxleitner’s casting follows a common trend for Supergirl to find roles for stars of cult 90s shows. Lois & Clark‘s Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain have both appeared on the series various times over its first four seasons, while Hercules‘ Kevin Sorbo also played Mon-El’s dad Lar Gand for a few episodes of season 2.
Other new additions this season include Sam Witwer as Agent Liberty, the charismatic cult leader of the Sons of Liberty, Rhona Mitra and Robert Baker as Mercy and Otis Graves, two of Lex Luthor’s henchmen who’ve now gone solo, and on the side of the angels, Nicola Maines will be TV’s first ever trans superhero, Nia Nal.
Supergirl season 4 flies onto screens on Sunday, October 14th.
