Supergirl TV Series Won’t Be On The CW

Yesterday, we heard a rumor that DC Comics writer and Gotham producer Michael Green was pitching a Supergirl TV series. I was admittedly a bit skeptical about the report, but today several of the trades announced the news themselves and offered several pieces of key information.

First and foremost, Deadline reports that Michael Green will not be involved in the series. Instead, The Flash producer Greg Berlanti has teamed with No Ordinary Family‘s Ali Adler for “a new interpretation of the Supergirl character and her story.” Adler will pen the script, while DC Comics chief creative officer Geoff Johns is expected to have some part in its development as well.

Despite Berlanti’s involvement, Supergirl isn’t likely to join Arrow and The Flash on the CW. According to E! Online, the CW was the first network pitched for the series, but they apparently turned Berlanti and Adler down.

Supergirl showing up alongside Green Arrow and The Flash would have been interesting, but it makes sense for the character not to show up on the CW side of the DC TV universe. Arrow set a precedent for a more grounded approach to the characters, and though it eventually introduced superpowers and gave way to a Flash spin-off, Supergirl would feel a bit out of place. That also means that we won’t be seeing Laura Vandervoort reprising the role from her Smallville days, as that was a CW series.

The big question now is where Supergirl may end up and if the series will exist within its own universe or tie into any of the other upcoming DC shows. Gotham is likely out of the question, but I suppose an argument could be made for introducing Superman’s cousin in NBC’s Constantine. 

Personally, I’m a bit weary of getting a Supergirl series mainly because of how hard it may be to adapt her story without including Superman in some fashion. There frankly isn’t Supergirl without Superman, and their complex familial relationship is part of what makes Supergirl so interesting. Could the “new interpretation” of the character ignore the more iconic cousin altogether and focus solely on Kara Zor-El of Krypton instead? And more importantly, would fans be okay with that?