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The New Season Of ‘Supergirl’: How Will It Be Affected By The Appearance Of Superman

By Daniel Ketchum
Published on: 14:51 PST, Sep 18, 2016

Following its freshman season on CBS, the hit show Supergirl will kick off its second season on the CW with the long awaited for appearance of Superman. During the first season on CBS, the Man of Steel was frequently referenced and occasionally teased, but now will – presumably – be making multiple appearances alongside his younger cousin. The question is, how will the inclusion of this better-known character affect Supergirl the show and Supergirl the character?

As reported some time ago by Entertainment Weekly, the character of Superman will be portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin of Teen Wolf fame. Instead of fur and fangs, he now gets a snazzy suit and a cape. While not exactly a clone of Christopher Reeve or Tom Welling, most people seem to think his appearance will do the job.

After all, if you put any reasonably fit dark-haired actor in Superman’s costume, he’s going to look roughly like Superman. As long as he can act, he should be perfectly fine. But most people are less concerned about the looks of the actor playing the role than the arrival of the character in the show.

For many viewers, the character of Supergirl has come to represent the kind of strong, female superhero that the two principal superhero cinematic universes – Marvel and DC – have failed to provide on the big screen. Yes, you have had characters like Black Widow or Wonder Woman, but as of yet, their solo films haven’t appeared in theaters.

This is why some people feel a bit of concern about the idea that “poor little Supergirl” might end up being rescued on a regular basis by her better-known relative from Krypton. If this actually happens, it would seriously damage the image of the show’s principal character and might lead to a loss of viewership.

Actress Melissa Benoist attends The Paley Center For Media’s 33rd Annual PALEYFEST Los Angeles “Supergirl” at Dolby Theatre. [Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]

There is some reason to be worried about this since in at least one episode of the first season, a barely seen Superman did, in fact, save Supergirl during a big fight at the cliché junkyard. While this was essentially a one-off, it’s not inconceivable that it could start happening frequently.

On the other hand, it’s important to keep in mind that Greg Berlanti – the principal creative mind behind Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow– has made a considerable effort to include strong female characters in all of the shows. In fact, it could be argued that the character of Sarah – a.k.a. White Canary – is essentially Black Widow for television viewers.

In fact, aside from the appearance of Superman on the show, there are many other things happening in the new season that fans have to be concerned about. Most fans are perfectly happy – and even enthusiastic – about the move to the CW with its other Berlanti superheroes. But the move to the CW was accompanied by a move to Vancouver from Los Angeles.

This physical move could affect the show in many ways. For example, the look of the show will most likely change from its current bright, Southern California appearance. Vancouver doesn’t look a lot like LA. Another problem caused by the move is that the popular character of Cat Grant – played by Calista Flockhart – will probably go from being a regular to an occasional guest star.

And while most Supergirl viewers are extremely excited about the prospect of Supergirl more easily interacting with her fellow CW superheroes, this could also cause problems. As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune, the show runners found it extremely difficult to coordinate the three shows they had on the CW. So adding Supergirl won’t be easy.

Throwing Superman into the mix may complicate things even more. It’s probably safe to assume that Superman won’t only be appearing on Supergirl itself. If – as seems likely – the upcoming season of The Flash is leading toward the Flashpoint story arc, it would almost have to involve Superman.

[Featured Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]

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