Looks Like Superman Is Heading Back To Supergirl In Season 4 and Lex Luthor Coming?

Supergirl may star Kara Danvers in her exploits as the Girl of Steel, but she's not the only heroic Kryptonian to don a cape to save the day on Earth-38. Tyler Hoechlin joined Supergirl as Superman back in the first couple of episodes of Season 2, and he quickly proved to be just the right man for the job. Although Superman was active during the third season, his heroics were limited to taking place off-screen. The good news is that it looks like Superman will be back in the flesh in the upcoming fourth season.



The third episode of Season 4 will be titled "Man of Steel," according to SpoilerTV. No further details seem to be available at this point, but surely Supergirl wouldn't name an episode after Superman without actually bringing in Superman, right? He's probably due for a chat with his cousin after her latest villain came so close to terraforming Earth that he had to go save Madagascar. I'm guessing the super-cousins will have plenty to talk about whenever he shows up next. Given that he hasn't appeared on screen since the end of Season 2, when he was affected by silver kryptonite to the point that he attacked Kara, it's time for him to return.



The Superman of Supergirl is decidedly sunnier than the Superman who appeared on the big screen in Justice League, so perhaps his appearance could be a bit of a palate-cleanser for viewers who want something a little more uplifting than the current state of the DC Extended Universe. Considering Supergirl is tackling a legendary Superman story in Season 4, perhaps Superman could fly in for some advice and Easter eggs for comic fans looking forward to Supergirl's version of the Red Son arc.



Of course, given the new villain who will be on the scene for Season 4, Superman may not be welcome by the public in National City if he turns up again. Agent Liberty, played by Sam Witwer, will be hard at work to try and turn people against alien heroes like Supergirl, and we can bet that Superman won't be an exception to his rule. The new trans superhero could be a very valuable ally in a season featuring Agent Liberty, especially if Agent Liberty comes up with a way to take down even powerful aliens like Supergirl and Superman.



Lena Luthor is still capable of making kryptonite, and it may not take too much for her to go full villain. Assuming she eventually finds out that her BFF Kara is actually Supergirl, Lena could feel very vulnerable and betrayed, and the Luthor family isn't known for dealing with vulnerability in especially healthy ways. Basically, there are a lot of ways Supergirl could incorporate Superman into Season 4. While many of them would force him to get darker than he did in his first couple of appearances, who are we to turn down an appearance from Superman?



If Superman does indeed return in the third episode of Season 4, at least we wouldn't have to wait too long once the season kicks off. Supergirl is switching to a new night for Season 4, and you can find the details on The CW's fall TV guide. For more important dates in the coming months, check out our fall TV premiere schedule.

Two of the villain's most famous henchpeople are joining the cast of Supergirl Season 4. Could Lex Luthor be far behind?

Supergirl has done more than its share of bringing characters from Superman's world into the fold. For starters, Jimmy Olsen is in each and every episode, and we had an entire season with Cat Grant making Kara's life a little bit more anxious, and another with Metropolis' own Maggie Sawyer. The show brought Tyler Hoechlin in as Superman himself in the season two opener, which itself was loaded with Man of Steel lore. We've had plenty of one-and-done villains and minor recurring characters who come right out of the pages of Superman comics, but one has cast the longest shadow...



Lex Luthor.



The Luthor family is inescapable on Supergirl, with Kara's increasingly uneasy friendship with Lena Luthor taking the spotlight during season three, and her mother Lillian Luthor spending a considerable chunk of season two giving everyone headaches. Lex Luthor has been mentioned plenty of times, one of those awesome purple and green warsuits showed up once, and we even visited his mansion late in the third season. Still, we have yet to see his bald head.



But Supergirl Season 4 is now introducing two more characters with direct links to Superman's greatest enemy. The show just cast Rhona Mitra as Mercy Graves, familiar to Superman fans as Lex Luthor's super strong personal bodyguard. Mercy first appeared on the indispensable Superman: The Animated Series in 1996, and has since made her into the pages of DC Comics and even on the big screen for the regrettable Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (where she was played by Tao Okamoto).



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The show isn't stopping there, also introducing Robert Baker as Otis Graves. That would be Otis, as in Gene Hackman bellowing "Otis!" in his most annoyed tones in Superman: The Movie and Superman II. That bumbling Otis, who was played by the brilliant Ned Beatty never had a last name, but Supergirl has paid tribute to the Richard Donner Superman movies every chance it gets, and you don't name a character Otis in this world unless you mean it.



Right now, there have been no announcements or indications that the show is looking to cast Lex for this season. And to be perfectly clear, there are already enough villainous types lined up already with both Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer) and Manchester Black (David Ajala) lining up to lower the property values in National City. But adding two more characters with direct connections to Lex, and who have an on screen history with him (despite being blood relatives, you can't really say that about Lillian or Lena), seem to push things about as far as you can go without actually doing it. After all, the first season of Supergirl invoked Clark's name so often that it would have felt like a cheat if they didn't actually introduce the character by the time we got to season two. We might be approaching that point with Lex, as well.


I'm not suggesting they use Lex as a crutch or a season long villain. But having met Kal-El and assorted other members of the Superman supporting cast and extended family, it would be great to see what this universe's take on Lex Luthor might be. And while there seem to be no plans to bring Tyler Hoechlin's Superman back any time soon (although I can't help but notice that the third episode of the season is called "Man of Steel"), having Kara and Clark take on Lex and whatever he cooked up could make for a fine two-part episode at some point in Supergirl Season 4. It would probably be a little too much if they brought Michael Rosenbaum in (although I wouldn't complain).



In the meantime, we'll just have to content ourselves with Mercy and Otis. And considering how little these characters have been explored beyond their most basic traits, maybe that will be enough this season.



Who would you want to see play Lex Luthor if he were introduced to the DC TV universe?