CBS' 'Supergirl' is rare female superhero, embracing her powers
BURBANK, Calif. — Watch out, villains! Superman has a crime-fighting cousin: Supergirl.
The younger hero, a Krypton native who resisted her superpowers growing up, embraces them as a 24-year-old who protects her earthly home, National City, from an intergalactic criminal onslaught in CBS’ Supergirl (Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT).
“It’s all brand-new. She’s just happy to use her powers at all,” says Melissa Benoist, who plays TV’s newest superhero and her alter ego, Kara Danvers, a mild-mannered assistant for a great, metropolitan multimedia empire.
“I like to think of this season as a crash course in how to be a superhero,” she says. “It’s about someone learning and understanding who they are and how to harness their strength and use it to be the best possible person they can be.”
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And to fight nasty villains, save National City and try out some very cool powers.
“Every time I’m flying, I’m having a blast,” Benoist says on set, clad in her Colleen Atwood-designed outfit, complete with knee-high boots, short skirt and leather cape, all in red, contrasted by a textured blue jersey sporting the iconic red “S.”
The fun of entering the DC Comics canon can’t be underestimated, says Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy), who plays Alex Danvers, Kara/Supergirl’s adoptive sister and a top scientist and operative at a secret agency.
“Everybody’s inner nerd loves the comics and that whole life,” says Leigh, decked out in an all-black agency ensemble complete with a utility belt that might make Batman envious.
Executive producer Greg Berlanti, who has had success overseeing CW's DC Comics-inspired Arrow and The Flash, sees a connection between Benoist and Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in Richard Donner’s 1978 film.
“Melissa’s very optimistic and hopeful, qualities you see in Kara,” he says. “She exhibits what I think (Reeve) did in terms of that affability and familiarity. When she’s Supergirl, it’s that same innocence that he had as Superman, but still that inherent goodness. It’s just so cool to be part of something that honors that tradition."
Supergirl’s optimism is closer to The Flash than the darker Arrow, Berlanti says.
“The mythology is epic. You can go off-planet and (have) flashbacks to Krypton,” he says. And the workplace comedy component is different, too. “The fact that we’re able to do a little bit of that screwball comedy (Superman was) able to do so successfully makes it a little different.”
In a field long dominated by men, Supergirl provides a superhero role model for girls and young women, but she symbolizes values anyone could admire, Benoist says. That could help on CBS, which offers an opportunity to attract a broader audience than the smaller CW, but also greater expectations.
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Supergirl is a positive thinker, Benoist says. “She’s all about hope and being good and kindness and doing the right thing, helping others. It’s not always all about her.”