Since we don't have a series following Tyler Hoechlin's Superman, Supergirl has filled the role of featuring notable Man of Steel villains in live action on the small screen. Season 1 featured heavy hitters like Livewire, Silver Banshee and Toyman, and the Season 2 premiere introduced John Corben, a.k.a. Metallo. Next week, we can add another longtime Superman adversary to the list of folks giving the Girl of Steel hell: Parasite.
The promo for next week's Supergirl episode, titled "Changing," revealed that the main hero will battle a fully CGI Parasite. Granted, the episode description released last month said that a parasite would drain Kara Zor-El of her powers, but it was never said that it would be the Parasite, who has been a member of Superman's rogue gallery since the 1960s. As you'll see when you watch the promo for yourself below, this version of the villain will somehow become infected, though it's unclear whether this is attributed to something extra terrestrial or something from Earth. Either way, just like his comic book and other media counterparts, this Parasite will start absorbing energy from any living thing he can get his hands on, eventually becoming the monstrosity seen above.
Several individuals have become Parasite in the Superman mythos, but it's been confirmed that Lost actor William Mapother is playing Rudy Jones on Supergirl, who became Parasite in the Post-Crisis DC Comics continuity. However, while Rudy was a not-too-bright janitor on the printed page, this version holds a doctor title, and judging by the preview, it looks like he's accidentally infected rather than deliberately exposed himself to...well, whatever is responsible for next week's insanity. It's bad enough that he'll be sucking the energy from every living thing he come across, but I suspect that it will be his encounter with Supergirl that accelerates his transformation and turns him into that purple creature. Hopefully along with these added abilities, this iteration of Parasite will also gain Kara's weaknesses, meaning that if there's some spare Kryptonite sitting around, the DEO can use that to neutralize him.
Fun fact, Supergirl won't be Parasite's first appearance in live action. Brendan Fletcher played a different version of Rudy Jones in Smallville Season 8 who teamed up with Livewire, Neutron and Plastique. Parasite's other TV appearances include Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Young Justice, and he also appeared in the animated movies Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and All-Star Superman. Along with Parasite's debut, "Changing" will also see Jimmy Olsen officially debuting as Guardian, among other side plots.
New episodes of Supergirl air Mondays at 8 p.m. EST/PST on The CW. Make sure to also check out our midseason premiere schedule to find out when the later-returning shows will be back.
