Even before Supergirl debuted last year, the creative team behind the show has been pretty clear that they want to keep the focus on the titular hero without letting things get overshadowed by her more famous cousin, Superman. But while he’s been used sparingly in some shots, often in the background or seen from behind, Superman will make his first legit appearance on next week’s episode. Only he won’t be much of a man, as seen by the first look below.
Yes, that’s a young boy version of Kal-El, as played by actor Daniel DiMaggio, who has yet to get shipped off to Earth prior to his home planet getting destroyed. Only, he’s not really young Superman, either, as he’s actually going to be a part of a dream world that Kara is caught up in after she falls victim to a parasitic alien. So he’s like Superman twice removed or something.
The episode, titled “For the Girl Who Has Everything,” will center on Kara’s compadres attempting to rescue her after the alien sets her up for false bliss. In the dream world, she’s back on Krypton with her younger cousin and her parents, and everything is groovy and no one is trying to make her planet go kaboom. That should be pretty interesting, as it’ll give us some insight into Kara’s ideas about happiness and at least a resemblance of what her life was like before her time in the Phantom Zone.
Part of me hopes that young Kal-El is handled fantastically, and another part of me wants to see things get overtly silly. I mean, he’s wearing a shirt with the “S” emblem on it. I know that it stands for the family’s motto in Kryptonian, but who has clothes with family mottos on them and isn’t extremely embarrassed to be wearing them? Also, just look at that hair.
He’s already got the signature Superman curl up front. I fully expect Kal-El to tell Kara that he can’t do something, but he mispronounces “can’t” as “kent” and then stutters. So he’s just saying “I Kent, I Kent,” a bunch of times. Yeah, I know that’s stupid.
Will we get to see young Supes again in the show’s future? Will Smallville’s Tom Welling step in to play an adult version of Superman at some point? Will the crossover between Supergirl and The Flash be any good? So many questions.
Supergirl airs on CBS on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET. For those keeping score, that means we’ll get to see both young Superman and young Batman on TV at the same time.
