Supergirl has always done a very good job of taking characters from other DC comics and having them turn up in National City, including several characters from the Superman mythos. Now, yet another Superman adjacent character is heading to the show, and this one is another big time villain. Prepare yourselves, Supergirl fans. Cyborg Superman is headed Kara's way. Just take a look at the official synopsis for the episode.
While Guardian (Mehcad Brooks) tries to clear his name after being accused of a murder committed by another vigilante, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) heads out on a solo mission to rescue Mon-El (Chris Wood) who has been captured by CADMUS. While fighting to free Mon-El, Supergirl comes face to face with Cyborg Superman.
Supergirl released the official episode synopsis today, and, well, it looks like we're going to be in for some more super action when this episode finally rolls around on November 21. And, isn't Cadmus exactly the type of place where we should expect for Supergirl to come into contact with an evil, cyborg version of her heroic cousin? Man, this is probably going to be a real, difficult trip for her when she finally sees Cyborg Superman and has to actually fight him off.
Cyborg Superman was created by Dan Jurgens for the Adventures of Superman #500 comic in 1993. The character was first personified in the comics as Hank Henshaw, but this Hank was very different from the version of the character that we now know and love as the hiding-in-plain-sight Martian Manhunter. The comic version of Hank was a NASA astronaut who was exposed, along with his wife and the rest of their crew, to a solar flare that damaged their ship and everyone inside. The entire crew began to mutate, and, tragically, everyone except for Hank eventually committed suicide after returning to Earth. When Hank realizes that the solar flare was caused by Superman throwing a villain into the sun during a battle, it is, as they say, ON. He now blames Superman for the whole catastrophe (and, to be fair, it is kinda his fault), including the death of his wife, and decides to get revenge. After some scientific shenanigans involving Kryptonian tech, Hank manages to upload his consciousness into a body identical to Superman's, albeit with some cybernetic parts. Cyborg Superman would go on to be a recurring villain for Superman, as well as Green Lantern.
Well, damn. Supergirl is going to come into contact with yet another villain tough enough to battle Superman. Considering that she's going to find him at Cadmus, it's incredibly likely that this version of the character was helped along by the scientists there, instead of having his cyborg status being totally self-inflicted. Really, for a group that wants to eradicate all alien life on Earth, Cyborg Superman would be the perfect weapon to try accomplishing that goal.
We can all see how Kara handles herself against Cyborg Superman and other threats when Supergirl airs Mondays on The CW.
