Supergirl is currently in the middle of the big hiatus between Seasons 2 and 3, and fans have been waiting for news of what's to come when the show returns in the fall. Details about the plot are still pretty scarce, but we do know that one character is going to look very different in any future appearances on Supergirl. The role of Alura has officially been recast. In true Supergirl fashion, the actress who will tackle the role moving forward is a veteran of another Super series. Erica Durance of Smallville will play Alura in Season 3.
Erica Durance is replacing Laura Benanti, who played Kara's mom Alura (and Alura's twin sister Astra) in the first two seasons of Supergirl. Benanti will no longer be able to participate in Supergirl due to work commitments that keep her in New York and far from Vancouver, where the series films. Durance will step into Benanti's shoes for a recurring arc as Alura.
It's sad that we'll have to say goodbye to Laura Benanti on Supergirl, but the casting of Erica Durance is definitely reason to be excited. She's the latest in a string of legacy castings that have brought actors from Superman projects in to interact with the current Girl of Steel. Durance played Lois Lane herself on Smallville, joining the series in Season 4 and sticking around all the way to the very end in Season 10. This marks the second time that a significant Smallville actor joins the team at Supergirl. Laura Vandervoort, who played Kara Danvers in Smallville, appeared as the villainess Indigo in Supergirl Season 1.
Laura Vandervoort and Erica Durance certainly aren't the only veterans of DC Comics-based projects who have showed up on The CW series. Kara's foster parents are played by Helen Slater, who played the title role in the 1984 film Supergirl, and Dean Cain, who played Clark Kent/Superman for all four seasons of Lois and Clark. Teri Hatcher played Lois on Lois and Clark, and she tackled the role of the evil Queen Rhea in Supergirl Season 2. We even got former Wonder Woman Lynda Carter for a few appearances. Now all we need is for Brandon Routh to cross over from Legends of Tomorrow.
It should be interesting to see what kind of recurring arc Supergirl is planning for Erica Durance as Alura. The character (and her twin sister) are both dead in the present on Supergirl, although both have appeared in Kara's flashbacks and dream sequences. Alura has also been the face of Kara's artificial intelligence hologram, giving Kara a way to speak with the image of her mother. Assuming Supergirl doesn't plan on resurrecting Alura after she (along with most of the other Kryptonians) was destroyed along with the planet, Erica Durance will likely be playing a flashback or artificial intelligence version of the character. We'll have to wait and see.
We're getting a brand new villain in Season 3, and she is distinctly different from the big bads of the first two seasons. Maggie Sawyer will be around less, but another character will be appearing a lot more frequently. Check out our breakdown of what we know so far about Supergirl Season 3 for a peek ahead, and take a gander at our summer TV guide to discover what you can watch while we wait for Supergirl to return in the fall.
