Supergirl kicked off its final season with a premiere that was heavy on Lex Luthor, as Jon Cryer's supervillain was in a position to deal a devastating loss to Team Supergirl and a whole lot of others. The good news for the people of the Arrowverse is that the heroes were able to stop him before his grand plan succeeded, even if Kara didn't escape the confrontation unscathed. Now that he suffered a big defeat, the question is: what does the rest of Supergirl's final season look like for Lex Luthor?
Fortunately for fans who love his special brand of villainy, Lex Luthor isn't done for the season just because he didn't come out on top in the premiere. TVLine reports that although Lex Luthor will be absent for a brief time moving forward, he will be back and looming large in the second half of Season 6.
The prospect of Jon Cryer having a large presence in the back half of the final season indicates that he could very well be the ultimate big bad of the series, especially since Kara will be away from Earth for a while and not battling any baddies on the home front. Cryer has had an on-screen presence on Supergirl since the fourth season, making him one of the series' longest-running key bad guys, and he made an impression on the larger Arrowverse courtesy of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover that changed everything.
Lex Luthor in the "Crisis" crossover means that there are already connections to the other ongoing Arrowverse shows, although Arrow has already ended since the crossover and two more (including Supergirl) are on the way out. It's not hard to imagine the Arrowverse finding ways for Lex to return after Supergirl wraps, unless the goal is for the Girl of Steel to score a definitive defeat over an iconic villain at the end of her series.
Then again, Legends of Tomorrow managed to incorporate some Flash and Arrow big bads after their defeats on their original shows, and Flash is bringing back a key Arrow character this season. As long as he's still alive when the final credits roll on Supergirl, there are plenty of ways that Lex could theoretically continue have a part to play in the Arrowverse thanks to his role in the second half of Season 6.
As for what's happening in Supergirl during the wait for Lex Luthor's return, the show will have plenty going on. Familiar faces are likely to return, although one in particular may not be at the top of the list. A version of Cat Grant is coming back, but don't expect Calista Flockhart back in the mix! Even though the big crossover that was originally planned for the 2020-2021 TV season won't be happening, there is a lot to look forward to.
New episodes of Supergirl air on The CW on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, following new episodes of The Flash. For more of what's on the way to the small screen, check out our 2021 spring TV premiere schedule.
