We’re just a few weeks away from the big Supergirl premiere. If you’ve been to Comic-Con or seen the jumbo trailer for the new CBS drama, you probably already know that Superman has been referenced a lot in the new drama, although he isn’t an actual character on the show. Recently, executive producer Sarah Shechter bluntly explained why Superman is not going to be an onscreen character in Supergirl.
I think the reason why Superman’s not in the show is because it’s not about him. And it’s her show and it’s about her and he is just sort of a shadow in the back of her psyche, and I think that’s the right way to portray him because that’s how she experiences it.
She has a point. Ever since Supergirl was announced, it’s been clear that this is a show about Kara Danvers and not a show about her terrific cousin. However, fans have clearly still been a little excited about the potential for one of the most popular superheroes ever to show up, especially when we learned someone had actually been cast as Superman. (We won’t spoil a moment from the pilot for you, but there’s definitely a way for the character to show up without really showing up.) It’s probably a little tiring to have to talk about Superman when you are trying to build the only wholly female-oriented superhero show on TV (Jessica Jones is retired, after all, and the Legends of Tomorrow team, like Arrow, features a mix of genders).
Hitfix caught up with Shechter and some of the other producers during a press tour and also asked if the Superman referenced in the TV show would be the same as the Superman in one of the movies. Since DC’s TV universe is not really crossing over with the company’s movie universe, there seems to be an obvious answer, but executive producer Andrew Kreisberg also explained that there’s really not a tie-in.
It’s not the Christopher Reeve version. It’s not the Henry Cavill version. It’s a version of Superman and what he has gone through in the world that we live in and the things that he’s faced and what’s happened to him vis-a-vis how it reflects on Kara is all our invention.
Basically, enough speculation on Superman. Supergirl is a story about Kara Danvers, focusing on Kara Danvers. And that’s exactly how CBS likes it. You can find out more about Supergirl with our what we know guide. In addition, you can check out what else has yet to premiere this fall with our fall TV premiere schedule.
