So far during Supergirl’s run, many of the foes Kara Zor-El has faced have been enemies of her famous cousin, ranging from Vartox to Hellgrammite. Even Reactron, one of Kara’s personal foes from the printed page, had his history adjusted to say that he previously fought Superman. Now Kara is about to battle someone who is both one of the Man of Steel’s weirder villains and occasionally one of her adversaries in the comics. Chasing Life star Italia Ricci has been added to the show in a recurring role as Silver Banshee, and let’s just say her appearance will be a real scream.
When we first meet Ricci’s character in Episode 14 next year, she’ll be Siobhan Smythe, Cat Grant’s newest hire. EW reports that she’ll start out as Kara’s “work place nemesis,” but she'll eventually make the jump to supervillain and fight the Girl of Steel as Silver Banshee. She will be the second Supergirl antagonist to be directly connected to CatCo Worldwide Media, preceded by former radio shock-jock Leslie Willis, a.k.a. Livewire. Her recurring status will also put her on equal footing with other villains who are appearing often, like Kara’s aunt Alura Zor-El, Maxwell Lord and the soon-to-be-seen Non.
In the comics, Silver Banshee (originally named Siobhan McDougal) hailed from a Gaelic clan in an island between Scotland and Ireland. After going through an ancient ritual following the death of her father, a being known as The Crone gave her special abilities like super strength, super speed and producing powerful hypersonic screams. She then traveled to the United States to track down occult books previously owned by her father, and when Superman interfered after she had killed several people, their decades-long feud was established. Following the New 52 relaunch, Silver Banshee popped up again in Supergirl #7, and this time around she helped the Girl of Steel, though whether she’ll stay a good guy is debatable. As for the new TV version of Silver Banshee, it’s unclear whether she’ll also gain her powers via supernatural mysticism or if they’ll be based in science.
Silver Banshee has appeared in animated projects like Justice League Unlimited and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, and was previously played in live-action by Odessa Rae in the Smallville episode “Escape.” As for Ricci, she’s most well known for playing April Carver in the ABC Family series Chasing Life, and her resume also includes appearances on Aaron Stone, Secret Girlfriend and Unnatural History.
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
