Not a week goes by without Supergirl delivering moments worthy of the show’s comic book source material, recently showcased in the Flash crossover episode. Tonight’s “Myriad” brought back another of the Girl of Steel’s most famous comic acquaintance, as Supergirl once again saw Superman himself enter the episode for a cameo that, though brief and distant, is the CBS drama’s best use of the iconic superhero yet.
The episode’s title refers to the ridiculously effective master plan put into play by the evil Non, which allows him to control the brains and actions of basically anyone he wants, and he definitely wants to control a LOT of people’s minds. The far-reaching scale of Non’s powers was more than enough justification for Kara to want help from someone outside of National City, with her super-cousin Clark as the obvious perfect option. And after he sent her a super-text saying that he was currently heading over, she saw him flying in…but not to actually save the day or do anything good. He landed in the midst of everyone who was being controlled by Non, having also fallen under Myriad’s sway.
As Max explains, Superman’s time on Earth definitely doesn’t help him in this situation, as that’s exactly what made Myriad so effective in taking him over. Now, we don’t get to see Superman doing anything drastically awful in the name of Non, but that one little moment could set up some pretty interesting ramifications for the DC TV universe. Not that we expect Superman to become a major character on any of these shows anytime soon, but it’s pretty crazy that this episode was a broad strokes blueprint for how to use him to do one’s evil bidding, meaning any of his other enemies could just “borrow” the Myriad approach to turn Metropolis into a demolished ghost town.
You can check out Supes’ moment in the video below.
Yeah, we totally expect Supergirl to wrap this storyline up with Kara learning that her cousin developed some kind of power that makes him immune to Myriad in the future, in an effort to quash my previous doomsayer mentality. Still, Lex Luthor needs to get in touch with Non for some brainstorming sessions, stat.
Previous appearances from Superman proper on Supergirl have been very close to this one, in that you’re mostly just looking at a human shape flying around, though we did get to meet a “real” Kal-el earlier this season, although he was just a kid living on Krypton, and even then he was all just part of Kara’s villain-induced dreamscape. In any case, tonight’s super-cameo was a great way to make two seconds of being on screen count, and it was more intriguing than those other instances.
Could Season 2, assuming it happens, lead to more Superman visiting National City in some way, shape or form? Will he forever be on the side of evil after falling under Non’s mental clutches? Will there be anyone, hero or villain, that can control Cat Grant’s mind? For now, we wait.
Gearing up for the end of Season 1, Supergirl airs Monday nights on CBS.
