Warning: major spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of Supergirl.
The last episode of Supergirl Season 1 was as close to a bright and sunny happily-ever-after as could be expected, but the cliffhanger certainly means that some of us will be losing sleep to speculate. The crash of a Kryptonian pod identical to the one that brought little Kara to Earth is a heck of a way to close a first season, and now that Cadmus is in the mix as a malevolent force to all things alien, the little space traveler may end up in distinctly unfriendly hands. Cadmus is infamous in DC lore for genetic engineering, and if this pod contains what we think, it’s looking like Cadmus may soon be creating the recipe for a Superboy.
In his modern incarnation, Superboy – also known as Connor Kent – is a clone grown from a combination of the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor. He was created at Cadmus as a superpowered resource to serve their agenda rather than truth, justice, and the American way. Basically, Superboy would be a perfect character for Supergirl insofar as he’s connected to the Kryptonian mythos but isn’t such an A-list character that the show would have trouble getting the rights to use him. A Boy of Steel feature film isn’t exactly on the DC roster at the moment.
The traditional Superboy story is obviously very Superman-centric, but Supergirl has proven that it does not stick solely to comic canon for storytelling. The ending with the crashed pod could be a big clue that Supergirl could be creating a Superboy with an origin story that revolves more around Supergirl rather than Superman. Instead of Cadmus using Superman’s DNA to cook up a clone, Cadmus could harvest the DNA from the latest Kryptonian arrival to Earth to grow a Superboy with a story entirely original to Supergirl.
The foundation for Cadmus being the kind of organization to experiment on aliens with impunity is already there. Back in the episode that introduced Cadmus, James Olsen revealed that the horrific methods of experimentation are why Superman refuses to work directly with the U.S. government. In fact, the idea that Cadmus clones might come into the mix is so solid that Supergirl executive producer Andrew Kreisberg is already dodging the question of whether or not the arrival of the pod implies the future introduction of Superboy.
Of course, even if the pod doesn’t contain the main ingredient for a future Connor Kent, the odds are still pretty good for a Superboy in Season 2. The Season 1 finale set the stage for the Danvers sisters to make a move on Cadmus to try to rescue Jeremiah. We can bet that Supergirl has more in store for Cadmus than just keeping one man locked up for a decade, and a Superboy grown from Clark Kent’s genetic material would give Supergirl a way to finally get Superman without actually getting Superman. Considering how often the show likes to drop references to Kara’s cousin, another form of Kal-El on Earth wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Maybe Kara and Alex will stumble upon a frozen clone of the super-relative while on their mission to rescue their dad.
Supergirl has not yet been renewed for a second season at CBS, but we can hope that Kara and Co. will be back in the fall to tangle with Cadmus and more. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any updates to what we know so far about a Season 2, and be sure to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to see what shows you can watch while you wait for the return of Supergirl.
