We’re learning more about Supergirl‘s first season from the Television Critics Association press tour, including some casting and discussion of crossovers.
Livewire casting
First, Brit Morgan has been cast as DC Comics villain Livewire for an episode in Supergirl season 1, reports Variety. Livewire, aka Leslie, “is a confident, abrasive and funny shock-jock who works for CatCo Media, the conglomerate owned by Cat Grant. When an accident makes her as dangerous and shocking as her words, Supergirl must stop her.”
Morgan’s credits include True Blood, Graceland and The Middleman.
Previously announced characters
Next, we’re also hearing a bit more about some characters who we’ve already learned will appear. We learned at Comic-Con that Peter Facinelli would be playing Maxwell Lord, a character who has been both hero and villain.
Of Maxwell Lord, EP Greg Berlanti said at the TCAs, “He’s around a lot. He’s having his own origin story so it’s not exactly the Maxwell Lord from the comic books, he’s becoming, in some ways, his own version of that character.”
We also reported from the TCAs that Red Tornado, Non and General Sam Lane would all be appearing in Supergirl season 1.
Red Tornado is an android who can project whirlwinds from his arms. In this first live action incarnation of the character, he will have “an affiliation” with General Sam Lane, revealed Berlanti. We’ll also be seeing Red Tornado’s creator, the villainous T.O. Morrow, in this season of Supergirl.
In terms of General Sam Lane, the father of Lois and Lucy Lane, Supergirl will take a “classic approach” with the character, previewed EP Andrew Kreisberg.
The general has “always been an antagonist for Superman in that he has a very conservative view of Kryptonians — which used to involve Superman and is now being shared by his cousin — that Earth should be for Earthlings and aliens are not to be trusted. So he’s going to be bringing what had been an antagonism for Superman to bear on National City.”
Of crossovers…
In her session at the TCAs, CBS president Nina Tassler was initially resistant to the idea of crossovers between Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash. She revealed there would be some cross-promotion but no plans for a crossover episode. However, she would go on to backtrack a bit.
“I’m a little bit of a superhero geek and I have a lot of respect for what characters inhabit certain universes,” she said. “And people think, ‘Oh yeah, just pick up one character and let them fly over!’ If you’re in another setting, you really have to be respectful and mindful of what each universe says you can and can’t do.
“Obviously, we’re working very closely with DC and our producers and Greg Berlanti is sort of the poster child for this field, so I’m just saying right now we’re not doing it. We’re doing it promotionally. But, look, we’ll always stay open [to it]. They’re very, very inventive in terms of what they can and will do in the future.”
CW president Mark Pedowitz added of potential crossovers, “I leave that to Greg Berlanti and his team. If they can make it work, that’s great. If they cannot, that’s fine. But we’re open to crossovers. As you know, we are going to do some cross promotion together in terms of pushing all the shows. But that’s Greg’s call because he understands his shows better than I do in some ways, because he’s there.”
Supergirl premieres Monday, October 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS.