Supergirl Casts Transformers Veteran Glenn Morshower as General Sam Lane

Recognizable character actor Glenn Morshower, probably best known for his turns in 24, X-Men: First Class and the Transformers franchise, will play General Sam Lane, father to Lois and Lucy Lane, on CBS' Supergirl, IGN reports.

The Supergirl version of General Lane is described as a powerful military lifer -- and an overprotective father to both Lucy Lane and her sister, Lois. His arrival in National City stirs up trouble for Supergirl when he enlists her in a dangerous government initiative.

In the comics, Sam Lane has been depicted in a number of different ways over the years -- but pretty much always as a hard-edged military man who has difficulty communicating his love for his children. At one point in the pre-Flashpoint universe, he was the Secretary of Defense when Lex Luthor was President. Later, he would experiment on Lucy to give her a simulation of Kryptonian powers, resulting in her briefly taking up the Superwoman identity.

In the New 52, he has often been the Superman titles' military stand-in; he and Lex Luthor tortured Superman early in his career (during Grant Morrison's Action Comics run) in the hopes of getting information about his powers and whether he posed a danger to the world.

So far in the TV show, Lane has been connected to the Red Tornado military project. It seems likely he will tie into the Maxwell Lord storyline, as well, although that's not confirmed. Lucy will appear as a recurring character as well, and will be introduced before her father first appears.

Supergirl is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El, Superman's (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents' help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex, and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later, at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant. She works alongside her friend and IT technician Winn Schott and famous photographer James Olsen, who Grant just hired away from the Daily Planet to serve as her new art director. However, Kara's days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw, head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.

The Supergirl series premiere airs Monday, October 26 at 8:30 PM. The series will then move to its regular Monday 8 PM slot the following week, November 2.