Supergirl’s Cadmus Director Revealed

Spoilers ahead for tonight’s episode of Supergirl, titled “Crossfire.”

Tonight on Supergirl, one of the season’s big mysteries was resolved — surprisingly quickly.

That’s right, folks: we now know the identity of the mysterious director of Cadmus: the mother of Lex and Lena Luthor.

In the comics, it’s Lex and Lena’s mother who generally drives story. His wife has rarely had much of a role.

In the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era, Lex Luthor’s career in white collar crime began in earnest when he faked his parents’ deaths and claimed their insurance money as a teenager; he would use that money to launch his company.

In other iterations, Lex inherited his company from his father — that’s the version of the story that played out in both Smallville and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Mama Luthor wasn’t named in the episode, although in the comics her name was Letitia (continuing with the double-L theme that gave us Lex, Lena, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, Lori Lemaris, and about 80% of everyone who ever played a major role in Superman’s life). In Smallville, she continued that with the name Lillian, while in the pre-Crisis comics (in which Lex was adopted, so perhaps this will be the inspiration for Supergirl, her name was Arlene.

That version of the character was present when Lex’s father kicked him out for being a disgrace to the family, holding a toddler-aged Lena at the time.

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.