Supergirl Casts Odette Annable as Reign, Season 3's Big Bad

Cloverfield and Pure Genius alum Odette Annable has joined the third-season cast of The CW‘s Supergirl in the role of Reign.

Supergirl-Reign-Annable — (Photo: The CW/Warner Bros. TV)

Warner Bros. Television confirms that “Reign will be the big bad of Season 3, as part of an exciting interpretation of the infamous World Killer storyline from the pages of the DC Comics.”

Videos by ComicBook.com

“Greg [Berlanti] and I have wanted to work with Odette for years,” said executive producer Andre Kreisberg. “We are beyond excited to have her join our cast in the scary, powerful and heartbreaking role of Reign.”

This is one that’s objectively and undoubtedly a Supergirl villain — something that the show has often found in short supply as fans have been treated to shared Superman/Supergirl villains, or even just Superman villains reinvented for the TV show.

Introduced in 2012, Reign is a Worldkiller and her origin is a mystery even to her. All she knows about herself is her name, that she is a Worldkiller, and that Krypton and Earth hold the answers for her questions about her origin.

In the comics, she attempted to find her answers on Krypton, only to arrive and find it already destroyed. She tracked down the remains of Argo City, and ultimately made her way to Earth to face off with Supergirl.

Reign would be a solid character to include because she has very little story to fall back on, so writers could build a life around what’s there and have flexibility without too badly breaking what comics fans expect.

Supergirl is an action-adventure drama based on the DC character Kara Zor-El, (Melissa Benoist) 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 (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret.

Years later, Kara was living in National City and still concealing her powers, when a plane crash threatened Alex’s life and Kara took to the sky to save her. Now, Kara balances her work as a reporter for CatCo Worldwide Media with her work for the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO), a super-secret government organization whose mission is to keep National City – and the Earth – safe from sinister threats. At the DEO, Kara works for J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood), the Martian Manhunter, and alongside her sister, Alex, and best friend, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan). Also in Kara’s life are media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), a photo journalist who moonlights as Guardian, a masked vigilante, Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), and Mon-El of Daxam (Chris Wood), whose planet was ravaged by Krypton’s destruction. As Kara struggles to navigate her relationships and her burgeoning life as a reporter, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.

Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, SUPERGIRL is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Andrew Kreisberg (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Robert Rovner (“Private Practice,” “Dallas”) and Jessica Queller (“Gilmore Girls,” “Gossip Girl,” “Felicity”).

More Supergirl news: