Earlier this week, The CW finally released fans’ first look at Reign as she will appear when she turns evil on Supergirl later this season.
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Not long ago, a sizzle reel teaser for the season depicted an alien-looking character with crackling, gray skin — not unlike Reign’s comic book appearance — and set us to speculating that we may have already had our first look at the villain.
Instead, the version of Reign officially unveiled today plays to The CW‘s strengths a bit more, with the lovely Odette Annable masked and wearing a black leather/spandex costume that looks a bit like Reign’s comics garb ultimately still looking very human.
It makes some sense, given that what little we know about Reign so far is that she is definitively a Kryptonian, and that she has managed to live without realizing as much for years leading up to a surprising event in the season premiere.
Still, one must now wonder who that gray-skinned, dark-eyed alien was — and whether Reign might continue to evolve throughout the season.
For now, let’s take a tour through the photo we have to see how it measures up to expectations and what changes were made.
3) The crest
4) It feels like an intentional homage to Zod’s costume in Superman II
5) The mask — not included in the comics version. Could she just be hiding her face because she is a public figure, or is this because she is starting to become disfigured, on the road to her eventual comics appearance?
Supergirl airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
The Armor
The leather armor worn over the cloth of the uniform is reminiscent of the comics.
The metallic hairpiece worn at the end of her braid is reminiscent of her long brad in the comics, too, although the headpiece that matches that armor in the comics is gone, replaced by a mask (more on that later) — and the metallic bit itself is apsent there (see below).
The giant, metal shoulderpad of the comics is absent here, replaced by a layered leather armor and leather gauntlets that echo the look and feel of Reign’s comics armor without presenting the actress with the impracticality of having to wear and fight in heavy, metal pieces of gear — especially on one side.
It is also worth noting that the belt in the TV costume looks very similar to both Reign’s costume in the comics and Superman’s current belt, post-Rebirth. Here, it is one of the only bits that features metallic details.
The Fabric
The fabric choice and knee-high bootss of Reign’s costume feel a bit like a dark reflection of Supergirl.
With a Kryptonian and then a Daxamite villain, one could argue that Supergirl has been fighting an evil version of herself in each of the first three seasons, although with Reign that feels more literally true, given the similarities in their costumes.
Even the cape, which in the comics is white and made of cloth, is a reflection of Supergirl’s here, with a sturdier, leathery look (and black, becuase everything here is a shade of black).
The fabric, seams, and more all feel like the TV version of Supergirl’s costume, making it fairly clear (along with the crest on her chest — more on that later) that Reign is designed to appear as Supergirl.
A Familiar Look…
Have you noticed that this costume feels a little bit Zod-inspired?
In both Superman II and Man of Steel, the two best-known live-action adaptations of the character, Zod wore a militaristic outfit in straight-up black — and of course, in Man of Steel, Zod got a bodysuit just like Superman’s, complete with a crest on his chest, but all black.
That’s what this feels like, a bit: she has Supergirl’s costume, but all in black, and featuring black, metallic (and occasionally silver-ish) highlights and a crest.
The Crest
The crest here looks like the closest thing we get to Kryptonian hieroglyphics or some other kind of visual language yet.
Like the House of El’s crest (and unlike most others seen in the TV shows and movies), the sigil here is recognizably a THING — in this case, a skull with some odd detailing.
So…what to make of it? We aren’t sure…
The Mask
The mask was not included in the comics version.
Could she just be hiding her face because she is a public figure, or is this because she is starting to become disfigured, on the road to her eventual comics appearance?
Either way, this is where we get the closest thing we have to the tiara/headpiece of the comics version, although here, the jagged top of it feels more in line with the comics look and/or the gauntlets than anything else.
