'Supergirl': American Alien Trailer Reveals New Suit

A new teaser trailer for the upcoming season of Supergirl has given fans a look at Melissa Benoist's new costume for the Girl of Steel.

The trailer, which highlights the show's move to Sunday nights, also features looks at new villains and new characters including Dreamer and Agent Liberty.

The purpose of Supergirl's new costume is not yet clear in-story, although it is likely that it helped get episodes made while series lead Benoist was on Broadway at the start of filming this summer. An opaque face mask likely means that Benoist's stunt double could do most of the work in everything but close-ups.

As for the appearance, it looks a bit like the space suit Emil Hamilton designed for Superman in the DC Animated Universe, so it could be explained that Supergirl is using it while traveling between Earth and visiting her mother in space.

Elements of the new suit are shared with Supergirl's new costume in the comics, although that might be coincidence more than intentional coordination.

As fans of the series will recall, Supergirl's third season ended with J'onn (David Harewood) stepping down as director of the DEO, Winn (Jeremy Jordan) going with the Legion of Super-Heroes into the future, and perhaps most shockingly, an alternate version of Kara (Melissa Benoist) popping up in Siberia. It turns out that this alt-Kara's appearance -- complete with the appearance of military men who spotted her walking towards them -- was a very deliberate reference to the 2003 Superman: Red Son miniseries by DC Comics.

"For fans of the comics, I think they might recognize that the story we want to tell is inspired by the iconic DC Comics' Red Son, which told an alternate origin story for Superman," showrunner Robert Rovner told TV Line.

"What happened if -- as a baby -- Superman landed in Russia and became a here there instead of in America?" showrunner Jessica Queller added. "It's an homage to that."

That homage will include the introduction of some new characters, including Agent Liberty, played by Sam Witwer. Witwer is probably best known by DC fans from his role as Smallville's Davis Bloome/Doomsday, making him the latest Smallville alumni to join the ranks of Supergirl after Laura Vandervoort and Erica Durance.

"We love it, and we think the fans love it," showrunner Robert Rovner said of the show's legacy casting last year. "We love seeing people that we know and are familiar with step into other roles. And what's great about them is that they're all wonderful actors as well. So, you get the excitement of seeing them in the new role, but they also bring a lot when they take on these new characters."

What do you think of this first look at Supergirl's fourth season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The fourth season of Supergirl will debut on Sunday, October 14th, at 8/7c on The CW.