With the introduction of “Red Daughter” on Supergirl this season, series star Melissa Benoist will have spent a significant time playing at least three separate versions of her title character in the series’ life — and while the Red Daughter reveal is still a slow burn, Benoist is enjoying having the opportunity to explore a new take on Kara Zor-El.
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During a visit to the set of Supergirl, ComicBook.com was among a small group of reporters who talked to Benoist, and during the event, she talked about how she differentiates her performances of different versions of Kara.
“It’s all about the circumstance,” Benoist said. “Someone with the powers that a Kara Zor-El has, you have to really think about the way they were nurtured, where they came, from and their circumstances of becoming a superhero. Overgirl obviously [came from] a Third Reich-type scenario, so she was not using her powers for good and we all know Kara Zor-El, Kara Danvers iteration very well and that is who she is. Red Daughter, it’s really fun to play with this. The way we’re developing her this season is we’re sort of seeing how she’s nurtured and how she becomes who she is. So I kind of get to discover it as we go this season. It’s fun. I’ve not been able to do that outside of doing it with Kara Danvers.”
At the end of the season three finale, Supergirl used a Legion of Super-Heroes ring to travel back in time, after a battle with Reign (Odette Annable) turned surprisingly deadly. Once she’d traveled back in time, Kara separated Sam and Reign from each other, ultimately “killing” Reign. At the end of the episode, dark energy from the Harunel was sent to Siberia, and produced an alternate version of Kara who arrived at a military base.
Producers confirmed shortly after it aired that they were planning an homage to Superman: Red Son, a popular alternateive history story from the comics.
Superman: Red Son was a three-issue Elseworlds story from Mark Millar, which had Superman’s pod land in Soviet Russia thanks to a slight change in the Earth’s rotation. The Kryptonian then grew up as Russia’s greatest weapon, facing off against the Justice League and Lex Luthor. Fans have campaigned for the story to be adapted into animation or live-action, but no progress has been made yet.
It’s unclear exactly how much of Red Son will play a role in the events of Season 4, especially with regards to Supergirl‘s established canon and timeline. To an extent, that final scene almost feels like a sort of amalgam of Red Son and “Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton”, a 2011 storyline that sees a memory-wiped Kara land in Siberia. So it’s safe to assume that however Red Son comes to Supergirl, it will be done in a pretty unique manner.
Are you excited to see how Red Son factors into Supergirl‘s fourth season? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Supergirl airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT, before episodes of Charmed on The CW.
