‘Supergirl’ Casts Louis Ozawa Changchien as The Elite’s “The Hat”

Kidding and Man in the High Castle actor Louis Ozawa Changchien will play the role of The Hat in Supergirl, ComicBook.com has learned exclusively.

According to The CW, fans will meet The Hat in episode 4.13, entitled “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice And The American Way?” In the episode, The Hat will team up with Manchester Black, Menagerie and The Morae to take on not only Supergirl but the Children of Liberty.

If that title is familiar to you, that’s because it is the title of the story that first introduced Manchester Black and The Elite to the world back in Action Comics #775 by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke. In the issue, The Elite use force to try and prove that Superman treats criminals too gently, and that the world would be better if he stepped aside and let the truly “strong” rule — but that does not work out particularly well for them.

We named the issue as one of our favorite Superman stories ever back in 2013 when fans were excited about Man of Steel. It has also been adapted to film as the movie Superman vs. The Elite, which we thought was pretty good. In any event, this story (like the old “Must There Be a Superman?” story from the ’70s, which inspired some elements of Kingdom Come) explores Superman’s role in the world, not just as “guy who fights bad guys,” but as something larger–the guy who has to be the moral compass for the other heroes of the world. Superman is so vastly powerful, he could do serious damage to villains–and the rest of the planet–if he wasn’t such a supremely decent person. For that reason, he’s often underestimated as soft, weak or (in the case of readers) uninteresting. This story sees him let loose — if briefly — to illustrate why he can’t do so more often.

Louis Ozawa Changchien can now be seen recurring on Amazon’s Showtime’s Kidding opposite Catherine Keener and Jim Carrey. Other TV highlights include Amazon’s Man in the High Castle, Robert Rodriguez’s El-Rey series Matador, the final season of True Blood, and the upcoming Netflix series Another Life. Often remembered for his work in Predators and The Bourne Legacy he is equally comfortable in high action roles as he is in deep dramatic parts.

Supergirl airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, before episodes of Charmed.