Supergirl: First Official Look at New Season 5 Suit

The CW’s Supergirl made headlines last week when series star Melissa Benoist revealed a bold new super suit for the titular heroine in the show’s upcoming fifth season, one that abandons the costume’s familiar skirt for a more streamlined and practical jumpsuit-style pants. Now, at the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday, fans got their best look yet at the suit thanks to a brand new official image.

As you can see in the image below, the suit retains the familiar cape and while blue is the dominant color — hey, they call Superman “Big Blue” sometimes so why not give Supergirl some of that? — the suit is accented with the red of the House of El mark, her boots, and a gold belt at the waist. Also notable? Supergirl is rocking a new hairstyle, bangs.

The shift to a costume with pants is one that Benoist told Entertainment Weekly is something she’s been talking about since Season 1.

“We’ve been talking about pants since season 1,” Benoist said. “Every time a writer from the show has come up, and it’s freezing cold in Vancouver, I’m like, ‘Guys, please can I not wear tights?’” I love [Kara’s old costume]. I haven’t changed it because it so works, and I think it is very Kara. I’ve always felt that — until recently, I’m like, ‘Something’s gotta give.’”

Showrunners Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner explained that while they’ve been considering it for a while, it was all about finding the time to design a new look for the heroine.

“A lot of us were passionate about getting Supergirl into pants and out of the short skirt, and we felt that would be a powerful move, and Melissa is really excited about it,” Queller said. “So we just had to find the right moment to design the suit and in between seasons gave us a chance. But this is something we’ve been thinking about for a while.”

For Benoist, however, the new suit is also a way to show a progression of the character’s development.

“I just think it’s more adult,” Benoist said. “Part of my goal in this whole series for whenever the show ends, I just want there to be a very clear arc for this character that she evolved as a woman and found her femininity and her adulthood, just a self-discovery.”

And Benoist will be on a bit of an evolution arc herself in Season 5. It was announced earlier today that she will make her directorial debut with the season’s 17th episode.

“I’ve been wanting to direct since season 3 but couldn’t last year because of scheduling conflicts so David Harewood did it first,” Benoist said. “I just felt really drawn to it for a couple of seasons now, just because you know the show so well, and you get to know the character, and the world, and the tone of the show so well that you can’t help but envision certain scenes in a certain way. I want to play with that.”

What do you think of Supergirl‘s new suit? Let us know in the comments below.