Kevin Smith Reveals How His Superman Lives Script Fit Into Upcoming Supergirl Episode

In 1997, Warner Bros. hired Kevin Smith —who at that time had only written and directed the indie films Clerks and Mallrats—to rewrite Superman Lives, an unmade reboot of the franchise that Tim Burton was attached to direct and Nicolas Cage was attached to star as the Man of Steel. During the long and hilarious process, which Smith has recounted many times, he met with producer Jon Peters who made some head-scratching demands. Peters didn't want Superman wearing his red-and-blue costume or having the ability to fly. He also wanted the Man of Steel to go toe-to-toe with a giant spider in the third act, which was called a "Thanagarian Snare Beast" to give it an exterrestrial-vibe.

Since the title of his upcoming Supergirl episode ("Supergirl Lives") an homage to that memorable moment in his life, the show will include a reference to the latter.

"There was one joke in an early draft of the script where Winn doesn't want to go to outer space," Smith told IGN. "At one point in this episode he's forced to leave the planet. He doesn't want to go on the journey and he's listing the things that could be on the other side of the stargate. 'They're could be anything over there!' He lists two things and then the third one was 'A giant spider!' We didn't wind up shooting it. We cut the scene because it was just kinda long, so that went away. But Eric [Carrasco], one of the writers of the episode, was able to find another place. At one point you will hear someone say 'Thanagarian snare beast.' It's not used in any sort of 'Look out! Here comes one!' way, but it's dropped very casually. And not in a way that interrupts the episode, if you're like 'Hey, man, I hate inside jokes.' It's a nice little Easter egg placement if you know that old story. And if you don't, it's just a reference to Thanagar. So even if you don't know s*** about Kevin Smith, it's still 'I heard him say Thanagarian! That's cool!'"

KEVIN SMITH DIRECTS; ROULETTE RETURNS — Kara (Melissa Benoist) is moved by the story of a missing woman named Izzy (guest star Harley Quinn Smith) and decides to investigate despite Snapper Carr's (guest star Ian Gomez) order to leave it alone. Kara takes Mon-El (Chris Wood) with her to the last place Izzy was seen and the duo find themselves thrust through a portal to another planet, Slaver's Moon, where the downtrodden are sold as slaves. The leader of the trafficking ring is none other than Roulette (Dichen Lachman).

To make matters worse, Slaver's Moon has a red sun, which means Kara and Mon-El are stripped of their powers and stuck on the planet with no way home. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alex (Chyler Leigh) blames herself for Kara's disappearance, fearing she's become too focused on her new relationship with Maggie (guest star Floriana Lima) and too complacent in watching out for her sister.

Kevin Smith directed the episode with story by Andrew Kreisberg and teleplay by Eric Carrasco & Jess Kardos.

MORE: White Martians Attack in Synopsis For Supergirl's "The Martian Chronicles" / Release Dates, Director Set For The Flash/Supergirl Musical / The CW Releases Midseason Sizzle Reel For Flash, Supergirl, And More / Kevin Smith Teases Maaldorians On Supergirl / Kevin Smith Returning to Supergirl For Another Season 2 Episode

The midseason premiere of Supergirl — which is titled "Supergirl Lives" and directed by Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy) — will air Monday, January 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.