The latest teaser for the back half of Supergirl‘s fourth season features a new look at Red Daughter, the mysterious Supergirl doppelganger who appeared in Russia at the end of season three.
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Given that big reveal, the character has appeared relatively little so far, with writers and producers teasing that her story would unfold slowly over the full length of the season.
“It’s all about the circumstance,” Benoist said during an interview last year. “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 alternative history story from the comics which is currently rumored to be in development as an animated feature film.
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.
It is 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 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.
