‘Supergirl’: Melissa Benoist Says Being on Broadway Has Changed Her Approach to Season 4

It sounds like the Girl of Steel will have a bit of a new lease on life when she returns to television this fall.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist teased what fans can expect in the show’s upcoming fourth season. As Benoist revealed, her outlook on her role as Kara Danvers has been changed in some interesting ways, thanks to her time playing Carole King in Broadway’s Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

“I think that playing Carole and learning so much about her will certainly affect how I approach Supergirl at this point.” Benoist explained. “Every role affects you. I do think that heading into Season 4 and walking into Supergirl‘s shoes and donning the cape will feel different in a great way, especially because Carole’s story is about, in essence, owning yourself and being true to who you are, that you are enough. That’s something I’m always searching for in Supergirl: ways to further her development as a woman and find more empowering stories to tell through that.”

“Also, it made Comic-Con a blast.” Benoist added. “It was so great to see everyone. The cast, we all genuinely love each other. We’re really excited for the season.”

For some Supergirl fans, the idea of Kara taking on a more empowered and self-discovering attitude will surely be a welcomed thing, especially considering how the season wrapped up. As fans will remember, Kara ultimately resorted to use a Legion of Super-Heroes ring to travel back in time and save the people she loved — something that had some bizarre consequences.

“With decisions she makes and how things transpire to wrap it up, she’s really taking ownership of herself,” Benoist said earlier this year. “She’s maturing, which is what I’ve always wanted for her since season 1. I wanted to see a natural arc of a girl coming into womanhood, because she was almost naive at the beginning, and just charging ahead not really knowing what she was doing. And now, I think she really does, and she is slowly chiseling out her place, wherever she wants to be.”

But even then, it sounds like Kara and company will have a lot to deal with when Supergirl returns to television. The show is bringing on some formidable foes in the form of Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer), Manchester Black (David Ajala), and Mercy Graves (Rhona Mitra) — and there’s that whole Red Son thing as well.

The fourth season of Supergirl will debut on Sunday, October 14th, at 8/7c on The CW.