Supergirl EP On Why Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman Is Coming Back

The CW has given Supergirl room to build in her own corner of the multiverse, away from the Flash‘s time-travel shenanigans and Arrow’s moody brooding. Kara Danvers has come into her own as a hero, and she hasn’t needed the hands-on guidance of her famous cousin to establish herself.

But Tyler Hoechlin is set to return to the show as the Man of Steel, possibly to help his family deal with the looming impending threat of General Zod.

Mark Gibbon was announced to be cast in the role of Superman’s nemesis, and where there’s smoke there’s fire. You can’t have one of the greatest Superman villains without the Blue Boy Scout himself showing up to deal with the inevitable mess.


Supergirl executive producer Andrew Kreisberg spoke to CBR about both characters’ appearance on the show, but was hesitant to reveal anything about Zod’s appearance.

“I don’t really want to say too much about Zod,” Kreisberg said. “How and why it happens is a fun surprise… That name instantly means something to fans of Superman and Supergirl. It’s a bit of a cameo surprise in the episode.”

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Whether Zod’s appearance has to do with this season’s big bad Rhea (Teri Hatcher) and her end game remains to be seen, but Superman will have to get involved to help his cousin.

Kreisberg spoke about Hoechlin’s appearance in the last episode of Season 2 and how vital his contributions are despite not having a huge role in the show.

He’s incredibly crucial [in the finale]. I love Tyler in the part — he’s so good. It’s a bit of a different interpretation of Superman than you’ve seen. In our show, Superman has been [a superhero] for a decade, and he’s pretty comfortable with being Superman. A lot of interpretations are of him getting his start, at the beginning. For us, he’s so comfortable in the role, but the show is called Supergirl, so our Superman is here in service of Supergirl. He’s her family. He’s her conscience. He’s her mentor.

There’s also some very cool scenes between the two of them. As for wanting him to come back, we would have him back all the time, but the show is called Supergirl. You really want it to be about her. Our partners at DC and Warner Brothers have been very generous to us, letting us have that character appear on our show. We’re grateful for every opportunity we get.

Supergirl’s next episode, “City of Lost Children” airs Monday, May 8 at 8pm EST on the CW.

When an alien attacks National City, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and the DEO learn the alien is a Phorian, an otherwise peaceful race with telekinetic powers. Guardian (Mehcad Brooks) gets a lead on the Phorian’s address but instead of finding the culprit, he finds a very scared boy named Marcus (guest star Lonnie Chavis). Marcus will only trust James so it is up to Guardian to stop the attacks on the city. Rhea’s (Teri Hatcher) plan escalates.

Ben Bray directed the episode with story by Robert Rovner and teleplay by Gabriel Llanas & Anna Musky-Goldwyn.

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