Five DC Characters We Hope to See on Supergirl
Even a Supergirl can't save the world alone.As the premiere date for the biggest female-led [...]
Even a Supergirl can't save the world alone.
As the premiere date for the biggest female-led superhero franchise since Wonder Woman draws near, it's clear that Supergirl is drawing a lot of her supporting cast from the DC Universe, particularly the world of Superman.
That's not particularly surprising, given that her character has often shared his orbit and there aren't many foes that have squared off exclusively with the Girl of Steel. But the fact that they're reaching out beyond the confines of just comics with Supergirl on the cover means there are some potentially interesting relationships being built between Supergirl and characters like Jimmy Olsen or Winslow Schott.
And plenty of fun fan-casting and speculation to do before the October 26 premiere date rolls around.
Now, let's leave aside the obvious choices here. We'd like to see Green Arrow, The Flash et. al. share the screen with Kara as much as anybody, and obviously Superman would be a great presence to add occasionally. Those are all off the table, at least for the moment, from what we understand -- so who has a shot? Who would fit?
We have some ideas...!
Guardian and the Newsboy Legion
Because of their long-standing ties to Jimmy Olsen, it could make total sense to use Guardian and the Newsboy Legion on Supergirl.
Guardian and the Cadmus Project would fit in nicely with the military/espionage world being set up with the Red Tornado project, Sam Lane and Hank Henshaw. The Newsboys would be harder to fit in, but certainly if there was a TV show where a bunch of comic relief sidekicks had the chance of fitting in, Supergirl is a solid candidate based on the humor and heart on display in the premiere.
And Guardian is always a great character when shadowy government organizations start to overstep their bounds because while he works for Cadmus, he has a moral compass that's very much on the same course as Superman's or Captain America's. He could prove to be a very useful mole at a key strategic moment.
Gangbuster
The downside: Once he's in action, Gangbuster is basically just a knock-off of Guardian in many ways. In fact, he was created during the '80s because the Superman creative teams wanted to use Guardian and couldn't get the clearance at the time.
The upside: He's a great character, who has a long and interesting history with Cat Grant. As long as Cat is going to be a big player, he (and some other obvious candidates like our next candidate) should be at least on CBS's radar.
His civilian identity could be a great addition on an upbeat show like Supergirl, too (before he was Gangbuster he used to counsel at-risk youth) so even without the costume he's an asset.
Overall, I would rate this character as somewhat unlikely -- his costumed half seems like a better fit on Arrow, frankly -- but definitely plausible, since Cat appears to be a major player on Supergirl for the foreseeable future.
Morgan Edge (and Intergang?)
With Lois Lane digging into Intergang in the forthcoming Superman: Lois and Clark comic book series, one has to wonder: are there any major plans for Morgan Edge in other media?
He made a lot of sense in the comics, serving as kind of a grounded evil that Clark Kent could face as a journalist...but the fact that he wasn't really brought down and sent to jail (in the post-Crisis continuity, anyway) by Clark but by Cat Grant once again opens up the idea that she has a perfect business rival who could plausibly affect both the Supergirl plot (through Intergang) and the Kara plot (through a competing media company looking to do some damage to Cat).
Edge was briefly a love interest for Grant, before it was revealed that she was only using him to expose his evil deeds. He was also a villain who gathered a team of baddies and took on Superman after he got out of jail. He's a solid candidate to appear on the series all around.
Cyborg Superman
In the New 52, the Cyborg Superman isn't Hank Henshaw (seen here as a decidedly non-cyborgean military man) but Kara Zor-El's own father, Zor-El, with some modifications made by Brainiac.
It wouldn't be surprising to see a mash-up of Henshaw's origin, or a version of it, with Zor-El's name and likeness, simply because of all the concepts we've touched on here, the most likely to appear in a major feature film is probably Brainiac, so DC might not want to touch on the Cyborg Superman's New 52 origin story on the show.
It would also make sense to use Zor-El/Cyborg Superman as a potential midseason or season finale twist, since in the pilot it's revealed that the series will face at least two major Kryptonian threats in its first season.
Matrix
As a child of the '90s Superman titles and a huge fan of Peter David's run on Supergirl, the truth is, I've never developed the same love for Kara Zor-El as I have for Matrix.
I realize that I am in a very, very small minority in that respect, but it is what it is.
With The Flash tackling multiple earths while facing off against another evil speedster, it may not be plausible to expect Supergirl to go with the doppelganger idea just yet...but there's a lot of interesting story to be told with Matrix, and if she were to come to Earth and met Supergirl before she met Superman? That could be a whole other wrinkle.
And it wouldn't just be "crazy alien who thinks it's Supergirl," either. There were stories early on in which Matrix's shapeshifting and telepathic abilities posed a problem for Superman, when she briefly believed she was Lana Lang, or Clark Kent...or when she was sent as an advance scout for an alien invasion after being brainwashed in Panic in the Sky.
