Ballroom 20 of San Diego Comic Con 2019 was home to the cast of The CW superhero series Supergirl and OMFGTV was there to witness their panel, which featured goodbyes of old friends, hello to new ones and a few surprises.
The panel began with a brief tease of season 5, which is currently filming. Though most of the clip was stock footage from past Supergirl seasons, one doozy of new footage was shown: Lena Luthor addressing Supergirl as Kara- and then punching her in the face. This clip elicited a gasp from the packed crowd of the hall.
Following the clip, a very special surprise moderator came out to join the panel: Lex Luthor himself, Jon Cryer! Cryer brought the show’s ensemble onstage: Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Mehcad Brooks, David Harewood, Katie McGrath, Nicole Maines, Azie Tesfai, Jesse Rath and Andrea Brooks, along with executive producers Jessica Queller, Robert Rovner and Sarah Schechter.
Cryer talked about some buzz worthy new developments in the world of “Supergirl” including Supergirl’s new costume which swaps out the iconic skirt for pants. Benoist led the room in chanting “Pants” before addressing the change. “I’ve been wanting this for a while. It felt like the right step for Supergirl.” Benoist also addressed the recent news that she will be directing an upcoming episode of season 5. “It’ll be weird to direct myself, especially if I’m up in a harness, like, can you get me down guys?” Benoist laughed.
Another shakeup to the world of the show is Mehcad Brooks exiting the series after five seasons. Brooks said, “I’ve been here since day one and I love these people so much. The fact that I was cast even though I don’t look like Jimmy Olsen, I still can’t believe it.” Brooks started to tear up, prompting the cast to swoop him up in a hug onstage. “There’s going to be a whole generation of people who think that that’s what Jimmy Olsen looks like and that’s what he stands for,” Schechter said.
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Maines, who plays television’s first transgender superhero, Dreamer, talked the impact her character has had. “Members of my community come up to me and tell me how much this character means to them and I’m right there with them. This is my first trans superhero, too.”
Andrea Brooks, who was not only promoted to series regular, but is visibly pregnant, talked the evolution of Eve Tessmacher from an office assistant to triple agent. “She truly is an onion, you keep unwrapping layers,” Brooks said. “I get to expand my character as I literally expand and I’m excited to be here full time officially.”
Cryer praised McGrath’s performance in the scene in which Lex revealed Kara’s secret identity to her. McGrath talked the challenges of that scene. “How do you illustrate that your world is falling apart while you’re doing nothing? (Cryer) kept delivering this monologue while I’m just standing there.” McGrath also said that she has not yet watched the episode due to a phobia of watching herself onscreen. This shocked Cryer so much that he vowed to break into her home and force her to watch the episode, which McGrath said was, “A little creepy.”
Leigh and Tesfai discussed the storyline of Alex almost adopting a baby, but having the baby taken from her when the mother changed her mind. “That was a big story to tell and we wanted to do it delicately,” Leigh said. “Things can be taken away from you at a moment’s notice and we wanted to explore that.” “To have this disappointment and still have hope is so beautiful,” Tesfai added.
On the much discussed subject of Lena potentially going evil, Benoist said, “Kara would fight tooth and nail to keep Lena from going down the same dark path that Lex did, but if she does, it’ll be understandable!” McGrath added, “Anyone can be the best person on their best day and the worst person on their worst. That makes us human. Lena is flawed, but she will always feel that she’s doing the best she can.”
Queller and Rovner also revealed new cast members joining the show. Julie Gonzalo will play the new head of CatCo, Andrea Rojas, and Staz Nair will join CatCo as reporter William Dey, who butts heads with Kara. Rath also dropped that his realize sister, Megan Rath, will play a female Brainiac. Not to be outdone, Queller told Cryer that Lex Luthor will also return to the show!
Supergirl Season 5 premieres Sunday, October 6 at 9pm on The CW.