When I first saw Henry Cavill as Superman, I was blown away. Never have I seen such perfect casting for a superhero: he was literally the Superman I’ve seen so many times in the comics.
When I saw Melissa Benoist as Supergirl today, I felt the exact same way.
Related: Supergirl soars, but not as high as it should
The easy charm and radiance she exudes as both Supergirl and Kara Danvers is always present, yet never overwhelming. Her witty quips are also well-executed, resulting in a delightful, bubbly package. I’ve loved the casting for all of DCTV so far, and Melissa Benoist as Supergirl might actually edge them out slightly.
The writing in general was pretty good, but the lines were super-weak for General Astra. She appears to simply be a Zod clone for now, and although I applaud the demeanour needed to portray as menacing a character as Zod… it’s still not a strong character.
Also, the constant barrages about Supergirl being, well, a girl, is already getting stale. Supergirl’s comeback “I was going to say alien” brought a chuckle though. Just tone it down slightly, and show not tell, and it would be perfect.
Props to Calista Flockhart’s acting too! Cat Grant is a surprisingly well fleshed out character, despite her fairly limited screen time. She could have been just any old bossy bitch, but thankfully, Flockhart pulls it off with such aplomb that I’m actually starting to like this particular bossy bitch. Oh god, what’s happening to me?
I’m really starting to like Winn, and Jimmy “James” Olsen… still think Winn is more alike to the Olsen in the comics, but hey, at least we can’t blame the producers for not trying something new! It’s only two episodes in, time will tell whether it would be a good reinvention.
One thing I felt was lacking development were the villains and the action sequences. Besides one awesome and destructive action sequence, the rest ranged from “meh” to “bad”, especially the ones where they were flying.
And also, hologram mum? Urgh–bad Man of Steel memories. But Supergirl does manage to set the tone right with her request for a hug making the introduction of an AI based on her mother more of a homage to the Christopher Reeve era of Superman movies as well as Smallville.
[divider]Easter Eggs/Theories[/divider]
Parks and Recreation‘s Perd Hapley
Maxwell Lord
He looks to be playing a similar role in the Lex Luthor/Superman dynamics towards Supergirl, considering his disapproval of her seemingly wanton destructiveness.
In the comics, he was very influential in the creation of the Justice League International, and was also a pretty brutal businessman, both in terms of actual business and the occasional murder.
Plastino Chemicals
Named after co-creator of Supergirl, Al Plastino
Hank Henshaw
Hank Henshaw in the show is currently the director of the DEO, and almost definitely villainous. Manhunter or Cyborg Superman? Let’s wait and see.
In the comics, Hank Henshaw was part of a doomed NASA shuttle, and as a result became extremely unstable both physically and mentally. He retained his mind but not his body after the accident, and left Earth to learn from other worlds.
After the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, he was one of the four Supermen that claimed to be the one true Superman in the Reign of the Supermen storyline. He was also known as the Cyborg Superman, and was evil as heck.
Next week on Supergirl: