‘Supergirl’: Superman’s Cousin Soars Onto CBS In Live-Action Drama

The tale of Supergirl is coming to CBS. The new superhero series is bypassing the pilot phase, with CBS committing to the series up-front.

As Vulture explained, “CBS landed [‘Supergirl’] after agreeing to a so-called series commitment, which means the network will have to pay… a massive financial penalty if it opts to back out of Supergirl…This makes it very likely the show will end up on the air…”

As reported by The Inquisitr, news of the Supergirl series was leaked several weeks ago. Writer Scott Faulkner charts the history of the character.

“Supergirl was killed off in 1985 during the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ limited edition series. Supergirl then came back in thee different incarnations, none of them having a familial relationship with Superman. Matrix, Linda Davers and Cir-El were all Supergirl for a time, but each of the books lacked a certain spark and were canceled due to low readership.”

In this series, Supergirl’s alter ego will be a character called Kara Zor-El, a cousin of Superman. As Vulture reports, “[it] begins with Krypton refugee… Kara Zor-El growing up on Earth, hiding her powers. ‘But now at age 24,’ according to a series logline going around Hollywood, ‘she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.'”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Supergirl series is being helmed Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler. The pair worked together on the ABC superhero series, No Ordinary Family.

With CBS picking up Supergirl, now all five major U.S. networks are running superhero series:

• Fox is airing the Batman-inspired series Gotham
• NBC has Constantine, a spin-off of the comic series Hellblazer
• CW airs both Flash and Arrow
• ABC has Agent of SHIELD and Agent Carter

That list does not even include the superhero-themed shows on premium cable and streaming sites. A new partnership between Netflix and Marvel will produce four new series, centering around the characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim explained the influx of superheroes on the small screen.

“It’s a perfect confluence of zeitgeist and the actual ability to do it and do it well… A big part of it is the technology is finally here that allows these characters to be realized in TV and film.”

What do you think of TV’s new fondness for superhero series? Would you watch Supergirl?

[Photo source: Bago Games]