It had been reported earlier that Gemma Atkinson had been sought for the role of Supergirl, and before that it was Claire Holt. You may be wondering which of these actresses CBS finally chose. Well, the answer is neither!
According to Variety, CBS has chosen Melissa Benoist to portray Kara Zor-El in their upcoming series, Supergirl. Benoist may be best known for her role as Marley Rose on the hit Fox series Glee, and currently as Nicole in the Oscar nominated film Whiplash.
DC will now have a fourth series on TV that’s based directly or loosely on their comic books, joining the likes of Arrow (CW), The Flash(CW), and Gotham(Fox). Of course that could have been five if Constantine weren’t ending it’s run on NBC, after only 13 episodes.
Supergirl will obviously center on the character of Kara Zor-El (Benoist), who has escaped the destruction of her home planet of Krypton many years earlier. She arrives on earth and is adopted by the Danvers family. She is strongly cautioned by her parents about the possible consequences of using her extraordinary powers. At the age of 24 she embraces her extraordinary abilities, realizing she can utilize them for the same heroic purposes as her cousin Kal-El…you know, Superman.
This casting choice kind of comes out of left field, especially since no reports had previously linked her to the role. However, she won’t be the first Glee alum to be cast in a series based on a DC character. Grant Gustin was cast to appear on Arrow as Barry Allen (AKA The Flash), before they spun the character off into his own stand alone series.
I have never watched a single episode of Glee and have unfortunately not yet seen Whiplash, so I am not up to date on Ms. Benoist’s skill as an actress. Still, I really don’t want to pass any unfair judgment on her ability to portray Kara Zor-El, before I have even seen the first episode.
However, I am curious to know what you readers think of CBS’s casting decision for this role. Do you like it? Are you indifferent? Should they have kept looking? Feel free to leave a comment and make your collective opinions known.