We’ve known for a hot minute that Supergirl was in the pilot stage for CBS, being produced and co-created by DC super-producer Greg Berlanti, but DC broke word earlier today that the series has  in factbeen greenlit and picked up to series! The pilot was written by Berlanti, Ali Adler, and Andrew Kreisberg and is centered on Superman‘s cousin Kara Zor-El.

Melissa Benoist was cast in the lead role supported by Grey’s Anatomy alum Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Kara’s Earth-based foster sister. Calista Flockheart stars as Cat Grant, Mehcad Brooks (True Blood‘s Eggs) plays James (Jimmy) Olsen, and rounding out the pilot cast is David Harewood as Hank Henshaw, Faran Tahir as The Commander, with Helen Slater and Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman‘s Dean Cain both in unspecified roles. Pure speculation places the latter two cast members as Kara’s foster parents, but no official word has been released on their roles. It would be a fun nod to both the 1984 Supergirl movie and the Lois & Clark series if it were true. That series ran for 4 seasons on ABC in the mid-90s and was one of the most well-recieved live action superhero television shows prior to this current era of popular comic book franchises infiltrating cinema, television, and video games. It was, at least, certainly well-recived by my younger self.

Greg Berlanti also produces The CW’s current DC-based megahits The Flash and Arrow, and has heavily implied that crossover appearances between the three series are intended. Cross-network appearances are not common in television, but the success of the the latter two shows has already prompted a third spinoff series staring Brandon Routh. After the launch of The Titans—which may or may not be undergoing a title change to “Blackbirds”–on TNT, it’s very possible we might see the same actors and characters popping up on at least three networks! Crossovers in comic books are about as frequent as ants at a picnic, but we may soon witness that same frequency on television.

HT DC Comics