There is no denying that Season 3 of Supergirl was another strong one, and could arguably be considered the show's best. Then, in the finale (SPOILERS AHEAD) we see that another Kara will be a part of Season 4. This was confirmed by executive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller to TVLine that the show would be adapting the Superman: Red Son storyline for Season 4.
Photo credit: Shane Harvey/The CW -- © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
While I can't wait to see Kara battle herself for "truth, justice and the American way", that might not be the biggest news for the upcoming season. The Hashtag Show reports that the Superman villain Manchester Black may be coming to Season 4 as well. Before I get to how I think this may go down, let's talk about the details. The report is based on a casting call for the show, looking for a British actor in his 20s or 30s, of any ethnicity, named Chester Green. That could be anyone, right? Then you see in the description that he could "bring a sword to a gun fight and still be victorious" and "his charm is so strong it ends up helping him avoid the brutality of situations." That charm fits the profile of Manchester Black very well in plenty of iterations that we've seen. Plus, it could also work on his powers of telekinesis and telepathy. If this is true, how does he fit into Red Son and how does this all make sense?
You'd have to think that Kara would be looking for help against her Red Son counterpart. Supergirl may be a badass, but in the show she has often looked to her team to help her with the biggest of threats. With Mon-El back with the Legion, and J'onn taking a step back from the DEO, that leaves the recently unmasked Guardian and Alex to help with this next level threat. This is where Manchester Black comes in. If you've seen the animated Superman vs The Elite movie, you know that Black actually HELPED Superman at first. It wasn't until Black took things too far, and showed that he was willing to kill, that he ended up at odds with The Man of Steel. Sound familiar? There was a big emphasis late last season on Supergirl to show that Kara refused to kill, and would always find another way. Manchester Black may be able to charm his way into helping Kara, but when he eventually revealed his true nature, that is where the problems could begin and the focus of the season could shift. This wouldn't be the first time there was a friend turned foe scenario in the Arrowverse.
Photo: Katie Yu/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Remember when Artemis was part of Team Arrow, only to betray Oliver for the evil Prometheus? How about in Season 1 of DC's Legends of Tomorrow when Mick Rory was revealed to be Chronos hunting down his own teammates? It wouldn't be the first time that there was a friend turned foe in this universe. With the charm of Manchester Black, he could easily influence a team that went through a lot of changes at the end of Season 3. I would expect Kara to be cautious at first, but ultimately accept Black's help when offered. Keep in mind, we thought that Cayden James would be the main villain on Arrow this past season, only to make way for Ricardo Diaz. So there could easily be a midseason change in villains for Supergirl, as well.
So where does this leave the Red Son storyline? While the story was great, and spawned many spinoffs for DC Comics, the main arc only spanned 3 issues. There is certainly a way to make this work for an entire season, but I wouldn't be surprised if it made it past midseasons. It wasn't too long ago that we thought Flashpoint would be a main part of The Flash, only to be done with after very few episodes. Why not do something similar with Red Son? We also have to keep in mind that this will be a loose interpretation of the story, which is pretty typical for the Arrowverse (and not a bad thing, by the way.) Not only would this be a great way to incorporate two amazing stories into one, it would be yet another step forward for Supergirl as being one of the top shows in all of DC TV. What do you think? Could Manchester Black be a big part of Supergirl this upcoming season?
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