One character in Supergirl has a very close connection to a classic DC villain. Katie McGrath’s Lena Luthor is half-sister to a certain Lex Luthor. And while we’ve seen Superman’s arch-enemy during a flashback in the show as a boy (with hair!), we’ve never seen him as an adult. But could this be about to change?
FANDOM spoke to Arrowverse executive producer Greg Berlanti while he was promoting Love, Simon, which he directed. And asked him which character he’d love to bring into the show. He said, “I think we hinted at Lex Luthor on Supergirl – and I loved Gene Hackman as Lex, and Michael Rosenbaum. It would be nice if we were lucky enough to be able to do Superman [again]. So probably Lex.”
Smallville Crossover?
Superman appeared during Supergirl Season 2 in the form of Teen Wolf star Tyler Hoechlin and is occasionally referred to. Similarly, Lex Luthor is also mentioned frequently. According to Lena Luthor, Lex is currently in prison. That Berlanti mentions Michael Rosenbaum is interesting. Rosenbaum played Lex in Smallville, a series charting Superman’s early years as Clark Kent and his former friendship with Lex, and its subsequent breakdown.
There have been hints in the Arrowverse that Smallville is part of the same universe. Former Smallville actor Tom Welling who played Clark Kent in the show has said he’d “be willing” to appear in the Arrowverse, specifically calling out The Flash as his show of choice. Whether this is as Superman, or even a multiverse version of Superman, he didn’t say. But taken alongside Berlanti’s words, the Arrowverse could be about to get very exciting indeed should Rosenbaum’s Lex also turn up.
Black Lightning and Arrow Plans
Berlanti also said his piece on the speculation surrounding Black Lightning becoming a part of the Arrowverse. Asked how he could see that happening, he said: “I really couldn’t at this juncture. I don’t think the network or the creators intend or want [that] and they tonally are in very different worlds. I’m just really lucky to work with everybody involved, and Salim [Akil] and Mara [Brock Akil] who created and run that show are doing their own thing so beautifully.”
Berlanti’s comments contradict Arrow star Stephen Amell’s recent declaration that “we’re probably gonna cross over with Black Lightning.”
Finally, on the subject of Arrow, Berlanti also suggested that there is currently no end point in mind for the series, the longest-running of the Arrowverse shows. It premiered in 2012 and has so far notched up six seasons. It scored a seventh season renewal just this week.
“I think the audience will determine [its end point] more than we will, truthfully. But that being said the comic books have such a rich history of figuring out ways to reinvent themselves and to keep going. And we’ve always honoured that tradition with the shows. It’s on us to keep the shows vital enough that they can have as long of a legacy as everyone is enthusiastic to tell stories and the audience is enthusiastic to hear them and see them.”
And Berlanti is assured that they have the right team and structure in place to keep the momentum going. “If I had to still keep doing it just myself, I think the audience would feel like the lack of inertia. Because any human being is only so creative. But, luckily, we have a lot of younger people who have come up the ranks now on the show and have taken over and are really talented.”
For the foreseeable future, then, it seems Arrow will continue indefinitely.
Catch the Greg Berlanti-directed Love, Simon in cinemas now.