The first season of CBS’ Supergirl teased the titular character’s famous cousin Kal-El. You know him as Superman. While it had a decent run on its initial network, now that the show is joining its fellow DC series’ over on The CW, the pressure’s on to make its sophomore season even better than the first. This is part of the reason why showrunners are roping in the Kryptonian do-gooder for a much bigger role. Teen Wolf‘s Tyler Hoechlin landed the coveted part, and based on the few sneak peeks we’ve had, he looks perfect as Superman.
But how will he be fleshed out once he’s onscreen? That question was put to showrunner Andrew Kreisberg during a chat with Collider. His response certainly suggests that Hoechlin’s take on the Man of Steel will stand apart from other iterations:
“I think our take on him is probably something a little bit more traditional. There’s certainly a little bit of the “Aw shucks” about him, but he’s been Superman for awhile, so there’s a savviness about him as Superman and as Clark. If he’s been Superman for 12 years, that also means that he’s been Clark Kent for 12 years. He knows how to interview somebody. He knows how to get a story out of someone. As always, with any of these things, we’re never doing a direct adaptation of a specific comic book. We cherry pick the best parts and things that we love. So, there’s a little bit of the Christopher Reeve Superman in there, a healthy dose of the Superman animated series, which we’re huge fans of, a little bit of Lois & Clark, a little George Reeves, and a little Super Friends.
And as far as finding the right guy, as soon as we said we were going to do Superman, Greg [Berlanti] mentioned Tyler [Hoechlin]. We’ve been fans of his for years, and when we sat down with him, he is Superman. Not just with the looks, but he’s such a good guy, such a nice guy, and he’s so open and forthright and brimming with life. You just feel better when you’re around him, which I think is part of the secret of Superman. He is that ideal, but not in an unattainable way. Superman should make you feel like you can do anything, even though he’s the one that can do anything.”
From that answer alone, it sounds as if The CW’s approach to Superman is a far cry from the DC Extended Universe version. Henry Cavill’s Supes is a much more solemn, troubled figure, whose struggles to deal with his heritage and new-found responsibilities make life an almost constant battle for him. Whereas the small screen take won’t be burdened by as much.
As Kreisberg says, he’s had twelve years to get to grips with all of those issues. Could be that time has healed a lot of wounds for the latest cape-wearer. In any case, we’ll find out just what he’s truly like when Supergirl returns to our screens on October 10.