On this week’s extra episode of Supergirl Radio, your hosts Teresa Jusino and Rebecca Johnson get together to review the trailer everyone have been waiting for: the first look at CBS’ Supergirl TV series starring Melissa Benoist as the Girl of Steel! Join in on the fun as the gang at Supergirl Radio analyze the six-minute promo for CBS’ Supergirl, coming this fall in November at Mondays at 8 PM!
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Hey, guys. Love the show. Just wanted to point something out regarding the trailer: Kara says that Krypton blew up 24 years ago, but she’s only been on Earth for 12 years (arriving here at the age of 12), meaning that there’s a discrepancy of 12 years between when Krypton exploded and when she arrived on Earth, which says to me that the whole stasis thing is very much in play here, which also makes sense since we see someone who is presumably an adult Superman (he’s got the blue suit and red cape) rescue her from her spaceship and take her to the Danverses.
Hmm. Something to think about! Hopefully, the timeline will make sense.
You’re right that the shot from the trailer of the two people (one of them in the red and blue) holding hands might be Superman and Kara, given that Kara is wearing white when she leaves Krypton. I didn’t think about that last night, but it’s very possible.
Thanks for listening!
Some other thoughts/observations based on the trailer and your own thoughts/observations:
* I’m pretty sure the writers have turned the Lumberjack character into the character of Vartox as played by Owain Yeoman
* Like you and Teresa, I love that normal!Kara is such a dork. I loved the initial meeting scene with her and James, and you can immediately tell that their relationship is going to be fun to explore, especially if he does in fact take on a sort of mentoring role in addition to being her major love interest
* I don’t know about you guys, but the very first costume she tried on immediately reminded me of Laura Vandervoort’s costume on Smallville
* I definitely think we’ll see more of young!Kara and young!Alex (and of Mr. and Mrs. Danvers)
* I loved Kara’s “Oh come on” while she was trying to save the plane; the way Melissa Benoist delivered the line was great, and it really helped sell the idea that, even though using her powers is something she’s wanted to do for a long time, she’s still got to figure out HOW to use her powers
* I’ve seen other people elsewhere online complaining about her telling her secret to people, but I’m pretty sure, at least based on the official synopsis and Kara’s central characterization, that she’s not actually GOING to have a ‘secret identity’ as such. Cat Grant may not catch onto the fact that Kara and Supergirl are the same, but I don’t think Kara is going to actively hide that she’s Supergirl (if that makes any sense)
I loved the “Oh come on!” too… but I think my absolute favorite scene in the whole thing is when she’s trying to figure out how to fly for the first time. I hope that scene is a bit longer in the pilot because something about her determination to overcome the obstacle of gravity and the payoff when she finally takes off…. That just won me over immediately.
It’s a very cool moment! I love origin stories so getting to see Supergirl learn how to fly is going to be fun!
I love origin stories too and I’m genuinely baffled by the general public antipathy towards them these days. Watching a regular person learning how to be super is a lot more interesting than endless scenes of people crashing into each other.
I love the fact that trailer gives us those moments of humanity and it’s so frustrating that people are disparaging it as “girly” or “rom-com” when really it’s no different than the classic Peter Parker story.
Anyway… looking forward to the next episode!
When looking more closely, the guy Supergirl is fighting DOES look a lot like Owain Yeoman, but he is using an axe and looks like he has some facial hair…so that makes me think an element of Lumberjack is still in play.
The “Oh, come on!” really nailed the Kara/Supergirl character for me. Pretty spot on characterization.
It looks like they took elements of the Lumberjack character, combined them with elements of the Vartox character, and called this new ‘hybrid’ character Vartox. I also think they might have borrowed elements from the Legion of Superheroes villain – and member of the Fatal Five – The Persuader (since the character’s axe looks very much like Persuader’s Atomic Axe).
Yeah, Lumberjack and Vartox might have gotten combined. Guess we’ll find out when we watch the Pilot!
I like the new costume even more now with a good look at it. Looks much brighter than the original promo photos released some months back. I do wish the trailer had shown more of her being Supergirl as opposed to showing her as a Felicity Smoak-esque character. Looking to forward to the show. Looks like a lot of fun.
The suits looks really good in LIVE-action and in motion!
There’s a lot of quick Supergirl action stuff in there. We were given quite a bit of her as Supergirl, it’s just that it goes by very quickly.
I’m excited!
My hopes were pretty low going in… I was cautiously optimistic but prepared to be hurt… but that trailer made me SO happy! And the (mostly) positive response to it made me even happier! And hearing you guys geek out so insightfully about it is just the capper…. Hurry up and get here, November!
I know! I want to see more!
Thanks for listening and hope you’ll stay with us as we continue to dig into Supergirl stories!
My thoughts are here
http://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2015/05/supergirl-trailer.html
You guys didn’t comment on the air date, how stupid it is they are putting against Gotham.
We mentioned the timeslot at the end of the episode, but yeah, it shares the same one as Gotham.
Hi, Teresa and Rebecca! I really enjoyed listening to your enthusiastic reaction to the trailer, and share it whole-heartedly. I think this show is going to be a lot of fun.
One wondering: I don’t doubt that a lot of people will “just know” who Kara is, and that’s fine. That’s one thing I like about “The Flash,” that drama is not usually derived from Barry’s secret identity (except in Iris’ case, and now it looks like even she gets to know – hooray!) But I do think some of “Kara Danvers”‘ manner echoes a lot of Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent, which makes me wonder if, from time to time, Kara may still have to “put on the act” to keep things hush-hush.
I also think/fear, with characters named Winslow Schott, Hank Henshaw, and “Lex” all in her life, Kara could be for some really tough times when/if these charaters follow their comic book counterparts’ trajectories to become nemeses!
I wonder if Kara can keep Cat’s coffee hot thanks to the heat vision, the only power, as you point out, that we didn’t see in the trailer….!
Keep up the great podcasting! I steered folks your way in my brief reaction to the trailer at The Sci-Fi Christian (http://thescifichristian.com/2015/05/10788/).
Hi, Mike!
I bet you’re right in that Kara will sometimes have to be an act in public. Definitely very Christopher Reeve-ish.
I dread the inevitable and tragic story to come between Kara and Alex because I like what I’m seeing from their relationship so far, but…it should make for some good drama!
I am guessing Winslow’s descent into Toyman could come from his unrequited love for Kara or jealousy of James mixed in with something bigger. But, Hank Henshaw is a guy I’m interested in learning more about because him going from a government operative to Cyborg Superman is what I can’t figure out how they’ll do. Excited to see what happens with him!
It would be nice to have Kara around if you have cold coffee!
Thanks for the shout-out! Love The Sci-Fi Christian podcast!
I was wondering if Kara used her heat vision to warm up Calista Flockhart’s coffee. The effects are perfect. The costume is fantastic and the whole thing is flawless.
That’s a great observation! If I’m remembering correctly, Clark would do that on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, too.
The effects are pretty great! Love the shot of Supergirl stopping the truck. Too cool!
Thanks for listening and commenting!
So pleased with the trailer and looking forwards to watching this weekly and listening to Teresa and Rebecca after each episode. I know this is going to bring a ton of people to the podcast (and hopefully Saturday’s event) which is awesome!
The trailer looks like the pilot is going to have that break-neck pace that makes The Flash so engaging, but there’s enough familiar elements that CBS’s non-genre fans may be able to get into this. I’m completely on board with everything we’ve seen.
It’s too early and we have too little info, but I wonder what the serial story or over arching plot will be, beyond, perhaps self-discovery. I can already imagine a really compelling arc for Hank Henshaw… beginning with a prejudice against aliens, then growing to appreciate Kara, then being forced to adopt alien technology to survive and from there who knows?
Perfect positive post-trailer podcast!
Can’t wait to talk about the episodes!
I imagine the show will have a similar over arching plot like The Flash does. I’m guessing the Hank Henshaw arc will follow along the lines of the Harrison Wells/Reverse Flash story.
Thanks for listening!