Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: cw, entertainment, supergirl, superman, television, Tyler Hoechlin

The CW Gives Us The Superman We've Been Waiting For

This article will contain spoilers for the season premiere of Supergirl.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I like the work that Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg have done in creating a DC Universe on television. I know it wasn't just the three of them, but that's kind of where it all seemed to have started with that first episode of Arrow. There was something for everyone. Street level vigilante fans have Arrow, light hearted sci-fi fans have The Flash and time-travelling epic fans have Legends of Tomorrow. Then came Supergirl and it felt a bit like a rom-com combined with a coming of age story with aliens. As much as I wanted to like it, there was the sitcom moments that always took me out of the story. I preferred the Supergirl and the DEO segments over the Catco stuff.

Fast forward a year, a change of networks and some new cast editions and I am completely re-evaluating my feelings about the series. I found myself looking forward to the next episode which I haven't done in a while. So what changed?

First off, the addition of Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent / Superman. There have been a few different takes on the Man of Steel. George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh and most recently Henry Cavill. All of them had their strength and their weaknesses. So how did Supergirl do with the first superhero? In two words: NAILED IT. Seriously, Hoechlin's Clark Kent is personable, mid-western and a bit aw-shucks without the campy clumsiness. He's genuinely likable and someone you'd want to have a beer with. While his Superman is awe inspiring and someone to look up to. He's powerful yet personable. He's the Superman we grew up reading in the comics that no one has gotten 100% right yet. We'll have to see how it continues, but they got it right in the premiere.

The second thing they did was to shift the focus of the show. We watch Kara Danvers go from the timid assistant to Cat Grant to being a reporter. The beginning of the episode had those campy moments that made me cringe in season one, but by the end of the episode they were gone as was the rom-com feeling. The episode morphed from a CBS show to a CW show during the hour. Some of it felt rushed, like the Kara / James Olsen relationship, but it was necessary to make the transition. Now, again this could be undone as the season moves on, but I think we're going to shift away from the office comedy aspects going forward.

Part of that change involves Win Schott moving from Catco to the DEO. It was a subtle thing, but it's part of what feels like a revamping of the series. If you look at Arrow and The Flash, both are shows about a hero with a team around them. They have regular jobs, but they're not as big a part of the series as the superhero stuff. I think that's what the move of Win is part of. Also, there is something up with Cat Grant. With the show moving to Canada to film, word was the Calista Flockhart may not be around as much… I think we're seeing the start of that.

All of that going on and there was also the introduction of John Corbin / Metallo, Lena Luthor, Mon-El, the story of how Kyptonite got it's name and the first look inside of Cadmus. Overall, a really good season two premiere highlighted by the CW's version of Superman.

Here's a clip from the episode:

https://youtu.be/GW5SjgNu6WY

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!