Kryptonite might be Supergirl's biggest weakness, but that was the least of her worries by the end of season four. After fighting the bigotry of Agent Liberty and the extremism of Manchester Black, Lex Luthor arrived with a Russian clone of Kara who proceeded to blow up the White House and besmirch her good name.

While most of those issues were dealt with as season four came to a close, plenty more problems reared their head in the finale's last moments, and no, we're not just talking about Crisis On Infinite Earths either.

Between Lena's discovery, that new martian and whatever the hell Leviathan is, even someone as strong as Kara is going to struggle in the coming months. Fortunately, the Maid of Steel doesn’t have to face this all alone.

Ahead of season five, we sat down with the cast and crew of Supergirl to find out more about what's coming next for fans who wish to soar ahead. Here's what they had to say:

1. Same-sex adoption will play a big role in season 5

The CW

Fans were outraged when Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima) left the show back in season three and it's taken a while for Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) to find love since, but it looks like Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) will now fill that gap in season five.

Leigh describes the relationship as "very new, so they're still trying to figure everything about one another and they both live in such a crazy world… I think it's just a matter of figuring out how those two people fit together and learn a lot along the way".

So far, so cute, but what about Alex's plan to start a family? Maggie left because she didn't want to raise children, but it sounds like Kelly might be more open to the idea somewhere later down the line.

"What we end up seeing is Alex still wants kids and it is something that's on Kelly's radar as well. It's just about when and how to make that look realistic in a very unrealistic world."

2. J'onn's brother will attack before 'Crisis'

The CW

Remember that bald guy from Elseworlds? The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) popped up again in the Supergirl season four finale, bringing along an angry martian who vowed revenge against his brother, J'onn J'onzz (David Harewood).

Fans wondered whether this new addition would lie in wait until Crisis On Infinite Earths or antagonise J'onn from the get-go, and now we have our answer. According to Harewood, the martian will appear almost immediately, but, "It takes [J'onn] a while to figure it out."

"Once he realises it, it's kind of a major thing for him. He's quite angry, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm in a very difficult episode because he's as capable as J'onn, but more deviant," says Harewood.

3. Brainiac will have some emotional issues

The CW

For someone who usually keeps his feelings in check, Brainiac went on an emotional rollercoaster at the end of season four.

After he realised his love for Dreamer (Nicole Maines) wasn't just platonic, Brainy then lost control while being tortured and accidentally unleashed the evil Brainiac programming from days gone by.

Speaking to Jesse Rath, we learned that this traumatic episode won't be glossed over in season five.

"In the aftermath of this whole post alignment thing, he's going to learn what that revealed about who he is deep down and he's going to struggle with letting himself be vulnerable with someone that he loves," Jesse revealed.

Expect some nightmare dating scenarios for Brainy and Dreamer when the show returns in October.

4. The door is open for Manchester Black to return

The CW

Manchester Black is easily one of the most interesting and nuanced characters fans have seen on Supergirl to date. Starting out as a ruthless vigilante, David Ajala's character briefly sided with Kara and J'onn before losing sight of justice in his grief, killing anyone who got in the way.

Manchester’s clash with the Martian Manhunter took a fatal turn in the episode 'O Brother Where Art Thou?' when J'onn mistakenly believed he was the one who shot James Olsen. With his killing blow, the martian used the Staff of H'ronmeer to absorb Manchester, and it looked like he was gone for good.

When asked if Manchester could ever return to the show, co-showrunners Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller are optimistic about his future, explaining: "On Supergirl, there's always a way. We love David [Ajala]. We would love to bring him back at some point... you never know."

How Manchester could return remains to be seen, but since he was transformed into energy, it’s entirely possible that the Staff of H'ronmeer could somehow undo his 'death' one day in the near future.

5. Lena and Kara’s relationship will take centre stage

Sergei Bachlakov The CW

Ever since Lena Luthor first appeared on Supergirl, fans have wondered whether she would ever embrace her dark family heritage and turn evil like Lex. For a while there, it seemed like this would never happen, but now that Lena knows Kara has been lying to her all this time, nothing will ever be the same again.

Speaking to Digital Spy, co-showrunner Jessica Queller explained how this betrayal would impact the show moving forward: "One of the central stories this season is the friendship between Lena and Kara and whether or not it can survive."

"Lena's Achilles' heel is betrayal," says Queller, "and she has made that clear to her friends from the beginning. And the way she found out about this betrayal – Lex twisting the knife and sort of pouring salt in the wound – affects how she feels about it. That will be a huge central story."

6. The theme of season 5 is technology

The CW

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Unlike other superhero shows on The CW, Supergirl has never been afraid to tackle big issues that encompass entire seasons. Previously, topics like racism and immigration have taken centre stage, but this year, showrunner Jessica Queller tells us that "the theme for season five is technology".

"We're calling it a Black Mirror season," says Queller. "We're exploring how technology is literally changing the fabric of humanity. At the end of last season, we took down the bad president and it's time to rebuild the world.

"However, that job is so overwhelming, people tend to want to escape into technology and that might be exploited against them."

It seems that much of this new focus will be filtered through the new Big Bad, Leviathan, which we first saw in the closing moments of season four. In the comics, Leviathan is a secret organisation made up of various criminals, but showrunner Robert Rovner tells us that Supergirl is going to be dealing with "our own incarnation of Leviathan".

How this might deviate from the comics remains unclear, but what we do know is that Supergirl will be facing the fight of her life when she returns to The CW in October – and that's before the Crisis hits, too!

Supergirl airs on The CW in the US. Sky One and NOW TV air the show in the UK.

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