After Superman's last appearance, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg said he definitely hoped to bring Hoechlin back.

"We're thrilled with working Tyler, which has been an amazing experience," he told reporters at the time. "We just selfishly hope we get to do it again because it really added to the show in a way," he said.

Kreisberg also credited the success of Supergirl's Superman to the fact that Hoechlin was playing a Superman we hadn't seen much of before.

"We very cognizant of not wanting him to come in and steal her thunder, so this Superman that we designed was something that you really haven't seen too much of," Kreisberg said. "Usually when you see Superman, even when it's in the Christopher Reeve movie or Man of Steel or Lois & Clark, he's just starting out and we wanted to show Superman who's been doing this for a decade and has gotten really, really good at it."