Interview with Andrew Kreisberg, Executive Producer of the new CBS Supergirl TV series

Supergirl is one of the most anticipated new shows of the 2015-2016 TV season, and several big announcements were made at the CBS portion of the Television Critics Association press tour, including more characters from the DC Comics universe coming in.

We spoke with one of the show’s Executive Producers, Andrew Kreisberg (Arrow, The Flash), about what we can expect from some of those new characters. We also got some insight about the redesigned “S” for the Supergirl costume seen in the new show, which premieres October 26 on CBS.

KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: It has been revealed that the DC Comics character Red Tornado is coming on. Will it be male or female, CG or actor?

ANDREW KREISBERG: It’ll be actor. It’ll be male. Obviously, there will be a CG component, making the powers come to life… but it will be played by an actor.

What can you say about Lois Lane’s sister Lucy (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) coming on to the show? Is she on for the long term?

Yeah. She’s going to be heavily recurring. She had been in a relationship with James Olsen, and when he left Metropolis, he left her, and she’s coming back to fight for her man. But what’s really interesting about it — and one of the things we’re very conscious of, and why we’re so excited to get Jenna — is that we’ve seen shows where that “other woman” comes and the audiences so despises her… you don’t even understand why the male actor would like her. And Jenna is so likable and so winning and so personable, and is so kind to Kara, that part of you is sort of rooting for Lucy, too. She also ultimately ends up defending Supergirl against General Lane. So, Lucy’s kind of a hero in her own right.

What did you think of the design of the Supergirl costume, particularly the revised “S?”

It was Colleen Atwood’s idea. Colleen Atwood created the Flash suit and the Arrow suit, so when we were doing this, we went right to her, and she actually said to us “I’m so happy because I’ve always wanted to do a female superhero.” It’s a tough thing — that “S” in that outfit is a tough thing to mess with — and it was in one of Colleen’s earliest designs, that the blue would be the backing, and we were just so taken with that, because it feels strong, and it’s such a strong statement. We’d hold up our “S” against anybody’s.

In the initial drawings, it blew us all away, and then when we saw Melissa in that: She is Supergirl.

Supergirl premieres October 26 on CBS. Visit KryptonSite for more updates about the show and be sure to be following our @KryptonSite Twitter feed!