Late last month, former Superman and Supergirl Dean Cain and Helen Slater (from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and 1984’s Supergirl, respectively) joined the cast of CBS’ upcoming Supergirl series in top secret guest roles. Now, courtesy of Kryptonsite, their parts in the show may have been revealed.
The site has noticed that Cain and Slater are now listed as Fred and Sylvia Danvers, the foster parents of the titular Kryptonian, Kara Zor-El, on iMDB. Due to the fact that iMDB is reliably unreliable and can often come with casting lists made by fans, this news should be taken with a grain of salt. However, if you look at some casting history for old DC television shows, these roles certainly make sense.
The Flash on the CW (which shares executive producers with Supergirl) currently stars former scarlet speedster John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen’s father. Smallville, meanwhile, briefly starred Lois & Clark actress Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane’s mother, while Martha Kent was played by Superman III alum Annette O’Toole. Similar meta-casting has happened in Lois & Clark, Batman the Brave and the Bold and even Superman the Movie, so it’s not at all far-fetched to assume that the new Supergirl series will offer the same playful bit of fan service.
Supergirl has a series commitment from CBS, and is expected to air this fall. It stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen, Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, Jeremy Jordan as the Toyman, Chyler Leigh as Alexandra Danvers, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw and Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El.