Get ready to say goodbye to the Girl of Steel as Supergirl is ending with its next season in 2021. In what may have been a planned move, though, the Kryptonian side of the Arrowverse will continue in Superman & Lois, a spinoff focusing on Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel and Elizabeth Tulloch’s Ms. Lane as they raise their two teenage sons. The door is still open for Melissa Benoist to guest star on the show, but it’s possible that the latest casting announcement is teasing that S&L will introduce a new incarnation of Supergirl instead.
This week, Degrassi: The Next Generation star Stacey Faber was cast as reporter Leslie Larr. The character appears to have been created for TV, but quick-to-the-mark fans have noted that her name recalls Silver Age villain Lesla-Lar. She was a Kandorian foe of Kara Zor-El’s who has a history of allying with Lex Luthor. Of course, it’s widely believed that Wolé Parks’ The Stranger is really a Lex from another Earth. So, could Larr be in league with him?
That seems likely, but ComicBook.com has posed an alternate theory. In her first comic book appearance in 1961, Lesla-Lar kidnapped Supergirl and went about impersonating her. CB is wondering if something like this could happen in Superman & Lois. What’s more, they wonder if she could start out as a villain and turn good, going on to act as the Arrowverse’s bonafide second Supergirl, akin to the Linda Lee version in 90s comics.
This is a pretty bold idea, and personally I think it’s too early to jump to that conclusion. But the Arrowverse has redeemed a few villains in the past and the franchise may be in need of a new Girl of Steel once Benoist leaves, much like Mia Queen took over her father’s mantle of Green Arrow following his death. So, we’ll just have to keep this in mind when Superman & Lois premieres on The CW in January.