Just as Stephen Amell (for the title role of Arrow (2012)) and Grant Gustin (for The Flash (2014)), Melissa Benoist was the very first of a thousand actors to audition for the role of Supergirl.
Reunites Helen Slater who played the title character in Supergirl (1984) and Dean Cain who portrayed Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993). Both also have previously appeared in Smallville (2001), where Laura Vandervoort portrayed Kara Zor-El/Supergirl.
The Supergirl outfit was designed by Colleen Atwood, who also designed the costumes for Arrow (2012) and The Flash (2014). She had previously designed the Superman outfits that would be used in the failed film "Superman Lives" which would star Nicolas Cage in the title role.
In late 2014, various reports suggested that this project, planned for CBS, could tie into the shared universe of two other hit superhero shows, Arrow (2012) and The Flash (2014), which air on The CW but are also co-owned by CBS. This was later confirmed, when it was announced in February 2016 that Grant Gustin from The Flash would be appearing in a crossover episode as his character. Later still, in 2016, reports were made of the show moving "properly" to CW for season 2, with further crossovers to be expected.
In addition to acting, Melissa Benoist, Jeremy Jordan, Chyler Leigh, Mehcad Brooks David Harewood and Laura Benanti all can sing. According to Melissa Benoist, the idea of a musical episode became "a kind of a running joke" among the cast due to this. A crossover musical event was announced in 2016 between this show and The Flash (2014), starred by Grant Gustin who is also a singer.In Supergirl: Myriad (2016), Cat Grant says to tell "Harrison Ford she is flattered but she does not date older men, especially when they're married." Calista Flockhart, who plays Cat Grant, is 22 years younger than her husband Harrison Ford.
The sound effect used in Supergirl for her X-ray vision is the same one used in Smallville (2001).
Kara keeps her name and assumes the surname Danvers after she is adopted. In the comics, however, Kara assumed the full name of "Linda Lee Danvers" after she was adopted.
Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman) went to prom with Katie Cassidy who portrays DC Comics character Laurel Lance/Black Canary/Black Siren in Arrow (2012) and The Flash (2014).
In an early episode, it is mentioned that Metropolis was destroyed during one of Superman's fights as a nod to Man of Steel (2013). A comic book prequel for that film revealed that Kara Zor-El does exist in that universe.
The project went through a long and intensive casting process in order to find an actress to play the title character. In January 2015, it was announced that Melissa Benoist had been cast as the lead. Benoist had long been considered a favorite for the role. Other actresses who were considered include Claire Holt, Gemma Atkinson and Elizabeth Lail.
Blake Jenner, who's portraying Adam Foster (Cat Grant's son and Kara's love interest) in the series, is married to the actress that portraits Kara Zor-El, Melissa Benoist.
Melissa Benoist is the second Glee (2009) cast member to star as a DC comics superhero. Grant Gustin portrays the title character in The Flash (2014).
Melissa Benoist started reading the New 52 'Supergirl' comics shortly after she got the part, until the producers approached her to tell they would go on a different direction with the character.
Helen Slater (who starred as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl (1984)) also portrayed Kal-El's birth mother Lara in Smallville (2001). She now appears as Kara's adoptive mother Eliza Danvers.
Ironically, DC Comics canceled the Supergirl comic book title close to this series' premiere in 2015. It was announced the following year that it would return as part of the "DC: Rebirth" event (as "Supergirl: Rebirth"), incorporating many elements of this series such as the outfit, Supergirl working with the D.E.O., the civilian identity of Kara Danvers, original characters Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers and National City.
Melissa Benoist had an eye injury and wore an eye-patch when she put on the Supergirl outfit for the very first time, describing her look as "kind of embarrassing".
Laura Benanti, who's portraying Alura Zor-El in the series, is 9 years older than her TV daughter Melissa Benoist.
Both this and the Supergirl outfit from Supergirl (1984) are strongly reminiscent of the one worn by the Matrix Supergirl, who was not Kara Zor-El but a protoplasmic female clone of Superman and Lana Lang from an alternate reality.
Kara and Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee become enemies from the moment they meet in this series, while in the "New 52" continuity, they become best friends and later roommates. Siobhan turns out to be the only being on Earth able to understand Kara's Kryptonian speaking due to her Silver Banshee nature, and the first to recognize her as a hero.
According to Brandon Routh on Twitter, the "bulletproof coffee" Cat mentions in the third episode was used by writer Andrew Kreisberg after Routh's "obsessive" use of the term. Routh, of course, played the title character in Superman Returns (2006) and stars as The Atom in Arrow (2012) and its spin-offs.The crossover episode with The Flash (2014), which aired only three days after the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) worldwide premiere, is titled "World's Finest", referencing the superhero teaming formed by Batman and Superman in the comics.
Initially, while Superman does make brief appearances (played by an uncredited Kevin Caliber) his face is always obscured or off-screen and his voice not heard, with Kal-El only appearing as a child, and the guise of Clark Kent never seen at all (but still communicating with Kara, via text messages). Then, with the show's move from CBS to CW after the first season, it was announced that a 'proper' outing of the character would follow in subsequent seasons with Tyler Hoechlin in the role.
In May of 2015, a source of the entire pilot episode was leaked on the internet, 2 weeks after the first trailer was released, and 6 months before the show's premiere.
The series takes place in National City (a fictional community). DC Comics, from which Supergirl is a character, was previously known as "National Comics" (amongst other company names).
Greg Berlanti has described Melissa Benoist as the "Annie Hall" of superheroes.
Tyler Hoechlin was cast without auditioning for the role of Clark Kent/Superman.
Kara's foster parents are named Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, a change from the comics in which the Danvers first names were Fred and Edna. In Peter David's run, Linda's parents were Fred and Sylvia Danvers.
To reduce costs, filming has changed from Los Angeles to Vancouver, as the series itself has moved from CBS to The CW alongside Arrow (2012), The Flash (2014) and Legends of Tomorrow (2016).
Melissa Benoist cited Susan Sontag and Gloria Steinem as inspirations for her portrayal of Supergirl. A feminist, Steinem was notably a huge fan of Wonder Woman.
Cat repeatedly addresses Kara as "Kyra." Kara stopped trying to correct her after the second episode.
Glenn Morshower, General Sam Lane, had a role in X-Men: First Class (2011) with Michael Ironside, who played General Lane in Smallville (2001).
Presidential candidate Jeb Bush made headlines after commenting Melissa Benoist "looked pretty hot" in a TV promo for this series premiere.
Jay Jackson appears as a newsreader in the show. He is known for playing the newsreader and reporter Perd Hapley in Parks and Recreation (2009).
This is the second time Chyler Leigh has played a character with a name that derives from "Alexander." On Grey's Anatomy (2005) she played Alexandra ""Lexie" Caroline Grey and on Supergirl (2015) she plays Alex Danvers.
As a guest on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003), Melissa Benoist received from Ellen DeGeneres Superman-themed costumes for each of her dogs. One of them is named Otis, same name of Lex Luthor's assistant in the Superman (1978) films.
Plastino Chemicals and the Otto Binder Bridge in National City are, or course, references to Otto Binder and Al Plastino, co-creators of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl. However, only Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are credited.
The character of Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) was killed by Wonder Woman in the comics.
Melissa Benoist and Peter Facinelli have both worked on Glee (2009).
Alex Danvers does not exist in the comics and was created for the series. She notably resembles Linda Danvers/Supergirl, the character created by Peter David after Kara Zor-El was wiped out of comic book continuity.
Jeremy Jordan, who plays Winn, was born on November 20, 1984, just one day before the theatrical release of Supergirl (1984).
Kevin Smith's episode is titled "Supergirl Lives", after "Superman Lives", the infamous movie he wrote, which would star Nicolas Cage in the title role (See The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015).) Smith joked he wanted Supergirl to fight a giant spider, referencing the infamous battle scene proposed for that film.
Andrew Kreisberg confirmed on Twitter that Kara's ears were pierced when she was still on Krypton. For a brief second, it is possible to see that young Kara's ears are pierced indeed, when she is in her pod.
Prior to being cast as Clark Kent/Superman, Tyler Hoechlin was considered to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
For the exterior shots of Lord Technologies headquarters, a shot of Berlin/Germany's Central Station with a mounted Lord logo is used.When a picture of Laura Vandervoort from V (2009) was used to make fake ID passports as part of an international identity-theft ring, she was immediately recognized by an FBI agent who happens to be a fan of Smallville (2001) wherein she portrayed Kara Zor-El/Supergirl.
Tyler Hoechlin appeared on Teen Wolf (2011) alongside Dylan Sprayberry, who portrayed the young Clark Kent on Man of Steel (2013). Furthermore, "Teen Wolf" star Tyler Posey appeared in one episode of Smallville (2001).
The "alien code" that Wynn is attempting to read in the episode 'Solitude' is the Kryptonian language used in Smallville (2001), the only difference being the characters scroll top to bottom/bottom to top instead of left to right/right to left.
Live-action debut of DC Comics character Lena Luthor, if not counting the Smallville (2001) character of Tess Mercer, which was an amalgam of Lena, Contessa del Portenza, Mercy Graves and Eve Teschmacher from the Superman (1978) films.
Creator and producer Andrew Kreisberg described this version of Superman as being in a "bit more traditional way", with bits of Christopher Reeve's portrayal and the versions from Superman (1996), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) and Super Friends (1973).
Features the character of Eve Teschmacher (Andrea Brooks) which was created by screenwriter Mario Puzo for Superman (1978), famously portrayed by Valerie Perrine.
Lynda Carter admitted she inspired herself on Hillary Clinton for the role of the President.
Tyler Hoechlin reportedly felt difficult to suit up as Superman. "I started to think that Superman's greatest power was actually being able to just jump into [the suit] as quickly as he does, because it's not quite as smooth the first couple of times you do it."
Spoilers
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
Winn thinks Kara is a lesbian when she is about to reveal her secret identity as Supergirl. In the comics, the Danvers had the same conclusion before their daughter Linda "comes out" as Supergirl to them.
In the comics, the character of Lucy Lane assumed the alter ego of Superwoman (who had a costume bearing a field that simulated Kryptonian powers), and was eventually confronted by Supergirl in the story arc "Who Is Superwoman?". Lucy is one of several characters to take the Superwoman mantle, along with Kristin Wells, Lana Lang and Lois herself.
Laura Vandervoort portrays Indigo, a DC Comics character later revealed to be Brainiac 8. In Smallville (2001), Vandervoort briefly portrayed the shapeshifter Brainiac posing as Kara.
When David Harewood was told that he was actually playing Martian Manhunter, he reportedly thought "I'm going to be playing Shrek (2001) for the next seven years".Martian Manhunter's human disguise is Hank Henshaw. In the comics, Hank Henshaw is the name belonging to Cyborg Superman, one of the four Supermen to appear after Superman fell in battle with Doomsday.
Chyler Leigh portrayed Dr. Lexie Grey (sister of the title character) who died after an airplane crash in Grey's Anatomy (2005). In this series, she is again the sister of a title character, and is saved by her from perishing in an airplane crash in the Pilot.
The Martian Manhunter is friends with Jeremiah Danvers and is granted the mission to protect his daughters Kara and Alex. In Smallville (2001), the opposite happens: the Martian Manhunter is friends with Jor-El and is granted the mission to protect his son Kal-El/Clark on Earth.
Live action debut of several DC Comics characters such as Doctor T.O. Morrow, the White Martians, Miss Martian, Hellgrammite, Red Tornado, James Harper, Mon-El, Cameron Chase, Indigo/Brainiac 8 and the Bizarro Supergirl.
Kara accidentally releases Phantom Zone prisoners and is followed towards Earth, which initially causes her to feel guilty. The same thing happens to Clark Kent on Smallville (2001).
The Martian Manhunter is an ally of Supergirl in this series. In the comics, the Supergirl known as Matrix, a character created to replace Kara Zor-El, had powers similar to his - shape-shifting, telepathy and telekinesis.
