Marvel may have and continue to dominate DC at the movies in terms of both box office and quality, but DC will always have the edge at TV. Deadline reports that co-creator of The CW’s Arrow and The Flash, Greg Berlanti, will be teaming with Chuck and No Ordinary Family producer Ali Adlerto to develop Supergirl for CBS.
The show will bypass the pilot phase and go straight to series for the network. With the exception of the Disney owned network, ABC, this deal means that DC has shows on all the major networks with Supergirl on CBS, Gotham on Fox, and Constantine on NBC.
Based on the popular DC character, Supergirl was born Kara Zor-El on Krypton and like her younger cousin Superman, was able to escape the destruction of the planet. Though a teenager when she made it off Krypton, Kara’s journey took longer than her cousin’s and she remained in suspended animation until landing on Erath after Kal-El had grown to be the superhero the world knows and loves.
It is unknown at this time if the series will make any direct references to Superman. Crossovers between shows like Arrow and Constantine have seemed unlikely given the fact that they are on different networks, but with Supergirl being co-created by Berlanti, does bring the idea of a crossover into question.
Supergirl has had multiple live-action incarnations before, the two most well-known outings being her portrayal by Laura Vandervoort in the CW’s Smallville and in 1984 disaster Supergirl, where she was played by Helen Slater.