Get ready for more Lena Luthor in Supergirl season 3 as The CW confirms Katie McGrath has been promoted to a series regular for next season.
Supergirl still has a few more episodes to go before it wraps its second season of the show and first season on The CW. Its network shift has brought about a lot of changes, some more drastic than the others. However, one of its better changes has been the addition of Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor.
She was introduced in the first episode of the season as a suspicious foil who carried the evil Luthor name but wanted to break free of her family’s past. As the season continued, she proved to be a strong ally to Supergirl’s team … even when everybody but Kara Danvers believed she was evil. In spite of their prejudice, Luthor saved the alien race on multiple occasions. Further, she’s only been but a wonderful friend to Kara.
Which makes the news that she’ll back in season 3 that much more exciting. As TVLine reported on Wednesday, McGrath will return to the role as a series regular.
But wait! It gets better:
"During TVLine’s recent visit to the Supergirl set, McGrath concealed not one bit her affection for her latest TV role: “She’s honest, she’s true to Kara, she’s true to her friends,” she said of Lena. And while forever fielding side eye as a Luthor, “She keeps trying, in the face of all the things that people keep throwing at her. She’s defying them!”"
While we all feel super thrilled to get more Lena Luthor, a dubious undertone remains hidden under the excitement — one of which, McGrath tackles. For a while, there’s been speculation that Luthor would succumb to her family’s reputation in her remaining episodes. Unfortunately, that would be a very lazy route for Supergirl to take, but not out of the realm of possibility. That fact that McGrath says “she’s defying them” makes me feel less anxious.
Still, Supergirl’s writing has been questionable at best. And the timing of this announcement, which has probably been in the works for a few months, comes on the heels of a rather disappointing arc that saw Kara return to her otherwise unfortunate relationship with Mon-El, the Daxamite fratboy. So it seems like The CW is well aware of the discourse among the fanbase and wants to quell the outrage with this news.
Suffice it to say, I consider myself both intrigued and worried for what comes next.
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New episodes of Supergirl air every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.