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“Supergirl Lives” & The Power of Kevin Smith

KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne unleashes his appreciation for “Supergirl Lives” director Kevin Smith.

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My “origin story” as a fan of director Kevin Smith began over twenty years ago when I watched the movie Mallrats. I admit now, I mostly watched because I wanted to see the Stan Lee appearance and I knew there were comic book references. I appreciated the movie, but I appreciated it even more once I saw Chasing Amy and Dogma and went back and saw Clerks and saw how all of the pieces of Smith’s “View Askewniverse” came together.

Kevin SmithAt Comic-Con in 2001, I purposely asked Mr. Smith a question at his panel because I heard a rumor that those who did would get to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back early, during the week of the Con. It was true. Seeing that film – the ULTIMATE View Askew movie – in a room full of other fans was quite an awesome experience. Jay and Silent Bob became one of my go-to movies to watch when I want fun times, something that I still do to this day. I bought the soundtrack. And, even though the movie was largely out of theaters by the time my birthday came along that year, I dragged a group of friends 50 miles to the University of Maryland to watch the film at a screening there with me that December.

What I appreciated (and appreciate) the most about Kevin Smith’s work is that he gets the mindset of the comic book and sci-fi fan, because he is one. He will debate the independent contractors on the guest star. He will have characters questioning the sexual urges of Archie Andrews, which really has me wanting to see him directing Riverdale someday. He knows Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo. He made Daredevil and Green Arrow cool again years before they got their respective TV series. And he put Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher into one of his movies before it was cool to do so.

While I did see Smith again at a 10th anniversary screening of Mallrats, and I did ask a probably stupid question at that panel that I’ve long since forgotten, I’d never really met the guy. Imagine my surprise late last year, during the annual Warner Bros. Television set press tour, when we were invited to watch Smith directing a scene from tonight’s Supergirl episode “Supergirl Lives.”

All the stories you read about the actors praising him as a director? They’re true. He treated us, visiting members of the press, like we were special guest stars in our own right. He invited us to see the process. Crew were applauded. Cast was applauded. Heck, we were applauded. Rather than having an ego as a well-received director helming an episode of Supergirl, you could tell he was having the time of his life. Part of me wished I had a time machine, to tell my younger self that I’d someday be seeing Mr. Smith directing, and that he’d treat myself and others like welcome guests.

“I can’t say enough amazing things about Kevin Smith,” Melissa Benoist told us soon after we watched her, Ian Gomez, and Mehcad Brooks shooting a scene for the episode. “I’ve been a fan for ages. I was really anticipating working with him and so excited about it, and he just exceeded all of my expectations. He’s so supportive and encouraging. The atmosphere on set… We work crazy long hours, and the energy that he brings is only positive. You guys saw how many rounds of applause there were. That’s like a daily occurrence, all day, and I don’t know how you keep that up. He’s wonderful. He’s [unintelligible] about this genre. He knows it so well, so knowledgeable about it. I just truly look up to him,” she said.

Tonight’s episode of Supergirl is Smith’s third venture into Greg Berlanti’s DC Comics world on The CW, with a Supergirl encore coming later this year. Hopefully there are many more to come in the future. But for this longtime fan, the experience of seeing the man directing was a treat, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

“Supergirl Lives” airs tonight (January 23) at 8PM (ET/PT) on The CW. Come join the discussion of the episode on our Supergirl forum!

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Smallville

Supergirl & Smallville Writers Have A New Comic Book-Inspired Series

Eric Carrasco, Alfredo Septien, and Turi Meyer will be showrunners for El Gato starring Diego Boneta.

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Prime Video, which recently has been the home of some of the best comic book-inspired series with shows like Invincible and The Boys, is currently casting a live-action adaptation of the comic book series El Gato Negro by Richard Dominguez. (El Gato Negro translates to “The Black Cat,” so we wouldn’t be surprised if there is a title change to avoid Marvel’s Black Cat.) With the working title El Gato, the showrunners include veterans from Supergirl and Smallville.

Eric Carrasco wrote several memorable episodes of Supergirl between Seasons 2 and 4 and eventually served as a story editor on the series. He wrote the Justice League vs. the Fatal Five animated feature and is a producer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Twilight of the Gods. He’s also been an Uber — err Ride Me Now driver for two stoners from New Jersey in their reboot movie. What’s also very cool about Eric is that one of his earliest industry jobs was working on a TV series called Smallville. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

The other two showrunners need no introduction when it comes to SmallvilleAlfredo Septien & Turi Meyer were among the most prolific writers for the show, on the team for six seasons with episodes including “Vengeance,” “Labyrinth,” “Bride,” “Salvation,” and “Finale Part 1.” Turi Meyer also directed two episodes of Smallville, and the two of them returned to the DC Universe with DC’s Stargirl on The CW in recent years.

The series will star Diego Boneta as the main character, Frank Guerrero, who returns home to Mexico after the death of his father and finds himself neck-deep in a nest of vipers – his estranged family – who are vying for control of his father’s business empire. But Frank’s grief is interrupted when he learns his only inheritance, a seemingly worthless parcel of land on the border, sits atop the lair of a famous costumed vigilante — his father, “El Gato.” Now, Frank is in the crosshairs. To survive, he’ll have to solve mysteries decades in the making and unravel the truth about his father’s connections to a modern-day terror plot.

“This is a pulp thriller,” Eric Carrasco said in a quote posted by Variety earlier this year. “It’s a family drama, it’s everything I love about spies and masks and secret identities. A lot of us on this team – Diego, and Andrew Mittman, and Steve Stark, and Carla Gonzalez Vargas, and I – have been at this for a long time now, and it’s a genuine thrill to finally make the show with MGM Television and Prime Video.”

El Gato will be produced by MGM Television which is part of Amazon MGM Studios. Hopefully we’ll learn more about this project as development progresses! For now, though, congratulations to Eric, Al, and Turi!

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Supergirl

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Release Date Announced

The Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow film is currently scheduled for a 2026 release.

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The Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow film has had a release date announced — and it’s less than a year after James Gunn’s Superman.

Warner Bros. announced Tuesday that the new film for the Maid of Might — based on the comic by Tom King and Bilquis Evely — is on the schedule for June 26, 2026. Of course, plans can and often do change, but that’s where it’s set for now. The film is said to “depart from the earnest take on the character” that was seen on The CW’s Supergirl TV series.

Milly Alcock will play Supergirl, and it is expected that we will see her before this movie — in Superman, perhaps? Craig Gillespie (Cruella) is the director.

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Smallville

New Supergirl Featurette Includes Laura Vandervoort, Melissa Benoist & More

Supergirl actresses Laura Vandervoort, Melissa Benoist, Sasha Calle, and Helen Slater are included in a retrospective featurette on The Flash Blu-ray.

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One of the rare good elements from the recent Flash movie was the inclusion of Sasha Calle as Supergirl, and now, we can revisit her and a few old Supergirl favorites, as Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl TV series from The CW & CBS), and Helen Slater (movies’ original Supergirl) are all included on a featurette on The Flash movie home release. These are all new interviews with the actresses, and in some cases, these are their first interviews about the character in years. The title of the featurette is “Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton.”

Although a Twitter/X report from “Sennaverse” on Twitter notes that the documentary can be found on the MAX streaming service, we have had no luck finding it there so far. The featurette is included, however, with purchase of The Flash movie on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD. The set is due for release on Tuesday, August 29. You can purchase that here and support KryptonSite if you wish! 

We’re looking forward to seeing these new interviews and spotlight on the Woman of Tomorrow!

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