Superman might be faltering on the big screen, but his cousin Supergirl is flourishing on TV.
The Melissa Benoist-led TV series has just switched from the CBS to The CW network in the US, and the show will be bringing the Man of Steel into the fold for its second season.
Supergirl executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed that he and fellow show chiefs Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler are on the hunt for a new Kal-El.
“Greg, Ali and I are beyond thrilled to welcome Clark Kent and his slightly-more-famous alter ego to the world of Supergirl,” Kreisberg said. “Superman will be appearing in the first two episodes of the new season and we cannot wait to see who next dons the red cape!”
Don’t expect Henry Cavill to make the move to the small screen, though. His Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder previously stated that the DC Comics and TV series exist as separate entities – unlike the connected film and TV world of Marvel.
Some Supes fans are already championing one actor for the role: Smallville’s Tom Welling.
Welling played a young Kal-El for more than a decade on The CW series, so the idea makes some kind of sense.
Stranger- Hey did you hear their looking to cast Superman?
Tom Welling- *runs outside and…* #Supergirl pic.twitter.com/B9axE9eHqo
— Aaron Uzumaki (@AaronCosby1) June 6, 2016
All the Tom Welling fans out there let us start a trend on social media to put tom welling in Supergirl season 2 the ratings would soar
— Marybeth Mason (@mbethmason) June 7, 2016
I kinda really love how so many people are wanting Tom Welling to be Superman on Supergirl, now that it was announced.
— The Amazing Glamazon (@_DownToEarth) June 7, 2016
If Tom Welling doesn't play Superman in Supergirl what is the point @TheCW ?
— Noshin Chowdhury (@noshinxD) June 7, 2016
@TheCW Pls bring back Tom Welling as Superman in Supergirl.
— Christopher Degn (@cwdegn) June 7, 2016
For his part, Welling didn’t seem too sure about returning to the role on Supergirl when asked about it by BuzzFeed earlier this year.
“There’s people who would like it… there’s people who don’t like it but I will tell you that no one has ever actually asked me to do it,” he said.
“So, I don’t know. It would be kind of odd. I don’t know who he is at that point. He would obviously be Superman.”
One thing’s for sure, we can probably chalk Dean Cain of the list of potential Supermen, too. He already turned up in Supergirl playing the lead character’s adopted father.
Loaded digital media manager Simon Reynolds has written about film and entertainment for various leading websites since 2008. Follow Simon at @simonreyn