Melissa Benoist soars as Supergirl, Mehcad Brooks clicks James Olsen into life, and villainous Lumberjack appears

CBS and Warner Bros TV unveiled the latest news on Kara Danvers life. Glee’s Melissa Benoist will be showing off Supergirl skills, True Blood’s Mehcad Brooks plans on snapping up life as James Olsen, and random villain Lumberjack will connect new and old Krypton life.

News about CBS’s Supergirl has been flying by faster than a speeding train this week.

CBS’s vision of Supergirl begins with Melissa Benoist tying on the cape and kicking a little ass as 24-year-old Kara Zor-El, a Kryptonian relearning how to use superpowers after subduing them for so long.

If this sounds familiar, the basic plot is a retread of the CW’s Smallville with Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent learning how to be Superman. Of course, when a home planet is blown up and both Kryptonians land on Earth, perhaps similarities are bound to happen.

And much like Smallville‘s Kent, Kara takes on the name of her foster family, who advise her to be careful in a world unprepared or ready for such gifts. The difference is that Glee‘s Benoist will learn to embrace her gifts as she becomes empowered in a world meant to keep a Kryptonian woman down. And possibly not kill her father figure through a really awkward life-exchange scene.

The Hollywood Reporter gives a little of the pilot away, saying, “An unexpected disaster forces her to use her powers in public.” Like Kent, this will offer a beneficial view at her unique abilities. When the heroine starts helping out citizens, she earns the moniker Supergirl.

Before Benoist, Laura Vandervoort played a moody, sarcastic, young Supergirl on Smallville. And in the 1980s, Helen Slater portrayed the blonde bombshell in the panned Supergirl movie.

So what will Benoist bring? THR says the actress’s character, Marley Rose, was considered the Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) of the newer McKinley High class in Glee’s fourth and fifth seasons. She also stars in Oscar-nominated feature Whiplash. Other previous work includes Showtime’s Homeland and CBS programs Blue Bloods and The Good Wife.

But Benoist wasn’t the only casting news for the CBS hour-long drama. James Olsen will be played by True Blood alum Mehcad Brooks. Brooks played Benedict “Eggs” Talley during the HBO show’s second season. He also starred in USA’s Necessary Roughness.

Greg Berlanti’s vision of James Olsen isn’t necessary the lapdog Jimmy that people remember from their childhood. DC Comics describes the character as a photographer working at media company CatCo, the same place Kara Danvers is looking to start her life. Mystery surrounds the young photojournalist since “he has recently been living and working in National City.”

As for the CatCo, comic fans /4/remember the name from Superman’s past since it is run by former love interest, Cat Grant. Grant is described as “J.Lo by way of Anna Wintour” so all /4/not be well in the land of Kara. Especially with the latest reveal of a Supergirl villain.

Coming Soon reports that Supergirl will face “obscure DC Comics character Lumberjack in the pilot.” Given the nature of an unexpected reveal, one can assume that going against a lumbering giant might get a superhero noticed a time or two. The character was only seen in Wonder Woman #268 (1980), along with Red Fang and Changeling.

So why pluck an unknown villain out of the line up?

Well, if Warner Bros. is watching Marvel, they /4/feel it smart to put an underdeveloped into the pilot while not disturbing the film line up—since the company seems to want to avoid a lot of crossovers, in any case. Lex Luthor would be obvious, but Lumberjack? Lot of freedom there to spiral out a lesser known stable of villains to make the young woman’s life miserable.

#TrueBlood Alum Mehcad Brooks (@MehcadBrooks) Joins CBS #Supergirl As Jimmy Olsen – http://t.co/PksmQGQpFx pic.twitter.com/2JbMW1juGi— Hero Rundown (@HeroRundown) January 29, 2015

And TV Line reveals the casting department is looking for a “big, burly monster of a man, who has battled Kara’s cousin” that resembles Game of Thrones‘ own giant-like Rory McMann. The site also teased that Lumberjack is there to check up on Superman’s cousin and see just what she can do. Hmm. Is Cat going to be assessing her? Or is there a larger villain at work in Kara’s life?

Only time will tell but the series seems to be shaping up with the latest casting news.

Bertlanti has the superhero world covered at the moment since he’s also helming CW favorites Arrow and The Flash. While the worlds won’t connect, thanks to different network deals, Warner Bros. TV seems to trust the showrunner. And female fans remain hopeful for an awesome Supergirl television series.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, DC Comics, Coming Soon, TV Line