The fifth season of the American television series ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'', which is based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on October 6, 2019, and consisted of 19 episodes. It is set in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW Seed. ...

, sharing continuity with the other television series of the franchise. The season is produced by

Berlanti Productions Berlanti Productions is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell. History The company was founded in 2000 as Berlanti-Liddell Productions by ...

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

, and

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and was based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that manages its DC Comics units and characters in other units, ...

. The season was ordered in January 2019, and was originally planned to have 22 episodes, later brought down to 20. Filming began that June, and production was shut down in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, leaving the season with only 19 episodes.

Melissa Benoist Melissa Marie Benoist ( ; born October 4, 1988) is an American actress, singer and producer. Her first major role was Marley Rose on the Fox musical comedy drama ''Glee'' (2012–2014), where she was a series regular during the fifth season. S ...

stars as

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

, with principal cast members

Mehcad Brooks Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks (born October 25, 1980) is an American actor and former fashion model. He is known for his roles as Matthew Applewhite in the second season of ABC's series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2005–2006), Jerome in '' The Gam ...

Chyler Leigh Chyler Leigh West (pronounced ; ''née'' Potts), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for portraying Janey Briggs in the comedy film ''Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001), Lexie Grey in the ...

Katie McGrath Katie McGrath () is an Irish actress. In television, she gained recognition for portraying Morgana Pendragon in the BBC One series ''Merlin'' (2008–2012), Lucy Westenra on the British-American series ''Dracula'' (2013–2014), Saskia in the ...

Jesse Rath Jesse Rath (born February 11, 1989) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the television series ''18 to Life'' as Carter Boyd and as Ram on '' Aaron Stone''. He also appeared on the Syfy series '' Defiance'' playing the role of Alak Tarr, on '' Bei ...

Nicole Maines Nicole Amber Maines is an American actress and transgender rights activist. Prior to her acting career, she was the anonymous plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case '' Doe v. Regional School Unit 26'', in which she argued her school ...

, and

David Harewood David Harewood MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / C ...

also returning from previous seasons. They are joined by

Azie Tesfai Azie Tesfai is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, including ''Jane the Virgin'' and ''Supergirl''. Early life and education Tesfai was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Eritrean immigrants who g ...

and

Andrea Brooks Andrea K. Brooks (born March 3, 1989) is a Canadian actress and model best known for portraying Faith Carter on the Hallmark series ''When Calls the Heart'' and Eve Teschmacher in The CW series ''Supergirl''. Early life Born in Brantford, Ont ...

, who were promoted to the main cast from recurring status in the fourth season,

LaMonica Garrett LaMonica Garrett (born May 23, 1975) is an American actor and former professional Slamball player. He is best known for Deputy Sheriff Cane in '' Sons of Anarchy'' (2011–2014), Mike Ritter in ''Designated Survivor'' (2016–2018), John in '' Pr ...

, who previously appeared as a guest actor in the fifth annual Arrowverse crossover and the fifth season, and new cast members

Julie Gonzalo Julieta Susana "Julie" Gonzalo (; born September 9, 1981) is an Argentine actress. On television, she has played Parker Lee on ''Veronica Mars'' (2006–2007; 2019), Maggie Dekker on ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), Pamela Rebecca Barnes on the soap ...

and

Staz Nair Staz Nair is a British actor and singer. He is known for his roles on the TV series ''Game of Thrones'' and ''Supergirl''. Life and career Nair is of Malayali and Russian descent. He was a part of the band Times Red. The band were contestants ...

. Former series regulars Jeremy Jordan, Chris Wood,

Odette Annable Odette Juliette Annable (; born May 10, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for various roles in film and television, including as Dr. Jessica Adams in the Fox medical drama series ''House'', Beth McIntyre in the monster film ''Cloverfie ...

, and

Sam Witwer Sam Witwer (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Crashdown in ''Battlestar Galactica'', Davis Bloome in ''Smallville'', Aidan Waite in '' Being Human'', Mr. Hyde in ''Once Upon a Time'', Ben Lockwood in '' ...

return for the series' 100th episode.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

as Kara Danvers / Kara Zor-El / Supergirl *

as James Olsen / Guardian *

Alex Danvers Alexandra "Alex" Danvers Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. Doctor of Medicine, M.D., also known as Sentinel, is a fictional Character (arts), character from the Arrowverse television series ''Supergirl (TV series), Supergirl'', portrayed by actress Chy ...

Lena Luthor Lena Luthor is a fictional comic book character in DC Comics. She is the sister of Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor. She was played by Cassidy Freeman in the television series ''Smallville'' and by Katie McGrath in the Arrowverse series ''Supergirl ( ...

as Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5 *

as Nia Nal / Dreamer *

Kelly Olsen ''Supergirl'' is an American television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, and Andrew Kreisberg based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the Superman franchise and Al Plastino and Otto Binder's character S ...

as Eve Teschmacher / Hope *

as Andrea Rojas / Acrata *

as William Dey *

as Mar Novu / Monitor *

as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and

Hank Henshaw Henry "Hank" Henshaw is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and normally goes by the name Cyborg Superman. While originally featured primarily as an enemy of Superman, he has in recent years also been an enemy ...

Recurring

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: Apr ...

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include J ...

as Malefic J'onzz * Nick Sagar as Russell Rogers / Rip Roar * Patti Allan as Margot Morrison * Duncan Fraser as an elderly male Leviathan representative *

Cara Buono Cara Buono (born 1973/1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''; Kelli Moltisanti in the sixth season of ''The Sopranos''; Linda Salvo in the 2006 ...

as Gamemnae / Gemma Cooper *

Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in th ...

Rama Khan Rama Khan is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''JLA'' #62 and was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke. Fictional character biography Rama Khan's earliest appearance is 1,004 BC, ...

Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...

as Lillian Luthor

Guest

"Crisis on Infinite Earths"

Production

Development

On January 31, 2019,

renewed ''Supergirl'' for a fifth season.

Jessica Queller Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

and Robert Rovner serve as the season's showrunners.

Writing

Queller described the fifth season of ''Supergirl'' as the series' "''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

'' season", with Rovner elaborating that "What we’re looking at is how technology is impacting the way people engage and giving them an escape not to engage. It seems like nowadays, everyone is kind of on their phones or not really present, and so we wanted to speak to that and kind of how it might be hard to live in the ugliness of what's going on, and how a character like Kara can try and help us overcome that."

, who stars as Kara Danvers / Supergirl, said the season would be "a fight for Lena_Luthor's.html" ;"title="Lena_Luthor_(Arrowverse).html" ;"title="nowiki/>

Lena_Luthor's">Lena_Luthor_(Arrowverse).html"_;"title="nowiki/>Lena_Luthor_(Arrowverse)">Lena_Luthor'ssoul",_following_Lex_Luthor_ Alexander_Joseph_"Lex"_Luthor_()_is_a__supervillain_appearing_in__American_comic_books_published_by_DC_Comics._The_character_was_created_by_Jerry_Siegel_and_Joe_Shuster._Lex_Luthor_originally_appeared_in_''Action_Comics''_#23_(cover_dated:_Apr_...

_exposing_to_Lena_that_Kara,_her_best_friend,_is_Supergirl._Rovner_said_the_rift_between_Kara_and_Lena_was_something_the_writers_had_been_building_towards_for_a_number_of_years,_with_the_fifth_season_serving_as_the_"long-awaited_payoff"._Queller_described_"betrayal"_as_Lena's_ Lena_Luthor's">Lena_Luthor_(Arrowverse).html"_;"title="nowiki/>Lena_Luthor_(Arrowverse)">Lena_Luthor'ssoul",_following_Lex_Luthor_ Alexander_Joseph_"Lex"_Luthor_()_is_a__supervillain_appearing_in__American_comic_books_published_by_DC_Comics._The_character_was_created_by_Jerry_Siegel_and_Joe_Shuster._Lex_Luthor_originally_appeared_in_''Action_Comics''_#23_(cover_dated:_Apr_...

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest

"Crisis on Infinite Earths"

Production

Development

Writing

__Casting_

__Casting_

__Casting_

__Casting_

__Casting_

Casting

Design

Filming

Arrowverse tie-ins

Broadcast

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

Notes

References