Supergirl star Mehcad Brooks promises 'a very gracious exit' in season 5

Supergirl season 5 will be a “bittersweet” one for Mehcad Brooks, the actor told EW during San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday.

The new episodes, debuting later this year, will mark Brooks’ exit from the CW superhero series to go work on something he says is “really near and dear to my heart.” But, the exit, he promises, will be a gracious one for the character of James Olsen.

“It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, frankly,” Brooks said at EW’s Comic-Con studio. “These people [the cast] are my family and I love them, and it’s been four years of change and the exit’s really gracious. We worked out a really gracious exit and I’m really happy about that.”

Brooks is leaving Supergirl to focus on feature films and develop a new cable series as a starring vehicle for him, EW reported Friday.

“You’re not gone forever,” star Melissa Benoist chimed in as the tone got emotional. “I won’t allow it.”

“We love Mehcad and we’re sad to see him leave the show as a series regular, but we’re excited for both Mehcad and James Olsen’s future,” showrunners Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller said in a previous a statement. “He’ll always be a part of our Supergirl family and we look forward to James returning to National City at some point to visit his sister and his super friends.”

Supergirl, which already entered production for season 5, returns Sunday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. on The CW before diving into Crisis on Infinite Earths. Starting in December, the next Arrowverse crossover event will play out across five hours and feature Legends of Tomorrow actor Brandon Routh pulling double duty as The Atom and one of two Supermen.

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