The Secret's Out: 'Supergirl' Adds Justice League Original to the Show
Warning: This post regarding the “Human for a Day” episode of Supergirl contains spoilers.
For weeks now, the tension around Hank Henshaw has been building. In the comics, the character is one of Superman’s most dangerous foes, but Supergirl took a different route. As executive producer Andrew Kreisberg remembers it, he and two more of the show’s EPs realized that Hank didn’t necessarily have to go bad. “What if it’s a good secret?”
In the final moments of Monday night’s episode, it’s revealed that Hank’s suspicious red eyes and super-strength belong to Martian Manhunter, an original member of the Justice League and, in Kreisberg’s words, “he turns out to not only be good, but literally be the most good person in the DC universe.”
The move is more than a stunt to boost ratings; the revelation has profound implications for the show, particularly Kara and Alex. As an “in the closet” alien, Supergirl’s presence threatens his secrecy, which explains Hank’s seemingly nonsensical anger and distrust towards her. Once he reveals himself, though, there is a significant shift.
“He promised [Jeremiah Danvers] that he would protect them like his own children,” says David Harewood, who plays Hank Henshaw and J'onn J'onzz, aka Martian Manhunter. “Having lost his own child, Kara and Alex almost become his children, and he loves them.” If his brand of love seems a little callous, well, that’s very much in keeping with many of the parents on the show.
Related: The 26 Best TV Episodes of 2015
Chyler Leigh, who plays Alex Danvers, is a big fan of Harewood, so she’s thrilled by the new twist to their boss/employee relationship. “I couldn’t think of a better person to work with,” she gushed. “He’s just incredible. It’s been really cool watching that arc. The revelation — when it does come out — it’s pretty intense.” But there’s more to him than just the stone-faced commander we see on screen. “He’s so strong and such a calm, cool guy. But then he put on the suit for the first time the other night,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve never seen a grown man make a noise like that. It was like… [high pitched squeal].”
The character is a favorite of many because of his tragic backstory, something Supergirl will delve into. On the show, his people are killed in a genocide. “It was a very emotional episode [to film] for me,” said Harewood. “I think that was around the same time as the Paris attacks,” and the nature of the martian deaths reflected the violence happening in the real world.
Related: ‘Supergirl’ Set Visit: Take a Closer Look at National City
The show is surprisingly bold in the way it deals with social issues without being preachy. In “Red Faced,” the issue of women and minorities both expressing anger in public is touched on. Martian Manhunter has his own issues since, despite his good deeds, he’s afraid his outward appearance would turn people against him. “That’s something very uncomfortable for him because he realizes Kara’s beautiful, attractive, and blond, and gorgeous — and I’m this 7-foot green martian.” Harewood is hesitant to use the term “coming out of the closet,” but like a lot of their social commentary, the metaphors used in the show can stand in for a lot of different things.
Though Martian Manhunter has been around since 1955 in the comics, he’s not one of the most high-profile DC characters. He’s often seen in DC’s animated TV series and movies, but has only appeared in live-action a handful of times on Smallville and once on the abysmal Justice League of America pilot from the '90s.
His powers are, in many ways, the equal of Superman’s. In fact, part of the reason he was added to the Justice League was because DC was afraid of overexposing the Man of Steel, so J'onn J'onzz acted as a sort of replacement. His super-strength, flight, invulnerability, heat and x-ray vision, telepathy, and shapeshifting (obviously, since his natural form is both giant and green) will be put to good use. “He’s got such tremendous powers so we finally get to use to our advantage all of these things that we’ve had to keep a little bit [secret],” says showrunner Ali Adler. “The red eyes are fun but we really want to show off what he can do and we’ll definitely use that in upcoming episodes.”
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m on CBS.
