Development On January 31, 2019,
The CW renewed
Supergirl for a fifth season.
Jessica Queller and
Robert Rovner serve as the season's showrunners. 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
Achilles heel due to every member of the Luthor family having betrayed her in some way over the years: "She has to put on this protective shell, and the last person she thought would betray her was Kara, and that really hurts more deeply than any of the others".
Casting Main cast members Melissa Benoist,
Mehcad Brooks,
Chyler Leigh,
Katie McGrath,
Jesse Rath,
Nicole Maines and
David Harewood return as Kara Danvers / Supergirl,
James Olsen,
Alex Danvers, Lena Luthor,
Querl Dox / Brainiac 5,
Nia Nal / Dreamer, and
J'onn J'onzz respectively. his last appearance was in the episode "In Plain Sight".
Azie Tesfai, who was introduced as
Kelly Olsen in the fourth season, was promoted to the main cast for the fifth season, as was
Andrea Brooks, who recurred as
Eve Teschmacher since the second season. They are joined by new cast members
Julie Gonzalo playing
Andrea Rojas and Staz Nair playing
William Dey, an original creation for the series.
Jeremy Jordan, who starred as
Winn Schott in the first three seasons and was absent during the fourth, returned as a guest star for three episodes. The female Brainiac 5 was played by
Meaghan Rath, the real-life sister of Brainiac 5 portrayer Jesse Rath, at his suggestion.
Design The season introduces a new Supergirl suit which eschews the skirt seen in the older suit in favour of a full pant. Benoist and the showrunners said giving Supergirl pants was something they discussed since the first season. The seventeenth episode of the season marks Benoist's directorial debut.
Arrowverse tie-ins In December 2018, during the end of the annual crossover "
Elseworlds", a follow-up crossover was announced titled "
Crisis on Infinite Earths" based on the
comic book series of the same name. The crossover took place over five episodes–three (including the
Supergirl episode) in December 2019 and two in January 2020. == Broadcast ==