Supergirl unveils first look at Azie Tesfai's Kelly Olsen as Guardian ahead of her debut in the show’s 12th episode of its final season. Based on the DC Comics character, Supergirl follows Kara Zor-El Aka Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) as she embraces the abilities she shares with her cousin, Superman. The CW series is currently airing the first part of its sixth and final season, which will conclude with “Fear Knot” on May 11th. At this point, Kara has been imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by Lex Luther (Jon Cryer), the most recent episodes following Brainy and Nia back in time to Midvale, 2009, to recover a piece of Kara's DNA.
Following “Fear Knot,” Supergirl season 6 will resume airing its final 13 episodes on August 24th. During its final run, the Arrowverse show looks to introduce a new hero. At the end of March, the Supergirl showrunners announced that the back half of season 6 would see Kelly Olsen (Tesfai) take up the iconic Guardian shield and become National City’s vigilante. The 12th episode, entitled “Blind Spots," is co-written by Tesfai, will address racial inequality, and air on September 21st. David Ramsey will direct the episode while also reprising his role as Arrow’s John Diggle.
Supergirl recently premiered Kelly’s brand-new Guardian costume. Kelly sports a gold helmet and shield, with metallic accents and a metal helmet on top of a blue/black top and pants. Check it out below.
The last person to adopt the Guardian mantle was James “Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), usually depicted as a young photographer in the Superman mythos. In 2015, Supergirl introduced an older James Olsen who was tired of sitting on the sidelines. With the help of Winn Schott, he became the masked vigilante Guardian. James left the show in season 5, paving the way for his sister, Kelly, who previously used his shield to protect citizens in Crisis on Infinite Earths, to take up the mantel. While James’ costume incorporated silver, Kelly’s gold costume is more comics-accurate.
Tesfai’s been in Supergirl since season 3, so her role as Guardian has been a long time coming. Showrunner Jessica Queller recently spoke on how the writers just wanted to find the right context for it and that it worked beautifully within the context of the social justice stories they wanted to tell in season 6. It’s worth mentioning that Kelly’s girlfriend, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), also adopted the mantel of Sentinel in the season premiere. Despite Supergirl’s conclusion, shows like Superman & Lois (which has already been renewed for season 2), keep the Arrowverse and its many heroes, old and new, alive.
Source: Supergirl/Twitter