From the moment Kara (Melissa Benoist) decided to use her Kryptonian powers for good, her superhero alter ego has battled against an ever-growing list of enemies. She's been seriously challenged by a range of earthly and alien villains that include rogue military robot Red Tornado, Superman's formidable foe Reactron, and Livewire - an electrically-charged enemy accidentally created by Supergirl herself.
When she's not out saving the world, Kara's normal life includes a job as assistant to media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). In between running a lot of errands and secretly heating her exacting boss' coffee with her heat vision, Kara has learned a lot about juggling responsibilities and the extra burdens of being a powerful woman. Now it appears a new enemy will challenge her both at work and when she's wearing the red cape.
The adversary comes in the form of Siobhan Smythe, a new employee at CatCo. ET Online reports that Italia Ricci will take on the Supergirl role, which includes morphing into super villain Silver Banshee. Along with incredible strength, speed, and stamina, Supergirl's new nemesis has a sonic scream that is powerful enough to be deadly.
Ricci recently appeared on the big screen in Don Jon, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson. On the small screen, she received positive reviews for her lead role in ABC Family's Chasing Life, portraying an aspiring journalist diagnosed with leukemia. Supergirl executive producer Andrew Kreisberg had nothing but praise for Ricci when discussing her character's first appearance in the upcoming episode 14, saying: "We are so excited to be working with Italia. We've been a fan of her work for years and we cannot wait to see her take on this iconic comic book role."
Silver Banshee has appeared in over 100 issues of various DC comics. She was originally portrayed as a Gaelic clan leader's daughter, who is dragged into the Netherworld where she strikes a bargain with an ancient being who grants her special powers. DC's reboot of several comic series in 2011 added language skills to Silver Banshee's resume, which includes deciphering Kara's Kyptonian.
That language bond leads to Supergirl and Siobhan becoming friends in the new comics, but while we can picture Kara trying to befriend a new employee, it doesn't sound as if it will stay cordial between them. There's always the potential for a change of heart from Silver Banshee, however, as we don't yet know what her villainous motives will be on the show. It would be an interesting development to have Kara, who has a pretty solid human support system, to have a BFF with some powers comparable to her own.
Supergirl airs on CBS, Mondays at 8/7c. Episode 14 should premiere early next year.
Source: ET Online