There are only a few episodes left in Supergirl Season 2, and viewers can now start wondering what's in store with next year's supervillain, assuming Rhea and Lillian Luthor are more or less out of the picture. We learned last month that General Zod was already cast and filming, and the timing would have been right for him to make a last-minute debut as the Season 3 big bad. A new tease from executive producer Andrew Kreisberg indicates that this might not be the case, saying this:
We will get a glimpse of the Season 3 villain in the finale, which we're also excited about.
Andrew Kreisberg's comments give the impression that the big bad for Season 3 will turn up briefly in the finale, and he or she will be somebody we hadn't seen before and we won't expect. By this point, I'd say that plenty of us were expecting Zod to emerge as Kara's new nemesis for Season 3, and he would make sense. He's one of Superman's most legendary foes in DC Comics and DC films; given that Supergirl is about Kara rather than Clark, it would make sense that he'd show up to menace National City rather than Metropolis. Now, it sounds like the baddie will be someone we didn't see coming.
There's also the fact that Andrew Kreisberg went on in his chat with CBR to talk about Zod, saying this:
I don't really want to say too much about Zod. How and why it happens is a fun surprise. As far as his costume is concerned, we took a page out of the older, Nazi uniform that he used to wear, which was very cool. That name instantly means something to fans of Superman and Supergirl. It's a bit of a cameo surprise in the episode.
The executive producer isn't even bothering to try and hide that Zod will be appearing, whereas he's beating around the bush about the Season 3 supervillain. Zod obviously will be a bad guy, what with the Nazi-esque uniform that he'll apparently wear, but the only secrets about his appearance on Supergirl are how and why he drops in. The circumstances will evidently be a surprise; the appearance itself will not. Andrew Kreisberg's relative openness about Zod contrasted with his ambiguity about next season's baddie definitely make it seem like the next baddie is not Zod.
Now we have to wonder who will be the big bad, if not Zod. If he had not already been introduced as Superman's nemesis in the Supergirl universe, I'd say that Lex Luthor would be the likely culprit. He's been mentioned as a villain often enough throughout Season 2. Still, considering that he already has a Kryptonian archenemy, I'm guessing Supergirl will leave Lex to Clark and pit Kara against other foes.
Of course, Lex belonging to Superman's story doesn't mean that Kara can't oppose a Luthor of her own. She and Lena have been close friends throughout Season 2, but Lena has also had some close brushes with darkness befitting a Luthor, and she's currently bonding with the nefarious Daxamite queen. Now that Katie McGrath has been promoted to series regular status for Season 3, it's entirely possible that Lena and Kara's friendship won't survive too much longer.
We can only speculate at this point. Tune in to The CW on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET to watch for the first signs of General Zod on Supergirl, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well.
