Wonder Woman's Lynda Carter to play president in Supergirl

Lynda Carter, who starred in the 1970s TV series Wonder Woman, has been cast as the US president in the upcoming new season of Supergirl.

She will play the commander-in-chief in a recurring role, says the Hollywood Reporter. Her first appearance comes in episode three of the drama, which stars Melissa Benoist.

Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg told reporters Carter "was their dream casting for the part". They first envisioned her for the role in season one, but there were schedule clashes.

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Carter was last on television in a 2013 episode of Two and a Half Men. Before that, she appeared on an episode of Smallville in 2007. She has also been seen in Law & Order: SVU and the films Sky High and Super Troopers.

However, she will always be associated with the trailblazing, lasso-wielding Amazonian warrior Wonder Woman, who she played from 1975 to 1979. The show was among the first on television to feature a female superhero.

So is her casting as a female president prophetic, given that Hillary Clinton is running for the real-life role, or does it simply reflect some wishful thinking?

Carter represents "the kind of national leader many of us wish we could vote for in real life", Bonnie Burton writes on CNet. While the US argues about whether the next president should be Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders or Clinton, "at least we know DC Comics' fictional world is in safe hands", she adds.

Carter is, in fact, a supporter of Clinton, telling People magazine last year that she had a "decades-long friendship" with the presidential candidate and that "she can't wait to have a woman in the White House".

Clinton was someone who "gets it", she continued: "She is our chance to have our turn as a woman in the White House. It is the voice of the women of our country that can help the voiceless women in other countries."

If Carter's new role is seen as promoting a female president, it wouldn't be the first time a television role has been credited with preparing an audience for a different type of leader. In 2008, actor Dennis Haysbert told Associated Press his role on Fox's 24, where he played the first African-American president, may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama.

"If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people," he said.

Season two of Supergirl is scheduled to start on 10 October in the US - a month before the US election. The UK air date has yet to be confirmed.

Supergirl: surprise twist to introduce new DC hero

8 December

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Supergirl, episode seven

The latest episode of Supergirl has surprised US fans and critics with a plot twist introducing a classic DC hero, while UK fans have a big moment to look forward to.

The American series Supergirl, which airs on CBS in the US, and Sky in the UK, is based on the DC comics character. It stars Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, also known as Kara, a young super-heroine who is Superman's cousin and one of the last remaining survivors of the planet Kryptonite.

The series got off to a good start in late October, with positive reviews from critics for its "fresh, exciting and female-led" take on the superhero genre, but things have really started to pick up in the latest episode.

The episode, titled Human for a Day, screened in the US on Monday night and will be shown in the UK on Thursday. It sees Kara helpless, without her powers, during an earthquake, while Alex discovers the true identity of David Harewood's character, DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations) agent Hank Henshaw.

Fans and critics cheered the episode as a "crowd-pleaser" with a killer twist.

"Props to you if you saw this one coming," says Adam Silverstein on Digital Spy.

Supergirl pulled off "a huge twist", says Silverstein, by revealing Henshaw is really the Martian Manhunter in disguise - the DC Comics superhero also known as J'onn J'onzz.

An original member of the Justice League of America, J'onn is a genius shape-shifter from the planet Mars, explains Silverstein. He first appeared in the comics in 1955.

Jim Dandeneau on Den of Geek was also thrilled by the turn of events.

"Despite all speculation about what Henshaw really was, I did not see J'onn J'onzz coming," says Dandeneau. He adds that he now "can't wait to see what else is coming".

Cliff Wheatley on IGN was also impressed. "What a crowd pleaser, huh?" he says. Human for a Day has that pivotal moment in any superhero story that demonstrates why our hero is a hero, says Wheatley, but "the moment that everyone will be talking about" is the reveal of Hank Henshaw's true identity.

"It's an undoubtedly cool moment for DC Universe fans," says Wheatley, though he admits: "I'm not sure it will mean much to the non-comics reading viewers at this point."

Regardless, "it definitely brings this show to another level", says Wheatley. It's finally hitting the level of "zaniness" of things going on in DC's other shows in "the Arrow-verse".

Supergirl is on Sky One on Thursday at 8pm.