First Look: Tyler Hoechlin Suits Up As Superman For 'Supergirl'

In the first season of Supergirl, Superman was more an idea than an actual character. Oh, sure, Kara's more famous cousin figures prominently in her backstory, and she and others talk about him all the time. And yes, he was even seen on the show on a few occasions. But it was always as a blur, or from a distance, or as a small child. It's not until the new season that we'll finally get to meet Supergirl's version of Superman for real. As previously reported, he'll be played by Teen Wolf and Everybody Wants Some!! star Tyler Hoechlin — and today, we have our first look at him all suited up.

That's enough Photoshop lens flare here to make J.J. Abrams roll his eyes, and Superman's arms are rather awkwardly placed. But all that aside, Hoechlin seems to look the part. It's interesting to note he's going the Man of Steel route and ditching the red undies. Instead, he splits the difference with a dark red belt. The Superman and Supergirl costumes look like they come from the same universe, but don't match exactly, which is another nice touch.

At a Comic-Con roundtable interview, producer Sarah Schechter gushed about seeing Hoechlin in that iconic uniform. "Tyler is amazing. I've seen him in the suit and it's very cool," she told us. "You see it and you're like oh, Greg Berlanti and I went to a costume fitting the other day and we were a little speechless. It's our costume designer who came up under Colleen [Atwood] but it's working off of Colleen's design for the Supergirl suit."

Hoechlin is in the strange position of playing a small-screen version of Superman while a big-screen version is active. (Yes, I know how Batman v Superman ends, but c'mon, we already know he's back for Justice League.) But maybe that could work to his advantage. Not all DC fans are enamored of the current movie Superman directed by Zack Snyder and played by Henry Cavill, with many complaining he's too cold or too broody. Supergirl could probably win over a lot of people just by letting their Superman smile once in a while. I mean, why wouldn't you want to unleash this megawatt grin?

Superman will drop by Central City in the first two episodes of Supergirl's second season, which kicks off October 10 at 8 PM on The CW.