Some major shakeups to the superhero TV status quo today, meaning some part of the schedule will be less crowded, but others filled to the brim. SUPERGIRL gets new life on a different network, Marvel chooses not to renew AGENT CARTER for a third year and Archie has an extended stay in RIVERDALE.
SUPERGIRL fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief: the cliffhanger will be resolved when the show officially returns for a second season in late 2016. However, instead of being on CBS, the show will move to the CW network, joining fellow Greg Berlanti productions Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. It had previously crossed over with The Flash on an episode of SUPERGIRL, which saw a spike in its otherwise declining ratings. The show opened strong with 12.96 million viewers in October 2015, but by the end of the season it was averaging less than half of that per episode, partly explaining why the shift has been made to the co-owned CW network. Although SUPERGIRL has been canonically established as operating in a different world in the TV Multiverse, The Flash‘s propensity for skipping over to other Earths will undoubtedly make it easier to establish Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) as a regular member of the ‘Arrowverse.’
Meanwhile, Marvel’s female-led show AGENT CARTER has not been renewed for a third season by the Disney-owned ABC, although this was not unexpected. Star Hayley Atwell will appear in ABC’s new series Conviction this fall season, and would unlikely be able to film two intensive shows. AGENT CARTER was always intended to have a limited lifespan, filling in the time-slot between season breaks for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and one may consider the second season to be a bonus in and of itself. In related news, ABC has decided not to move forward with MARVEL’S MOST WANTED, a proposed spin-off from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was to star Adrianne Palicki’s Bobbi Morse (a.k.a. Mockingbird) and Nick Blood’s Lance Hunter. No word yet as to whether they will return to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after this.
Back over at the CW, the network has ordered the Archie Comics inspired RIVERDALE to series. The publisher broke the news, adding another Berlanti production to the CW roster. Produced by Warner Brothers Studios and Berlanti Productions, the source describes it as “a subversive take on the classic Archie mythos.” Berlanti, Sarah Schecter, Jon Goldwater, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa serve as executive producers. It will star KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, Luke Perry as Fred Andrews, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper, and more.
