Supergirl executive producer Ally Adler, and stars Mehcad Brooks (Jimmy Olsen) and Peter Facinelli (Maxwell Lord) arrived at the Empire Room at this year’s New York Comic-Con on Sunday afternoon for the Warner Bros. Television panel, after the pilot screening of their upcoming CBS show.

Below are some highlights from the panel’s Q&A after the pilot screening. We’ll have a full review of the episode, which premieres on October 26, 2015, and stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers.

Adler said she’s inspired by Buffy and Alias, which have strong badass women. It’s incidental that she’s a female. You will take away that she kicks ass.

Q: Mehcad, Romantic or platonic (with Kara)?
Brooks: There’s a bro code and he (Superman) can destroy you. Just keep watching and we’ll keep listening to you guys, too. I’m a hopeless romantic.

Q: Superman will be a big influence, but you don’t say his name in the pilot.
Adler: He is, obviously, we all live in someone shadow in our lives. She gets to be at the forefront. We will address where is he very quickly. Reactron, Livewire, Red Tornado, Toyman will be making an appearance.
Facinelli: I’m just excited to see who else shows up. Would like to see Batgirl.
Brooks: Green lantern has always been a favorite of mine. I want that ring.

Adler: We’re all so excited. Our writer’s room. I’m used to being one of two (females). Supergirl‘s writer’s room is 50% female.

Q: What does that bring to the show?
Adler: Balance truth, so much action, visual effects, stunts. Crew works harder than any crew I’ve ever seen. We’ve really tried to bring you a feature film every week.
Brooks: It’s a movie a week.

Q: [To Brooks] What’s the biggest challenge for you playing James Olsen?
Brooks: I’ll tell you the truth. I thought I was getting fired. He’s an iconic character for 75 years. I understand what that emotional connection is for people. You look at me and you don’t see Jimmy Olsen. I tried to stay true to the canon.
Adler: We saw many actors for this role, but we only saw one James Olsen.

Q: Peter, what has your experience been with the DC universe so far and how does it compare to the Twihards?
Facinelli: Hopefully, there will be some crossover with the fans. I get a script and it’s like getting a comic book in the mail. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I had fun making it.

Q: A crashed prison ship, a bunch of villains… will it be an episodic story of the week-type structure?

Adler: There’s an overarching bad guy afoot. Every episode has a balance. In each episode, there’s an internal foe and external foe. There’s some James/Kara shippers, Maxwell/Kara shippers.

Q: What are the pros and cons of having fans so invested in those relationships?
Adler: We definitely want to explore. Not just love triangles, there’s love rectangles, and quadrilaterals, and rhombuses.
Facinelli: I think Maxwell Lord and James Olsen should ship.

Q: One question you’ve been dying to ask (Adler)?
Facinelli: Does Maxwell end up with Supergirl?
Adler: Maybe season 6 or 7.
Brooks: In the comics, Jimmy got superpowers.
Adler: I think we are trying to evolve these characters. As yet planned, you remain a mortal.

Q: How will Kara strike a balance between career and superhero, or is her career being a superhero?
Adler: That will be one of Kara’s jobs – juggling. What she starts out to be is not where she will end up later on. Melissa (Benoist) is this radiant burst of light and we hope she is aspirational and inspirational.

Q: In the beginning of the pilot, my assumption was that the general was General Zod. Is there a link to her aunt and General Zod?
Adler: Not General Zod.

Q: How is Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Kara’s relationship going to evolve throughout the season, almost like Sara and Laurel (Arrow)?
Adler: This is a really interesting adult sibling relationship we get to explore. They support each other as sisters do, but they are going to get into conflict.

Q: What is Supergirl more rooted in? DC movie or DC TV?
Adler: Amazing things are happening, but we just want this to be an inspiring voice.

Photo Gallery

[All photos by Olympus Athens for Geeks Of Doom.]

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