Here's your first look at Tyler Hoechlin as Superman in SUPERGIRL

Supergirl season 1 was a pretty entertaining if lightweight affair, buoyed by an infectiously charming titular performance from Melissa Benoist. One thing that wasn’t great though, were the cheesy teases of Supergirl’s more famous cousin Superman. Thanks to a number of behind the scenes issues, the show wasn’t really allowed to use the character so instead all we got were red boots or blurry silhouettes.

But with all those pesky rights issues now sorted out, possibly as a result of Supergirl now joining all the other DC Comics shows on The CW, the Man of Steel is finally showing up properly in the form of newly cast Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf). And today we have our first full look at him in full costume! Check it below!

I really don’t know how to feel about this. The costume itself is mostly decent, and appears to be a mish-mash of different variations. It has the textured look of Henry Cavill’s movie costume, the panel lines and red belt look of the DC Comics New 52 design, the more retro “S”shield and Batman’s boots from the Arkham videogames just spray painted red! I do like the way the cape attaches over the shoulders, though I would probably need to see it in action to really make up my mind as those shoulder portions look very stiff.

My biggest problem with this pic though is Hoechlin himself. More specifically the way he’s standing. Compared the confident posturing of Benoist’s Supergirl, Hoechlin doesn’t seem to know what he should be doing with either his limbs and face. He looks like somebody that just farted and is trying his best to act normal and hide it. Also there’s a serious case of uncanny valley dead-eye going on here. Are we sure this is actually Tyler Hoechlin and not just a poorly animated CG render?

Real boy or not, this is actually not the first time that Hoechlin is playing around in Superman’s world, as the actor revealed at Comic-Con over the weekend (via CBR)that he once auditioned for the role in the movies. He obviously didn’t land the gig back then though, possibly due to his take on the character being different to what was needed at the time. This time around though, his Super-vision seemed to be in sync with what was needed.

“I read for ‘Man of Steel’ years ago and I just remember going into that audition and being like — it was one of the first auditions I remember actually physically going in and being like, ‘This might be want they want to see, but it’s not what I find interesting. I think this is interesting,’ and kind of committing to that. I think that was a huge step as an actor, you commit to what you find interesting and if they like it, great, if not, you don’t want to show up to work everyday thinking like, ‘Well, what do they want today?’ You want to find someone with similar idea. With [producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreizberg], it was an honest meeting about what I find fascinating and interesting about him and it kind of clicked. It felt right and it’s really exciting to explore that some more.”

Benoist also added that she thinks that finally bringing Superman into the mix properly will be a huge boon to the show.

“I think it’s the perfect time. All of the interactions [Kara] had with him last season through the instant messaging and the texting, it never felt like enough to me. Their relationship is important, and they’re family and she has things that he doesn’t and he has things that she doesn’t. They’re only going to reap benefits from each other. I’m so excited about it.”

Hoechler will be debuting in the early episodes of season 2 which will premiere on The CW on October 10.

Last Updated: July 29, 2016