Supergirl TV Show Casts Jon Cryer As Lex Luthor

Jon Cryer has been officially cast as Lex Luthor on Lex would be showing up in the flesh during the show's ongoing fourth season.

Lex has cast a long shadow across Supergirl ever since season 2, when his sister Lena (Katie McGrath) became a recurring player on the series. Though Lena is as brilliant as her brother, she's attempted to leave the Luthor family's criminal legacy behind by rebranding their company (Luther Corp) as L-Corp and lending Supergirl a helping hand, in the aftermath of Lex being arrested and sent to prison to serve no less than 32 consecutive life sentences. However, that's been easier said than done, between Lena's mother Lillian (Brenda Strong) running the anti-alien Project Cus in seasons past, and Lex - potentially - causing trouble in the everyday world from behind bars.

Lex is finally going to show up in the flesh on Supergirl season 4, episode 15, according to a new report from TVLine. Queller and Rovner have further confirmed that Cryer will bring the character to life on the show, and issued the following statement in conjunction with the announcement:

“We are enormous fans of Jon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic role of Lex Luthor. Jon is a super-talent, and the fact that he played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV brings an added layer of legacy to his casting. We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Jon to the Supergirl family.”

Nowadays, Cryer is best known for his role as Alan Harper across all twelve seasons of CBS' hit comedy show Two and a Half Men. The actor will be the first person to portray Lex Luthor in live-action on television since Michael Rosenbaum brought the diabolical mastermind to life in Smallville back in the 2000s. He will also be the first live-action iteration since Jesse Eisenberg reprised his Batman V Superman role as Mr. Luthor during fan push for Smallville veteran Tom Welling to play Lex on Supergirl recently, but the Arrowverse series' creatives ended up going with a very different Superman legacy casting choice altogether.

As for Lex's role on the show: some fans have speculated that Lex has been manipulating events on Supergirl since the series began, and may have even taken steps to land himself in prison, so he could continue to pull the strings on groups like Cus without Superman or Supergirl knowing or being able to stop him. It's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that Lex is responsible for the current rise in anti-alien sentiment across the U.S. in Supergirl season 4; or, failing that, he may have hatched a plan to use the growing chaos to his advantage. Either way, it sounds like he's about to make both Lena and Kara Danvers' lives a whole lot more complicated.

MORE: Every Superhero in the Arrowverse: Flash, Supergirl & More

Supergirl season 4 continues Sunday, November 18 with "Call to Action" on The CW.

Source: TVLine