'Supergirl's' newest villain discusses the Luthors' evil schemes and that shocking return
It's long been established in pop culture that if you've got a "Super" in your name, you're probably going to have an issue with the Luthor family.
Season 2 of The CW's Supergirl has deepened those ties to the Superman mythos with the introduction of Lex Luthor's sister, Lena (Katie McGrath) and mother Lillian (Brenda Strong), who was revealed to be the mastermind behind the shadowy organization known as Cadmus -- a group dedicated to eliminating aliens on Earth.
In the Nov. 21 episode, "The Darkest Places," Cadmus succeeded in capturing Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and her ally Mon-El (Chris Wood), so that Lillian could take a sample of Supergirl's blood.
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Luckily, Kara and Mon-El were rescued by an unexpected savior: Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain), Kara's adoptive father, who has been trapped at Cadmus for years. He freed the duo but declined to escape with them, and when Kara and her sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) returned to save him, the Cadmus lab had been moved without a trace.
The end of the hour saw Kara's DNA sample being put to nefarious use, as the real Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) -- now reborn as Cyborg Superman and under the command of Cadmus -- used it to break into the Fortress of Solitude and impersonate Kara to learn about the ominous-sounding Project Medusa.
Mashable caught up with Brenda Strong to learn more about Lillian's plans for the alien population of Earth (not to mention the timeliness of an anti-alien narrative, given today's political landscape), her relationship with her wayward children, and what we can expect from the Nov. 28 episode, titled "Medusa."
Aside from being Lex and Lena’s mother, what else can you reveal about Lillian’s backstory and motivations as explained to you by the producers?
Initially, when I read for the character during the casting process, all I knew was that she was "The Doctor," and that she had a vendetta against Supergirl for some reason. And then when I finally was cast, Greg Berlanti took me aside and said “by the way, you’re Lex and Lena Luthor’s mother, Lillian.” And I was like “oooh, that’s good.” So immediately there’s a whole layer of comic book history about the Luthors that gets layered onto every choice that Lillian makes.
I think it’s really terrific how the writers have handled the doling out of the information of who the leader of Cadmus is and her relationship to the Luthors. That last reveal in episode 205 where Lena says “what can I do for you, mom?” there’s so many people on the internet going “And my face was…” showing all these shocked faces. It was so great to be able to keep a secret like that as long as we did -- five episodes, it’s very hard to keep a secret in this day and age about anything.
There’s so many layers to Lillian; it’s really clear that she’s a complex character and she has a single-minded purpose, but I think the vulnerability of her personal relationship to her daughter is really juicy, and also her complete vision in annihilating aliens. She sees them as a threat, not only to her family personally because of what happened with Superman and Lex, but also for the planet.
I think there’s such a great opportunity to explore the shadow of what we see as threats because they’re different from us, and “other,” and the desire to annihilate what we don’t recognize or what we’re afraid of. I think it’s topically a very important conversation, and being able to explore it in this comic universe is really genius on Greg and Andrew [Kreisberg]'s part, and all the other writers who are bringing this story forward. There’s so many layers to this story -- it’s not just the Luthors against Superman and Supergirl, it’s much more nuanced than that.
Since every villain believes that they’re the hero of their own story, how do you find a way into Lillian as a character -- what humanizes her point of view for you?
She, in her heart of hearts, is trying to save the world from what she sees as an imminent threat. I think everyone can relate to that. It’s a threat to her family; in her eyes, Superman is the reason Lex is in jail for multiple life sentences. I think she sees Supergirl as a threat to her daughter and her daughter’s stability and loyalty to the family. She can see the charisma and the friendship developing, and I don’t think she likes that very much.
On a global level, I think whenever people have weapons that are bigger and better than yours, you get scared. So I think she wants to get rid of the people who have the potential to harm humanity. I think that’s a very real conversation and she’s willing to go to any ends to make that happen, and so is Cadmus.
The summary for episode 208, "Medusa," says that Kara and Lena join forces after Cadmus releases an alien-killing virus; how much of a strain does that put on Lillian’s relationship with Lena?
It’s a huge betrayal, and I think whenever you have a mother-daughter relationship of this level of complexity and the daughter chooses her friend over her family, anyone who’s had a daughter can relate to that feeling of when she decides to align with her friends and ignore your advice. [Laughs.] I think on the most basic level, as a mother, it’s a betrayal, but as a mission, it’s a betrayal of her mission. I think that’s a big deal and there will be ramifications.
Does she want Lena to be directly involved in her mission at Cadmus?
I don’t see that as something that she has an intention of. I think she’s very much been single-minded in her own focus, like, “I’m momma bear, I’m gonna take care of this.” She does want to protect her daughter. Obviously with the gentleman she was providing weaponry before, she whacks the magazine on his solar plexus and says “don’t mess with the Luthors.” She’s basically saying “if you go after my daughter, I’m coming after you.” Even though that relationship wasn’t clear at that time, she will protect her daughter, even from herself. I think that’s where the conflict arises: at a certain point, what do you choose, mother or world protector? It’s an interesting dynamic to play.
We were reintroduced to the real Hank Henshaw in this week's episode. Does she see him as an ally or just a tool, now that he’s Cyborg Superman?
As long as they’re within her control, she will use them as a tool. I’m not sure if Lillian allows herself to have any allies – that would put them on an even par with her. I don’t think we’re there yet, I think she’s very much in charge of the show, and there will be other things revealed later in the season where I’m sure the depth of Cadmus will start to be understood, but right now she’s definitely the head of the show.
What can you tell us about her dynamic with Jeremiah Danvers moving forward, since he helped Kara and Mon-El escape in 207?
The truth is, I don’t really know what they have in mind for Jeremiah and Cadmus, I just know that he’s in my dungeon, and he’s a prisoner as far as I know, and he helped them escape and decided not to go with them. That’s all I know and that’s all you know and his motivations are in the privacy of his own little universe. [Laughs.] There’s a lot of speculation and people are really curious.
It’s not just aliens saving the day anymore, there are also vigilantes out there like Guardian -- does she see him as a threat, or are aliens her main target?
I think at this point she's pretty much focused on aliens because they're the ones with the super powers, and she's been using some of those powers against them in the procuring of weaponry from other planets. Her main focus is to eradicate the aliens and to eliminate them from affecting humanity. As Guardian gains power, I don't think he's even in her sight-lines right now. That may change. We'll see.
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Topics The CW
