The "Supergirl" panel at the Television Critics Association press tour announced on Jan. 11 that Laura Vandervoort is back in the DC Comics universe, this time appearing in a recurring role in CBS series "Supergirl" as the supervillain Indigo. Indigo is a strong-willed humanoid supercomputer sentenced to Fort Rozz for her betrayal to Krypton and later escaped to Earth.
It's not Vandervoort's first time in the DC universe. In fact, she played the role of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl once before in the CW television series "Smallville" so it will be interesting to see her playing one of her former character's nemeses. She will make her first appearance as the supervillain in episode 15 of "Supergirl."
You don't even have to guess how Vandervoort truly feels about being part of the series even if she was not cast as the central character despite playing the part in "Smallville." Just take a look at her tweet below.
Thrilled to be announcing I'll be recurring as #Indigo on @supergirlcbs So proud of the cast & this series. #Honored pic.twitter.com/7GwlatMrgX
— Laura Vandervoort (@Vandiekins22) January 11, 2016
Along with Vandervoort's Indigo, the ruthless Master Jailer will also make recurring appearances starting on episode 14 and he will be played by Jeff Branson. Master Jailer is the merciless jail guard at Fort Rozz who is hell-bent on capturing all the escapees, including Indigo, and bringing them all to justice.
Just who are these two "new" characters that will be given some screen time? Let's go deeper into the DC Comics universe and learn about what their character could end up doing in the television series.
Indigo Of The DC Comics Universe
There are several villains with the name "Indigo" but the only one female Indigo who would somehow fit the description given by the "Supergirl" panel is Brainiac 8.
Indigo is a super android from the future who traveled back in time to the 21st century but was severely damaged because of it. Her first encounter with DC superheroes was with the Teen Titans and the Young Justice team, who, thinking she was attacking their teammate, mistakenly attacked her when she tried to interface with Cyborg to repair herself.
This, however, turned to disaster because it caused her to go into offensive mode and fight back but was eventually forced to retreat. She shut her system down but not before accidentally turning on an android Superman who caused destruction. She was eventually repaired to a certain extent by the team and was able to defeat the android Superman. Teen Titans disbanded soon after that.
Her next appearance was as a member of the Outsiders led by Nightwing, but her memory was supposedly wiped by S.T.A.R. Labs. In the end, it was revealed that Indigo was only an identity made up to win the heroes over and that her true identity is that of Brainiac 8 who was sent to end Donna Troy's life. Before Brainiac 8 could fully take over, though, she begged Shift to end her life.
Master Jailer Of The DC Comics Universe
Master Jailer has two possible evolutions: the Pre-Crisis or Post-Crisis arc. What's for certain is that in both arcs, Master Jailer does not like Superman.
Pre-Crisis Master Jailer is Carl Draper, an overweight peer of Clark Kent and Lana Lang in the town of Smallville. He is attracted to Lana Lang but she only had eyes for Superboy, and no matter what Draper did, Superboy always overshadowed him - just like the time when the Smallville High Geology Club got trapped in a cave and he found a way to save everyone but Superboy suddenly showed up to rescue everyone just before he could inform them. In the end, nobody even credited him for his efforts to get everyone to safety. He kidnaps Lana when she proves that she only had eyes for Superboy but he ends up in prison when Superboy stops him.
Post-Crisis Master Jailer is a genius engineer who works for covert operations agency Checkmate. He created the world's most secure prison, which was supposed to be called "Draper's Island" but Superman drops by to send it into orbit. It ends up being called "Superman's Island," which angers him because Superman got the credit again.
Superman should really consider saying "No" sometimes because he ends up creating his own enemies by trying to please the majority.
Indigo And Master Jailer In The TV Series
Of course, as most television adaptations go, CBS will probably not follow Indigo's comic book arc. Judging only by the brief descriptions, it seems CBS may not be sticking to canon with regard to the two characters. Perhaps the Master Jailer story arc we'll get to see is set before Superman completely, though unknowingly, destroys his pride. What is definite is that Master Jailer is brutal with the escapees he seeks to throw back in Fort Rozz and we may just see an epic battle between him and Indigo. As to whether there would be an alliance with Supergirl, that we have yet to find out.
