CBS has found the actress who will play Supergirl in a new series that has already been given a commitment by the network, and should premiere next fall.  Melissa Benoist, who was featured in Glee and co-starred in the critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated film Whiplash, will play Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El in the new Supergirl series from Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. television.  According to Variety, Benoist will make her Supergirl debut in an hour-long pilot written by Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler.

The comic book invasion of the small screen is nearing the success that the four-color medium has earned on the big screen.  The success of Arrow, The Flash, and Gotham has got TV network execs fast-tracking the development of superhero shows.  It was only last September that rumors of a Supergirl series first surfaced (see "'Flash' Producers Confirm 'Supergirl'"), and the show already has a series commitment and a hot young star.

With Wonder Woman apparently confined to the big screen, Supergirl will have to fly the female superhero flag on the small screen all by herself.  Marvel’s Agent Carter also features a distaff lead, though she has no superpowers of her own.  But just as there has been an influx of female heroes in the world of published comic books, more women will be featured in the next round of comic book-inspired TV series.  Rose McIver will debut in the comic book-based iZombie on the CW in March (see "First Look at 'iZombie'"), and Netflix is developing a Jessica Jones series featuring Krysten Ritter as the eponymous heroine (see "Netflix Series Has its Jessica Jones").

In her portrayal of Supergirl, Benoist follows in the footsteps of Helen Slater who played the character in the 1984 film, and Laura Vandervoort, who played Superman’s fetching cousin in the CW’s Smallville series.