SUPERGIRL Casts David Harewood as Hank Henshaw

He just has to be the Season One Big Bad, right?

The Hollywood Reporter has word that the upcoming CBS series Supergirl has cast David Harewood as DC Comics character Hank Henshaw, better known as the supervillain Cyborg Superman.

According to the article, Henshaw will be "a one-time CIA agent who now runs the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), which tracks extraterrestrial threats on Earth."

The English actor, 49, is probably best known as David Estes on the Showtime series Homeland and as Joshua Naismith in the final David Tennant Doctor Who story "The End of Time." Harewood has also had roles on the television series Selfie, Robin Hood (2006) and Ballykissangel, as well as film roles in The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

Created in 1990 by Dan Jurgens, Hank Henshaw first appeared in Adventures of Superman #466 as a DC version of Marvel Comics' Reed Richards as a crew member of the NASA space shuttle Excalibur that was exposed to radiation from a solar flare.  Henshaw's physical body rapidly decayed and expired, but he was able to transfer his consciousness into a LexCorp mainframe and became able to control technology.

During the epic "Death of Superman" storyline, Henshaw returned as an impostor called the Cyborg Superman in an attempt to destroy Superman's reputation.  After being exposed, Henshaw assisted Mongul in destroying Coast City then attempted to launch a nuclear warhead designed to convert Metropolis into an Engine City.

In the current New 52 continuity, Henshaw is once again human and works as a doctor with the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre as a colleague of Caitlin Fairchild.  A new Cyborg Superman has been revealed to be Supergirl's father Zor-El.

In other Supergirl news, Chyler Leigh has been cast as Alexandra "Alex" Danvers, the "the confident foster sister of Kara.  Fascinated by Kara's powers from a young age, Alex developed a lifelong obsession with science that inspired her to become a doctor."  Arrow and The Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has joined Supergirl as an executive producer and writer.

Supergirl will most likely debut sometime this fall on CBS.