Supergirl
Melissa Benoist as Supergirl in new CBS series CBS

The Supergirl of DC Comics will take her first flight on 26 October at 8.30pm on the CBS Network. The show centres around Kara Zor-El, who is stranded on Earth following the destruction of her home planet Krypton. Brought up by the Danvers family, Kara Danvers decides to come out of hiding and use her super abilities to fight crime like her famous cousin Superman, in the pilot episode.

Everything you need to know about the CBS series

1. Melissa Benoist will play Kara Danvers, who is raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers. She is in the shadow of her foster sister Alex, and has learned to conceal the powers she shares with her cousin to keep her identity a secret. Kara now lives in National City assisting media mogul Cat Grant.

2. After DC's Flash and Arrow, Supergirl is the third DC series on television now. The show will feature many Superman villains and have many references to her famous cousin. Besides, Supergirl will fight many "Kryptonian villains."

3. Hank Henshaw, the head of a super secret agency will enlist Kara's help to protect the citizens of National City from alien threats. According to executive producer Andrew Kreisberg, the pilot episode sets up the idea there was an alien prison from Krypton that crash landed on earth and all of the prisoners escaped.

Kreisberg teased the show's big bads in an interview with Comic Book Resources. "We always have a traditional big bad for the season, the sort of uber villain who is setting the plan in motion.

"Just like with the other shows, there will also be villains of the week... the pilot sort of sets up the idea there was an alien prison from Krypton that crash landed on earth and all of the prisoners escaped. We're going to be meeting some of those alien villains."

"There will also be some human villains," he added. "We've announced that the Toyman is going to be appearing on the show. Additionally, we have some major Kryptonian villains who are going to be big bads of this season."

4. The official synopsis for the pilot episode reads as follows: "After 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be, on the series premiere of Supergirl."

More about TV show