Just one day after production started on CBS' Supergirl pilot, yet another new cast member has been added, with Faran Tahir signing on to play a character known as The Commander. While there is no Commander character in the DC Comics, he is described as an alien who is also "a military expert leading the forces aligned against Supergirl." It's possible that The Commander character name is just a ruse to cover up a more established comic book character, but that has not been confirmed.

Faran Tahir joins a cast that includes Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, a.k.a. Kara Zor-El, Mehcad Brooks as Kara's CatCo co-worker and photographer James Olsen, Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El, Kara's birth mother, Chyler Leigh as Kara's foster sister Alexandra "Alex" Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winslow "Winn" Schott, a CatCo programmer and Kara's neighbor, and David Harewood as Hank Henshaw, who in the comics goes on to become Cyborg Superman. Calista Flockhart also stars as CatCo founder Cat Grant, with former Superman Dean Cain from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Helen Slater, who played the original Kara in the 1984 Supergirl movie, added to the cast in unspecified roles.

Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler wrote the pilot script, with Glen Winter directing the first episode, which is currently in production. The writers are also serving as executive producers alongside Sarah Schechter and Andrew Kreisberg. Faran Tahir is best known for his roles in Iron Man, Star Trek, Elysium, Escape Plan and most recently Jinn.