This New 'Supergirl' Villain May Not Have Powers, But That Only Makes Him More Dangerous

Supergirl may be great at saving the day, but that's a hard thing to do when the world keeps throwing so many villains at her. And from the looks of things, Supergirl's Agent Liberty isn't going to make it any easier. The new Season 4 character isn't up to anything good.

As reported by TVLine, Sam Witwer joins Supergirl this season as Agent Liberty. He’s the charismatic leader and founder of the Children of Liberty, an “anti-alien hate group dedicated to establishing humans as the superior race.” Per Entertainment Weekly, he's described as “a brilliant orator in the guise of a family man” and a really persuasive person who easily convinces other people that he’s right. Fans of the comics should be familiar with Agent Liberty, but bringing him onto the show will certainly add a new dynamic. And the promo video for the upcoming battles is no joke.

If you’re a longtime CW viewer and you think that Witwer looks familiar, well, you’d be right. He previously played Doomsday on Smallville, and had parts on Being Human, The Walking Dead, Grimm, and Battlestar Gallactica. According to his IMDb page, Witwer also does a ton of voiceovers for animated series and video games, which seems to be great work if you can get it.

So why should viewers be afraid of Agent Liberty? In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Supergirl co-showrunner Robert Rovner said that Agent Liberty's scariest trait is actually that he doesn't have any powers:

"I think because he preys on people’s fear — fear of what they don’t understand — and I think the movement that he’s creating is not something [Supergirl] can win in a battle. It’s not about punching him, because he’s just a human man. It’s about finding a way to combat what he’s doing — creating this division in our country and this fear among a good part of the population of what the aliens are doing to this country."

Fellow showrunner Jessica Queller backed that idea up. "Just as Supergirl can reach hearts and minds," she said, "he has the ability to reach a massive audience, and he’s smart enough to make a compelling argument, which is dangerous."

Agent Liberty's crusade is an obvious nod to the anti-immigrant rhetoric that's currently happening in the United States, but, according to Queller, Agent Liberty wasn't always the man Supergirl viewers will meet him as. "We are working hard to explain in later episodes why our villain Agent Liberty became a villain and what his history, roots, and backstory is," Queller told EW. "[It] does not excuse his actions, but if you kind of go deeper and look at the full portrait of a human being and understand why they behave the way they do, then maybe that’s a way to bridge the divide. You can’t reach someone if you don’t understand why they are the way are."

That may be true, but for now, all Agent Liberty is bringing to Supergirl is hate and misinformation, and hopefully Supergirl can stop him before he does too much damage.