Supergirl: How Kelly's Guardian Suit Compares To Jimmy Olsen's
The Arrowverse is getting a new Guardian as Jimmy Olsen's sister Kelly is taking over the title in Supergirl season 6. While Mehcad Brooks left Supergirl during the fifth season, the Arrowverse drama hasn't been Olsen-less as Azie Tesfai' Kelly have been with the show after being introduced in the fourth season. With Supergirl season 6 set to the show's final season, the Arrowverse drama is following through with the setup they did in the fifth season for Kelly. During Crisis on Infinite Earths, as the heroes were evacuating Earth-38, Kelly uses James' Guardian shield at one point, telling Alex that he had left it for her. A season later, Supergirl is paying off that setup.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Kelly would be taking over the Guardian mantle, joining the Super-Friends as the latest Arrowverse heroine. The CW recently unveiled the first look at Kelly's new Guardian costume, which will make its debut in the 12th episode, "Blind Spots", which Tesfai co-wrote with J. Holtham. Directed by Arrow's John Diggle himself, David Ramsey (who will also guest star in the episode), "Blind Spots" is set to air on Tuesday, September 21. "Blind Spots" is, according to The CW, going to tackle racial inequality while also seeing Kelly take on the Guardian identity in the second half of Supergirl season 6.
But Kelly's Guardian costume reveal is a bigger deal besides Supergirl bringing that mantle back into the fold. While James became Guardian in Supergirl season 2, it's Kelly's suit that actually ends up being more comic accurate. For starters, the color scheme is 100% correct this time around, with the costume designer having incorporated the gold from the comics. For whatever reason, James' Guardian costume was black and silver, which many fans were always curious about why that was.
That also goes for the Guardian shield as they painted it gold as Kelly takes over the mantle for James. But it's not just the colors that they got right this time; it's also the Guardian helmet. When Brooks' James was The CW's first Guardian, his helmet covered almost his entire face, with an opening for his eyes. In the comics, where multiple people have been Guardian, the helmet doesn't cover up the bottom half of someone's face. With Kelly's suit, the Supergirl costume designers fixed this aspect, allowing for more than just the character's eyes to be seen.
As amazing as Kelly's Guardian costume looks, it does raise questions as to why this wasn't the design for James when he was Guardian. Nothing about his costume, except the shield, looked or felt like Guardian at all. In general, Supergirl never handled James' Guardian storyline well at all, as it was inconsistent and always felt like an impulsive decision. Nevertheless, it's exciting that Kelly will get to take over that mantle, especially in a pivotal episode like "Blind Spots" which will be an important one for Supergirl season 6 before the show wraps its run on The CW for good.