Supergirl hangs up her cape: The CW series to end with Season 6

It’s been a fun ride for Kara Zor-El and star Melissa Benoist, but soon it’ll be coming to an end. In a surprising decision, The CW reportedly is bringing Supergirl to a close with the series’ upcoming sixth and final season.

Variety reports The CW, producers Warner Bros. Television, and Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions made the announcement today, closing out a DC Comics-based superhero show (and one of The CW’s biggest comic book hits in the Arrowverse in recent memory) that first began at CBS back in 2015 before jumping to The CW for the past several years.

Production on the final run is reportedly set to begin later this month, with the final season set to consist of 20 episodes. The show’s writing team already is developing the series’ closing storyline, according to the report, with a Season 6 debut set for sometime in 2021.

Benoist responded to the news with a heartfelt Instagram post reflecting on her time on the show. “To say it has been an honor portraying this iconic character would be a massive understatement,” she wrote, adding that stepping into such a key piece of pop culture “taught me strength I didn’t know I had.” And if there’s some consolation for fans amid such surprising news, maybe it’s Benoist’s pledge that “we’re going to make it one helluva final season.”

The timing of the show’s cancelation means there won’t be two Kryptonians at once lighting up The CW’s comic book schedule — at least not for long. If Season 6 of Supergirl holds to its 2021 target, it’ll be rollling through its sendoff to Kara just as the upcoming Superman & Lois is getting set for a faster-than-a-speeding bullet takeoff in its first season.

While The CW hasn’t yet revealed a premiere date, the new Superman series (starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch in the title roles, having first been introduced on Supergirl) is set to arrive sometime next year with a 13-episode debut season.