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Comic-Con 2015: Supergirl – Peter Facinelli Cast As Maxwell Lord

By Steve Lam

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Via SuperHeroHype, we have news that Peter Facinelli of Twilight Saga fame has been cast in the role of tech billionaire Maxwell Lord for CBS’s Supergirl.  The announcement was made at Comic-Con 2015 during the Supergirl portion of the 3-hour Hall H Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment Screening Block that ran from 8:00PM PST to 11:00PM PST on Saturday.  Supergirl‘s Maxwell Lord is said to be “a green tech billionaire who enjoys a friendly rivalry with Cat Grant and a fascination with National City’s newest arrival — Supergirl.”

Peter Facinelli made his feature film debut in Angela (1995) as Lucifer.  He later went on to star and appear in a number of films that included Foxfire (1996), Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), Telling You (1998), The Big Kahuna (1999), Supernova (2000), Stealing Time (2001), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), Hollow Man 2 (2006), Finding Amanda (2008), Twilight (2008), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), Gallows Hill (2013), Freezer (2014), and Walter (2015).

Facinelli also appeared in a number of hit television shows that included Law & Order, Fastlane, Six Feet Under, American Dad!, Damages, Nurse Jackie, Glee, and American Odyssey.

Created by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, the character of Maxwell Lord made his first appearance in Justice League #1 (May 1987).  After the death of Albert Lord, Maxwell’s businessman father, Maxwell was raised by a paranoid conspiracy theorist mother who instilled in him the same suspicions she had about higher authority figures.  Because of this, Maxwell became even more ruthless and powerful than his father.

Maxwell’s company Chimtech would later be taken over by the corporate giant LexCorp.  Knowing that Lex Luthor made his riches through dealings with evil metahumans, Maxwell sought to do the same thing, but with the opposing population — he dealt with superheroes and provided them with the resources to be better.  After the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, Maxwell sought to bring the leaderless Justice League under his control.

In later stories, Maxwell Lord would be given superhuman abilities.  In Blackest Night, Maxwell was resurrected as a Black Lantern who targeted Wonder Woman.  Throughout his history, Maxwell Lord always straddled between the line of good an evil.

The character of Maxwell Lord made his first television appearance in the DC animated universe series Justice League Unlimited in the episode Ultimatum.  His first live-action appearance was in The CW’s Smallville in the Season 9 episode Charade.  He was portrayed be Gil Bellows of The Shawshank Redemption (1994) fame.  As of this report, it’s unknown which episode of CBS’s Supergirl will feature Peter Facinelli as Maxwell Lord.

CBS’s Supergirl is set to premiere on October 26, 2015.  The series was developed by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, and Andrew Kreisberg, and will star Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El / Kara Danvers / Supergirl, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw, and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.  Laura Benanti will having a recurring role as Alural Zore-El.  Guest stars will include Jeremy Jordan as Winslow “Winn” Schott, Helen Slater as Eliza Danvers, Dean Cain as Jeremiah Danvers, Faran Tahir as The Commander, and Owan Yeoman as Vartox.

Next: Supergirl - Laura Vandervoort in talks to appear

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