Super, Meet Natural

It’s pretty good being Ali Adler these days.

Showrunning one of the new season’s most anticipated series? Check. Working with Greg Berlanti, perhaps the most successful executive producer in the business? Check. Author of an uproariously funny, bestselling advice book? Check.

And then there’s this: amid a clarion call for more female heroes, she is responsible for reintroducing Supergirl to the viewing public — the CBS series, based on the DC Comic character, debuts October 26. The responsibility excites her to no end.

“I think people know, or have a general sense, about Superman,” Adler explains. “What’s exciting for us is that we get to develop Supergirl. She has the exact same superpowers as Superman and is the world’s greatest superhero. I think it should be incidental that she’s female.”

Making the character, played by Melissa Benoist, relatable might seem challenging. After all, unlike regular folks, she can fly, deflect bullets off her flawless skin, move at super speed and see through walls.

But “everyone is on a journey, even if they have superpowers,” Adler insists. “We want to bring people into this world and show them that, as large as it is, it’s still accessible. I would love to feel the overarching threat of the Big Bad while dealing with the problems that men and woman face while figuring out their lives and loves in the city.”

Adler and her fellow executive producers —Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg (who is also co-showrunner) and Sarah Schechter — have learned a lot from working on series like The Flash, Arrow, No Ordinary Family and Chuck. They plans to feature a mix of action, adventure, romance and comedy, ideally creating an alchemy that can be enjoyed by young and old, comic fans and neophytes alike.

“I’d like people to watch this with their kids or with their partners,” she says, “It has something for everyone.”

What is not necessarily for everyone is Adler’s book, How To F*ck a Woman, which is part how-to manual, part relationship adviser and almost entirely hilarious. Adler, who is gay, believed her perspective on the subject might be good for her straight male friends.

“I’d been in a lot of writing rooms with guys who were either boasting about the women they were with or sick of sleeping with their wives or girlfriends for the long run,” she says.

“I thought, ‘I can share some of my wisdom.’ No one wants to read an exhaustive list of things we can do to please our partner, so hopefully it’s the spoonful-of-sugar approach.”

Ultimately, the pressure of living up to CBS’s high expectations is not as great as living up to her own. But with a strong team in place and a blueprint for the season ahead, she’s confident that the new kid on the superhero block is going to be in great shape.

“We’re excited to create a character that voices what everyone is feeling. It all just converges in one giant world, and,” she adds with a laugh, “it’s super.”