Jon Cryer has been cast in the role of Lex Luthor in CW's 'Supergirl'

Television series, which stars Melissa Benoist as Supergirl.

The show's ex ecutive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller explained: "We are enormous fans of Jon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic role of Lex Luthor.

"Jon is a super-talent, and the fact that he played Lenny Luthor in 'Superman IV' brings an added layer of legacy to his casting. We're beyond thrilled to welcome Jon to the 'Supergirl' family."

The actor previously played Lenny Luthor - the nephew to Gene Hackman's Lex - in the 1987 movie 'Superman IV: A Quest for Peace'.

Cryer will make his debut as the character in the 15th episode of the show's current season.

Meanwhile, Melissa previously revealed that the current series of 'Supergirl' would take the show in a new direction.

She shared: "The writers' room is being really great this year. Last season, it was a lot of fire and brimstone and a lot of homages to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', which was great because I was such a big fan of that show.

"This season they really want to thematically tackle more topical stories that maybe mirror what's going on with the state of the world and our country.

"There's a lot of anti-alien sentiment at the beginning of Season 4 that 'Supergirl' is going to have to grapple with. I think their main premise is that fear itself is a villain, and can hope conquer it?

"'Supergirl' stands for hope, so we'll see. I think fear is her biggest opponent yet because it's more of a wildfire-type emotion."