'Supergirl's Mehcad Brooks Says Guardian Will Be 'Back in Action' -- But James Is a Hero, Too (Exclusive)

Guardian may be laying low so far throughout this season of Supergirl, but have no fear -- National City's masked hero will be back!

"He'll be around," star Mehcad Brooks told ET Live's Tanner Thomason and Melicia Johnson last week of his heroic alter ego. "He's definitely gonna be back in action."

For now, though, Brooks' character, James Olsen, is standing for justice on a different front, as the CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media.

"We thought it was really important that we show everyday heroics within journalism, especially with what's happening now, where journalists are being incorrectly labeled as the enemy of the state," the actor explained. "Are you kidding me? They're for the state. They are what has made our democracy have the checks and balances that it's had."

"So being a newsman on the show, I think, is just as important as being a superhero... [We're] just showing people that pointing out the truth is necessary and heroic."

It's a story Brooks is happy to be telling, raving that the Supergirl writers' room "has their thumb on the pulse of America."

"We're ahead of our time a lot of times," he added. "This is the most woke cast I've been a part of. This is the most woke writers' room I've ever been a part of."

Laurie Metcalf on How She 'Weasled' Her Way Onto 'Supergirl' (Exclusive)

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Laurie Metcalf on How She 'Weasled' Her Way Onto 'Supergirl' (Exclusive)

The show also recently introduced TV's first transgender superhero in Nia Nal aka Dreamer, played by Nicole Maines -- and while Brooks counts the introduction of the character as another positive example of the show's "wokeness," he explained that for him, representation is about getting to a point where such casting is no longer noteworthy.

"I understand it's a big deal because we are operating from a low point of consciousness in our society. I get that," he noted. "But yes, there should be a trans superhero. There should be 10. There should be 10 black superheros."

"I like what we're doing [on the show], because we're sort of making amends for all the incongruency that happened before we had a voice," he continued. "If Jimmy Olsen was created in 2008, he might look like me. But back when a lot of these characters were created, it was a monochromatic existence... It was like, 'What shade of white are you?' Now we have a lot of diversity, because the world is diverse, and we pull strength from that."

One thing the actor did have to stay tight-lipped on is the upcoming CW superhero crossover event, with Supergirl's sister shows Arrow and The Flash. However, he was allowed to say that he's in it!

"It's really good," Brooks teased. "It's really funny too, in some ways."

Supergirl airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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