When "Supergirl" debuted, Hank Henshaw -- that is, Martian Manhunter in disguise -- was painted as a cold, walled-off man. As he grew closer to Kara and her sister Alex, those walls began to come down, but it won't be until Miss Martian (Sharon Leal) arrives in Season 2 that he'll truly open up.

“J’onn is suddenly going to have this connection to Mars that he’s been lacking for the last 300 years,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told EntertainmentWeekly. “He’s dealing with survivor’s guilt, and he’s spent the last few hundred years burying that. It’s only because of his interactions with Kara and his deepening relationship with Alex that he gets to start to tap back into that. The arrival of Miss Martian is really going to open the flood gates.”

Kreisberg also touched on several other new characters, including the mysterious pod's pilot, who arrived in the Season 1 finale. “He’s fresh off the boat. As far as he’s concerned, he got into a pod on Daxam on then the next day was on Earth,” he explained. “Now [Supergirl] has somebody to mentor.”

Additionally, he provided the reason behind the Girl of Steel's team up with Lynda Carter's President Olivia Marsdin: “[Marsdin] very much believes in this cause, which is going to put her in danger, which is going to necessitate Supergirl protecting her.”

As to Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima), the Science Police's newest recruit, Kreisberg said, "Maggie is a strident advocate for alien rights... She says in her introductory episode that growing up gay and Latina in Nebraska made her ideally sympathetic to people who are different and people who don’t quite fit in."

Starring Melissa Benoist, David Harewood, Chyler Leigh and more, the second season of “Supergirl” is scheduled to premiere on Monday, October 10 at 8 pm EST on The CW, switching networks after a first season on CBS.