Before he was an "Agent of Liberty," Ben Lockwood was a mild-mannered professor with no grudge against aliens. In fact, in this CBR-exclusive clip from the next episode of Supergirl, he once even defended an alien against a mob of steel workers afraid of losing their jobs.

The "Man of Steel" clip begins as Lockwood and his father arrive at a warehouse, only to find all the employees rioting against the company next door. Lockwood immediately ran over to find them harassing the aliens working there. When his father wouldn't stop them, he intervened, begging the rioting workers for some understanding.

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However, the steel workers weren't interested in understanding. One threw a bottle at the alien, who was startled and reflexively ejected several spikes from his arms. One struck Lockwood right in the chest. As the steel workers attacked the alien, his father ran over, calling for an ambulance -- but other help arrived sooner: Supergirl and the DEO. As Lockwood faded out of consciousness, Supergirl swooped in to stop the fighting. On the ground, Alex ran for Lockwood, telling him to "Stay with me."

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Notably, the company featured in the clip is called "Universal Nth" and boasts the tagline "Like steel, only stronger!" In the comics, of course, Nth metal hails from Thanagar, the home planet of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

According to the episode description,

XANDER BERKELEY GUEST STARS IN THE ORIGIN STORY OF AGENT LIBERTY — Ben Lockwood (Sam Witwer) didn’t always hate aliens. Through a series of incidents, and input from his anti-alien father (guest star Xander Berkeley), Ben slowly transforms from a mild-mannered professor into the villainous Agent Liberty of today. Jesse Warn directed the episode written by Rob Wright & Derek Simon (#403). Original airdate 10/28/2018

Airing Sundays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen, and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.