Mehcad Brooks has been tapped to co-star opposite "Glee's" Melissa Benoist in the upcoming CBS superhero drama "Supergirl," a live-action adaptation based on the characters in DC Comics.

Brooks, a 34-year-old Austin native who starred as egocentric football player Terrance "TK" King in the USA sports drama "Necessary Roughness," has been cast as photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A veteran actor, Brooks, who built a career as Matthew Applewhite on "Desperate Housewives" and Jerome in "The Game," rose to fame as "Eggs" in the HBO vampire fantasy drama series "True Blood."

Olsen first appeared in "Action Comics #6" in November 1938 and was created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. A staple of the DC Comics "Superman" series, he is traditionally portrayed as a youthful Daily Planet reporter with ginger hair who idolizes both Clark Kent and Lois Lane, while maintaining a working relationship with his boss, Perry White.

Similar to the character in the comics, Olsen will serve as a love interest for the titular character. In this rendition, Olsen works alongside Kara Zor-El at Catco, where he is a photographer.

More confident than ever before, the 24-year-old woman from Krypton is at the peak of her powers and is beginning to embrace them. Just like her famous cousin, Superman.

So far there is no information as to why Olsen left The Daily Planet.

Greg Berlanti, creator of the hour-long superhero dramas "Arrow" and "Flash," is a screenwriter for the TV series alongside Ali Adler ("The New Normal," "No Ordinary Family"), which will be distributed by Berlanti Productions, under Warner Bros. Television. Sarah Schechter, CEO of Berlanti Productions, will also take an executive producer role alongside Berlanti.

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