Being a fan of Kryptonians on television just got a massive dose of good news. Not only will Supergirl be bringing the famous DC Comics superheroine to the small screen, but a new report claims that Superman himself will be joining in on the action – that is, actor Dean Cain, who played Clark Kent on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman has been cast in the show’s pilot.

As if that weren’t enough nostalgia for the comic book fans out there, it’s also been revealed that Helen Slater, who was the first woman to play Kara Zor-El on the big screen in Supergirl (1984) will also appear in the show’s pilot.

News of the casting comes via TV Line, and while this update follows hot on the heels of word that the showrunners are looking to cast a Superman stand-in, we would warn that the physical requirements of the role leave Dean Cain out of contention. Nevertheless, Cain’s portrayal of the iconic DC superhero in Lois & Clark endeared him to many, giving a twist on the character’s story that made Clark Kent the ‘real guy’ – and the big blue Boy Scout the real performance.

Helen Slater’s turn bearing the famous ‘S’ may be less well known (and less well-received), starring as Kara Zor-El in a spinoff film to Christopher Reeve’s Superman series. Though the movie is credited with killing that particular film franchise (earning Faye Dunaway and Peter O’Toole Razzies in the process), Slater herself won over plenty of fans.

Fans of Smallville will recognize the pair due to similar throwback cameos, with Slater appearing as Clark’s mother Lara, and Cain as the brilliant-but-obsessed Dr. Curtis Knox. Though their roles in the Supergirl pilot are being kept top secret, fans will be thrilled to hear that the showrunners are wasting no time in tapping into the unsung men and women who have added to the character’s mythology over the years.

As the most recent Supergirl update saw The Flash showrunner Andrew Kreisberg recruited to executive produce and co-write the pilot, it seems the lessons learned with The CW show are already being put into effect. Producer Greg Berlanti had told fans to expect a Supergirl series whose romance and emotion set it closer to The Flash‘s mold, and now it seems the show will also follow The Flash‘s efforts to bring previous actors back to their fans.

The decision to bring John Wesley-Shipp back to The Flash as star Grant Gustin’s father has proven successful for fans and critics, so the immediate thinking may be that a similarly ‘meta’ move is at work here. Of all the characters cast so far, Kara and sister Alex’s (Chyler Leigh) parents have never been mentioned. Could they now have been found?

What do you think of the addition of Dean Cain and Helen Slater to the Supergirl pilot? Would you be happy to see them appear as Kara Zor-El/Danvers’ parents, or would you hope for smaller roles – a Superman voice-over, perhaps? Sound off in the comments.

Supergirl is expected to air on CBS in 2015.