WASHINGTON • Lynda Carter has been gone from superhero television screens for much of the past four decades.

But now, the Wonder Woman icon has been cast to play the president on Supergirl.

"I'm thrilled to become the president without having to campaign or win delegates," Carter, 64, says.

"To join a great show with another strong female superhero was truly impossible to resist."

While the real-life race for a first American woman president is up in the air, the casting of Carter as Supergirl's commander-in-chief is already a win-win.

Supergirl recently moved from CBS to the CW for its second season and the series - which features Melissa Benoist as Supergirl - can benefit from the star power that Carter's presence will bring.

And Carter remains a massive fan favourite as the ultimate Amazonian superhero.

She still casts such a long shadow in the role that this year, upon Wonder Woman's 75th anniversary, no actress has managed to supplant her in pop-culture fandom.

Gal Gadot will try in the forthcoming Wonder Woman solo film, after briefly suiting up in this year's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

Carter starred in TV's Wonder Woman from 1975 to 1979. She appeared on Two And A Half Men three years ago and she did an episode of another DC Comics-sprung show, Smallville, nearly a decade ago.

Supergirl, which recently cast Tyler Hoechlin as its Superman, makes its CW debut on Oct 10.

WASHINGTON POST