Winn Schott: Supergirl's computer expert, son of the Toyman
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Everything you need to know about Winn Schott, Kara Danvers's computer-expert friend in the Supergirl series, which aired from 2015 to 2021 in the United States. Jeremy Jordan plays this CatCo geek who becomes a DEO technician, then a Legionnaire in the 31st century. In the series, his father, Winslow Schott Sr., is the Toyman, a toy designer turned murderer. You'll discover how Winn lives with this legacy, what ties him to James Olsen and Mon-El, and why, in the comics, Winslow Schott is the villain himself.
📋 Contents
- Who is Winn Schott? The CatCo geek who's in on the secret
- Jeremy Jordan, from Broadway to National City
- “Childish Things”: Winn Schott, son of the Toyman
- Kara, James and Silver Banshee: the romances of season 1
- Winn Schott at the DEO: Supergirl's computer expert changes offices
- “The guy in the van”: Winn, James and the Guardian
- The Toyman's death and the departure for the 31st century
- “Back from the Future”: another Winn Schott calls himself Toyman
- In the comics, Winslow Schott is the Toyman
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
Who is Winn Schott? The CatCo geek who's in on the secret
Winslow “Winn” Schott Jr. is a character created for the Supergirl series, not taken from the comics. CBS launched the series on October 26, 2015, in the United States, and The CW then aired seasons 2 to 6, until November 9, 2021. At the start of the story, Winn works in the IT department of CatCo Worldwide Media, the media group run by Cat Grant. There, he rubs shoulders with Kara Danvers, played by Melissa Benoist, who is the boss's assistant.
In the pilot (1x01), Kara shares her secret with him, and Winn helps her perfect her Supergirl costume. In “Fight or Flight” (1x03, aired November 9, 2015, in the United States), he sets up a secret office in the CatCo building. When James Olsen lets the name “Clark” slip, Winn realizes that Clark Kent is Superman, and he can't get over it. This role as the friend who's in on the secret, always in front of a screen, stays with him for three seasons.
Key Facts
- Full name: Winslow “Winn” Schott Jr.
- Played by: Jeremy Jordan (2015-2018, then as a guest star in 2020 and 2021)
- First appearance: “Pilot” (1x01), CBS, October 26, 2015 (United States)
- Occupation: computer specialist at CatCo, then DEO technician
- Father: Winslow Schott Sr., the Toyman (Henry Czerny)
Jeremy Jordan, from Broadway to National City
Before Supergirl, Jeremy Jordan was best known for his stage work. He was nominated for a Tony Award for the musical Newsies, on Broadway, and he appeared in the series Smash, on NBC. His arrival on Supergirl was announced in early March 2015, for a guest role. On March 3, Playbill magazine relayed the character description: a “superstar IT whiz,” in other words a computer ace who works with Kara at CatCo. On screen, however, Jeremy Jordan was part of the main cast from the pilot through the end of season 3.
The character's name immediately intrigued comic book readers. The same day, the website Slashfilm, which said he was expected to guest in the pilot, pointed out that at DC, Winslow Schott is the identity of the Toyman, an old enemy of Superman. The day before, TVLine had run a headline about a CatCo “tech guru,” adding: “and more?” The answer came ten months later, on screen: the series made Winn not the villain, but the villain's son.
“Childish Things”: Winn Schott, son of the Toyman
The series reveals Winn's family secret in “Childish Things” (1x10), which aired on January 18, 2016, in the United States and was titled “Héritage explosif” in the French dub. His father, Winslow Schott Sr., played by Henry Czerny, designed toys. Convinced that his boss, Chester Dunholtz, had stolen his creations, he sent him a bomb hidden in a teddy bear. Dunholtz survived, but six people died. Winn was eleven when he saw his father go to prison, and he never forgave him. It is this father who is known as the Toyman.
In the episode, the Toyman escapes and summons his son through a talking toy left on Winn's desk. He ends up kidnapping him and demands that Winn shoot Dunholtz during a toy convention, with a weapon disguised as a toy. If he refuses, ten bombs hidden in the convention hall will go off. Supergirl protects the crowd and sends the Toyman back to prison. A little earlier, Winn had tried to kiss Kara, who doesn't share his feelings.
Kara, James and Silver Banshee: the romances of season 1
In season 1, Winn is in love with Kara, who sees him only as a friend. So he sets himself up as a rival to James Olsen, whom Superman has asked to watch over his cousin. The rivalry doesn't last: in season 2, the two men become very close.
Winn turns to Siobhan Smythe, played by Italia Ricci, Cat Grant's new assistant. Their relationship begins in “Solitude” (1x15, February 29, 2016, in the United States), the episode in which Winn destroys Indigo, an alien who travels through the Internet, with a computer virus. It is short-lived. In “Manhunter” (1x17, March 21, 2016), Siobhan, fired by Cat Grant, discovers in front of Winn that she has a super-powerful scream. In “Worlds Finest” (1x18, March 28, 2016), she becomes Silver Banshee and teams up with Livewire to take revenge on Kara and Cat. Barry Allen, the Flash from another world, then comes to lend Supergirl a hand.
Winn Schott at the DEO: Supergirl's computer expert changes offices
Season 2, which aired on The CW starting October 10, 2016, sends Winn to the DEO, the agency that keeps watch over aliens. Recruited by J'onn J'onzz and Alex Danvers, he is hired there as early as “The Adventures of Supergirl” (2x01). In “The Last Children of Krypton” (2x02, October 17, 2016, in the United States), he builds protection against kryptonite for Kara and for Superman, played by Tyler Hoechlin. The two cousins can thus take on Metallo, a kryptonite-powered cyborg.
Winn is also caught up in the arrival of Mon-El. In “Welcome to Earth” (2x03, October 24, 2016), he discovers that the stranger found in a pod comes from Daxam, Krypton's sister planet and rival. In “Survivors” (2x04, October 31, 2016), the DEO tasks him with testing the newcomer's abilities. In “Supergirl Lives” (2x09, January 23, 2017), Winn doubts himself in the field, but he follows Alex to Maaldoria, a planet of slave traders, to keep the portal home open. Kevin Smith directs the episode, whose title nods to Superman Lives, the abandoned film for which he had written a script.
“The guy in the van”: Winn, James and the Guardian
James Olsen wants to protect the city too. In “Crossfire” (2x05, November 7, 2016, in the United States), Winn refuses at first, then agrees to build him a suit of armor. In “Changing” (2x06, November 14, 2016), James becomes the Guardian. Winn guides him from a van, hence his nickname, “the guy in the van.” The two friends hide everything from Kara until “We Can Be Heroes” (2x10, January 30, 2017), when she lectures them both.
Winn finds love too. In “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” (2x13, February 20, 2017), the episode in which Mr. Mxyzptlk wants to marry Kara, he meets Lyra Strayd, a refugee from the planet Starhaven, played by Tamzin Merchant. In “Star-Crossed” (2x16, March 20, 2017), Lyra talks Winn into sneaking into a museum, where she steals a painting; he is the one who gets arrested. She was paying off her brother's debt, and he forgives her. In “Nevertheless, She Persisted” (2x22, May 22, 2017), he builds, with Lena Luthor and her adoptive mother, Lillian, the device that spreads lead through the atmosphere. The Daxamite fleet pulls out, and Mon-El has to leave Earth.
The Toyman's death and the departure for the 31st century
In season 3, the past catches up with Winn. In “Schott Through the Heart” (3x14, April 16, 2018, in the United States; “Vers l'infini et au-delà” in the French dub), his father dies in prison. At the funeral, the coffin explodes, and Supergirl shields Winn and his mother, Mary, played by Laurie Metcalf. She had left him when he was a child, and she explains why: she had tried to flee with him to a shelter for victims of violence, and the Toyman had run them off the road before threatening his son's life. Jacqueline Nimball, a prison employee who became the Toyman's disciple, then kidnaps Mary, whom Winn, Kara and Mon-El rescue.
In “Battles Lost and Won” (3x23, June 18, 2018), Brainy, who came from the future, chooses to stay in the present. He offers Winn his place in the Legion of Super-Heroes, in the 31st century, because history will remember Winn as the inventor of a shield that will save lives. Winn leaves with Mon-El. A few days earlier, TVLine had reported that Jeremy Jordan was leaving the main cast. The day after the finale, the actor promised on Instagram that Winn would return in season 4, but the character does not appear in a single episode of that season.
“Back from the Future”: another Winn Schott calls himself Toyman
Winn returns in 2020, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, which merged several Earths. In “Back from the Future – Part One” (5x11, January 26, 2020, in the United States), Lex Luthor, helped by Brainy, breaks a double of Winn from another Earth out of prison. This Winn has taken the name Toyman to avenge his father, and he targets Andrea Rojas with robot tigers. The real Winn then comes back from the future, where he has married Ayla, aka Lightning Lass, and had a daughter. To go unnoticed, he puts on glasses and goes by “Marty.”
In “Back from the Future – Part Two” (5x12, February 16, 2020), the double has uploaded his mind into the DEO's computers. Winn faces him there with the help of a digital copy of his own father, who sacrifices himself to wipe out the impostor. Winn then gives up his Legion code name, “Computer Lad,” for Toyman, in memory of his father. He returns one last time in the series finale, “Kara” (6x20, November 9, 2021, in the United States). In it, he helps his friends against Lex and Nyxly, sings with Kara at Alex and Kelly's wedding, and reveals to J'onn his future with M'gann: they will have a son.
In the comics, Winslow Schott is the Toyman
In DC comics, the name Winslow Schott refers to the villain himself. The comics' Toyman, created by writer Don Cameron and artist Ed Dobrotka, first faces Superman in Action Comics #64 (cover-dated September 1943). In a story dated December 1993 and January 1994, he even kills Adam, the son of Cat Grant; in 2008, Action Comics #865 retroactively pins the murder on a robot built in his image. In January and February 2011 (cover dates), Supergirl vol. 5 #58 and #59 introduce Anton Schott, aka the Dollmaker, who turns out to be his son and wants to make Cat Grant his new mother. Winn, for his part, remains a character from the series: in comic book form, he appears in Adventures of Supergirl, a digital spin-off series published in 2016.
The adaptations muddy the waters even further. In Superman: The Animated Series, starting in 1996, the Toyman is named Winslow Schott Jr.: he is the son of an honest toymaker who was ruined by Bruno Mannheim and died in prison. Supergirl reverses this pattern, with a criminal father and a heroic son. Smallville gives the role of Winslow Schott to Chris Gauthier, and Lois & Clark to Sherman Hemsley.
| Version | Who bears the Toyman name? | And the Schott family? |
|---|---|---|
| DC comics (since 1943) | Winslow Schott | His son Anton becomes the Dollmaker (2011) |
| Superman: The Animated Series (1996) | Winslow Schott Jr. | Son of an honest toymaker |
| Supergirl, seasons 1 to 3 | Winslow Schott Sr. (Henry Czerny) | Father of Winn, Kara's friend |
| Supergirl, season 5 (2020) | A double of Winn, then Winn himself | Winn takes up the name as a hero |
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Who plays Winn Schott in Supergirl?
Jeremy Jordan, an actor and singer from Broadway. He plays the role as part of the main cast in seasons 1 to 3, then as a guest star in seasons 5 and 6. Winn does not appear in season 4.
Is Winn Schott the Toyman's son?
Yes, in the series. His father, Winslow Schott Sr., played by Henry Czerny, killed six people with a bomb hidden in a teddy bear. In DC comics, on the other hand, Winslow Schott is the Toyman himself.
In which episode does Winn's father die?
In “Schott Through the Heart” (3x14), which aired on April 16, 2018, in the United States. In it, Winn also reunites with his mother, Mary, played by Laurie Metcalf, who had left him when he was a child.
Why does Winn leave Supergirl?
In “Battles Lost and Won” (3x23, June 18, 2018), Brainy offers him his place in the Legion of Super-Heroes, in the 31st century. Winn accepts and leaves with Mon-El.
Does Winn Schott return to Supergirl?
Yes. He comes back in both parts of “Back from the Future” (5x11 and 5x12, January 26 and February 16, 2020), appears in the realities altered by Mxyzptlk in the 100th episode, “It's a Super Life” (5x13, February 23, 2020), then returns in the finale, “Kara,” which aired on November 9, 2021, in the United States.
Does Winn Schott become the Toyman?
Yes, but as a hero. After defeating an evil double who went by that name, he trades his Legion name, “Computer Lad,” for Toyman, in memory of his father (“Back from the Future – Part Two,” 5x12, February 16, 2020).
Who are Winn's girlfriends in Supergirl?
In season 1, he loves Kara, who doesn't return his feelings, then dates Siobhan Smythe, the future Silver Banshee. In season 2, he has a relationship with Lyra Strayd, a refugee from Starhaven. In the 31st century, he marries Ayla, aka Lightning Lass.
Conclusion
Winn Schott is part of Supergirl from the first episode to the last. CatCo's computer expert, then a DEO technician and the Guardian's partner, he defines himself against the shadow of the Toyman, before taking up that name as a hero in the 31st century.
The heroine he helped find her costume, Kara Zor-El, has a story that begins on Krypton, long before National City. And what brings her closer to her cousin, or sets her apart from him, comes down to a few differences between Supergirl and Superman.