To say Supergirl has had a complicated history would be to do a disservice to the term “complicated”. Her time in the comics since her introduction in 1959 has been fraught with gimmicks, indecisiveness, convoluted reboots and reiterations, and sheer questionable decisions. Even in the movies, where things tend to be more streamlined, things have never quite taken off for her.
Supergirl’s fate in other media is very much akin to her initial existence in the comics: she pretty much exists to either cash in on a hype created by her cousin, or to cater to an audience who are adjacent to but not quite the audience captured by Superman.
The 1984 Supergirl movie featuring Helen Slater best exemplified this. Designed to fly on the coattails of the then-trilogy of Christopher Reeve’s Superman movies, Supergirl was a… confused take on what a female superhero movie could be, especially when they aren’t allowed to exist independently of their male counterparts.
Interestingly, this new Supergirl (based on the Woman of Tomorrow comic by Tom King and Bilquis Evely), doesn’t necessarily avoid the inevitability of existing within the same space as 2025’s Superman—it does, however, successfully lean into it, building Kara Zor-El’s personality with a healthy dose of contrast in motivations but with similar, hope-driven actions.
Milly Alcock’s take on Supergirl is decidedly fresh and unique against other live action versions. Where Helen Slater, Smallville‘s Laura Vandervoort, and the DCEU‘s Sasha Calle versions were all tailored to suit the Supermans of their respective universe’s, Alcock’s version is given the greater autonomy of finding a place in this world despite her cousin.
Even when compared to the more recognised and (probably) beloved Melissa Benoist version from the Arrowverse, which was designed to essentially function as Superman, Alcock stands out with both performance and writing.
Impressively, this doesn’t result in an unnecessarily angsty or dour take (as had been the case during The New 52 era of the comics), and Alcock delivers the perfect measure of jaded yet hopeful—an efficient reminder that Supergirl, for all her inexperience as a superhero, carries the tragedy of being the last child of Krypton far more than her cousin ever could.
While it is easy to be enamoured by Alcock’s performance (after all, she is the only constant throughout the narrative), Supergirl is wholly elevated by an impressive cast of both characters and actors. The writing and action are also on-point; very rarely does a scene feel too long or unnecessary (an issue with the preceding Superman film). Even when at risk of being overshadowed by supporting characters or cameos, the focus is very quickly pulled back on to Kara and her struggles.
The only true flaw of the film is it being one of the few times where we could have used more time.
Or, maybe a little less Lobo. Marking Momoa’s return to DC films, Lobo’s inclusion in the film is a pleasure for the most part and, in a vacuum, each of his scenes are fun and funny. More could (and should) have been done with his chemistry with Kara, but the bigger problem remains that the character’s impact is diluted over his multiple scenes. At some point, it almost feels like he’s written back in only ’cause it couldn’t be decided at which point in the film would he have been better used.
Without spoiling anything, I’m firmly in the camp that Lobo’s final bout of scenes should have been his only ones.
But, trivial plot meandering aside, Supergirl is a strong and definitive tale that finally does right by the character on the big screen. The movie shares all the strengths of Superman while avoiding any weaknesses.
If this is the gauge of the DCU as a shared universe, things might just be looking up for DC fans… finally.