DC Studios' Supergirl movie is righting many wrongs from The CW's take on Kara Zor-El/Danvers. Supergirl started life on CBS, completely separate from the Arrowverse, until enjoying its first crossover with The Flash in Season 1's back half. While Melissa Benoist's Kara Danvers remained in her own corner of the Multiverse, she joined the Arrowverse on The CW for Season 2. The Kryptonian saga ended in 2021 after six seasons, introducing Tyler Hoechlin's Superman and merging with the rest of the Arrowverse. Five years later, the Girl of Steel is finally getting a new solo project for James Gunn's DCU, starring House of the Dragon actress Milly Alcock as a distinct Kara Zor-El.
Much like every TV show in The CW's Arrowverse, including The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl had its highs and lows and received plenty of criticism across its six-season tenure, namely due to comic-accuracy. Notably, Melissa Benoist's portrayal of Kara Zor-El was largely a female version of her more famous cousin, Superman, devoid of her unique characteristics.
Kara is meant to be somewhat reactive, quick to anger, blunt, rebellious, and lonelier than her cousin. She grew up feeling like an outsider on Earth and grieving Krypton, as she was a teenager when her world was destroyed. Instead, The CW portrayed her as bubbly, filled with all the hope, empathy, morals, and positivity of her cousin, which won't be the case in the DCU.
DC Studios Is Fixing The CW's Supergirl in Several Key Ways
DC Studios is leaning heavily on Kara's backstory and making it clear that she is anything but a female Superman. Throughout the summer flick's trailers, Kara utters lines like "[he] sees the good in everyone, and I see the truth" and "that's the thing, Clark, I have no people," as she spends her days partying through the stars, hinting at her more jaded, less hopeful persona.
Teen-esque drama is a staple for The CW, and Supergirl was no exception, as the DC series cooked up a disastrous romance between Kara and Jimmy Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) that has no precedence in the comics. In general, while Supergirl has had romances through the decades, starry-eyed tales usually aren't her forte, and the DCU doesn't seem eager to give her any love interest for now, either.
For the most part, Supergirl's second life as Kara Danvers isn't anywhere near as important in her narrative as Clark Kent is to Superman. Not only does she seldom dabble in romance, but she also doesn't have a consistent career like Clark's as a reporter. Yet the CW show essentially thrusts Kara into the same career as her cousin, just trading the Metropolis' Daily Planet for National City's CatCo.
Instead of setting up shop in any city, the DCU's Supergirl is leaning into her displaced, lonely nature by swerving Earth altogether in favor of a journey across the galaxy. Through flashbacks to Krypton's destruction and the tragic years that followed, Supergirl is embracing Kara's deep-seated trauma that, in many ways, defines her as a different character from Kal-El.
Most excitingly, DC Studios is adapting one of the Girl of Steel's comic storylines for her solo blockbuster: Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. While the eight-issue space-western miniseries was only published in 2022, it became an instant classic for its unique addition to Supergirl lore, even picking up Hugo and Eisner Award nominations (think the Oscars, but for comics).
There's no denying that Supergirl doesn't have the same rogues' gallery or catalog of stories as Superman, certainly not enough to fill a six-season show, but The CW rarely even tried to pull stories from her mythos. There were exceptions, namely in Season 3, in which Supergirl introduced the Legions of Superheroes and the Worldkillers, plucked from her New 52 comics. But most of the storytelling came from Superman history, larger DC Comics events, or went completely original.
While a hopeful Supergirl with a living, breathing human alter ego is undeniably more fitting for a CW series than her true comic nature, it means fans have continued to wait all these years to see her properly adapted for screens.
Those eager to stream all six seasons of Supergirl in the US can find them on Netflix. But it won't be long before Milly Alcock's all-new Girl of Steel is unleashed upon the world when Supergirl comes to theaters on June 26.
