“Supergirl” Takes Flight
If Superman stands for truth, justice, and the American way, what does Supergirl stand for? Those attributes were first attached to Superman during World War II as a means of supporting the war effort. Sure, they began as a patriotic motto, but they would come to define Superman as a character. He is, above all else, an American. In 2022, DC changed “American way” to “a better tomorrow,” but the sentiment lingers. Superman, even with his god-like abilities, is an American. In Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl, the question lingers: where does Kara Zor-el call home? What drives her?
When Supergirl opens, the answer to what drives Kara (Milly Alcock) is booze. She’s parked herself and her dog, Krypto, on a planet with a red sun. That allows things like punches, alcohol, and hangovers to actually affect her. She, like Clark, gets her powers from yellow suns. While drinking to celebrate her birthday, a young girl, Ruthye (Eve Ridley), enters the bar. She’s looking for someone to help her track down the man, Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), who killed her family. At first, Kara isn’t interested, but when that same man shoots her beloved dog, she agrees to go with Ruthye on a quest to find Krem.
Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures
With Superman, it’s easy to find hope. He has it in every bit of his existence. Even when he falls, the audience knows he’s going to get back up. There’s power in this depiction of such an unwavering hope, and a reminder that this belief can make a bystander a superhero in their own right. Hope is really hard to come by in Supergirl. Kara doesn’t have any. Not just to spare, but even for herself. The only thing that gets her out of bed in the morning is her scruffy little dog. To Kara, hope is something that has to be excavated. Something she has to work toward. It’s a kindness she doesn’t allow herself to feel because of the tsunami of monumental loss that’s forever looming over her.
Supergirl’s type of hope is harder to find, but stronger. People like Kara, who have known what it’s like to be on their own, are more sparing with their feelings. More willing to have a guard up. That’s why their decision to fight for someone other than themselves is all the more brave. Kara tells Ruthye that “Superman sees the good in everyone. [She] sees the truth.” In a time when the walls of the world feel like they’re closing in, when it would be much easier to drink away feelings and let the world burn, it takes courage to continue to fight for the good of it all. That’s what Supergirl stands for. Kara is angry, hungover, devastated, and hopeless, but she refuses to let the bad guys win.
Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC. Photo Credit: Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh
Supergirl doesn’t reinvent the superhero genre. There are still flashbacks to her old life and how she became this person, but they’re sprinkled throughout the film instead of as an opening sequence. Alcock is brilliant as Kara. Dryly funny, fiercely protective, and angry, her Kara understands the true weight this character bears. She doesn’t have Clark’s levity, but over the course of the film, she recognizes that she doesn’t need it to be a superhero. That the weight of the home, culture, and existence she carries doesn’t have to bring her down. That love, twisted together with the anguish of knowing she can never go home, is what turns Kara into Supergirl.
An audience’s mileage with Supergirl will only come if they’re willing to see a messy character like Kara don the classic get-up. She punches first, and if she asks questions, it’s way later. She’s not going to let the bad guy get away in the hope that he’ll change; she’s going to make sure he inflicts no pain on anyone else ever again. Kara is a different type of hero. One who’s rough around the edges, but whose heart has the same goal. To be good. To help those in need. Supergirl will make you a summer blockbuster believer again.
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