I first discovered the existence of Supergirl in 1984 when Helen Slater burst onto the screen in her blue and red supersuit.
Though the film failed to capture lightning in a bottle vis-à-vis the 1978 Christopher Reeve Superman film, Supergirl sure did capture my heart.
As an 11-year-old boy, I instantly fell in love with Slater. From then on, Supergirl became one of my favorite comic book characters.
Fast forward to 2026 and the James Gunn, Peter Sefran era of the DC Cinematic Universe. We are now treated to a new, spunky Girl of Steel in the form of House of the Dragon actress, Milly Alcock.
Back is David Corenswet as Clark Kent, aka Superman, as well as Jason Momoa, though not as Aquaman (thank the gods) but as Lobo (ya bastich).
Supergirl seemingly picks up sometime after the events of the mid-credit scene of last year’s Superman, with Kara off planet and tooling around in her Space RV with her lovable but rambunctious super pupper, Krypto. She is celebrating her birthday by hanging out on a planet with a red sun, getting drunk, and not looking back with no regrets.
When a young girl, Ruthye, whose family is butchered in front of her by a band of nefarious brigands aptly named… well… Brigands, she goes in search of someone to help her exact the revenge. She thirsts for justice, for her family. Eve Ridley plays Ruthye with a naive vulnerability juxtaposed with a believable strength that anchors the character.
When Ruthye enters a bar to wrangle up a bounty hunter to help her, a bar where Kara happens to be drinking, Ruthye solicits the help of Kara to help her seek her revenge. Kara refuses, but somehow winds up involuntarily volunteering when the same Brigand responsible for killing Ruthye’s family shoots Krypto with a poisonous arrow and then steals Kara’s space RV. It is now a race against time to get the antidote to save Krypto and avenge Ruthye’s family.
And thus the adventure commences. Kara and Ruthye go through a series of successes and failures on their quest. We also discover the fate of Krypton as well as Kara’s tragic history.
Along the way, we meet Lobo.
Lobo, is one of my favorite comic book characters, mostly in part because of artist Simon Bisley and his rendition of the nigh impervious bounty hunter. Lobo is played perfectly by Jason Momoa. And honestly, THIS is the character he should have always been playing and not the regal and pompous King of the Seven Seas, Aquaman. He is neither hoity nor toity enough for Arthur Curry. He is perfect for Lobo. I hope there is more of him to come.
But I digress.
Milly Alcock is a treat. I love her as Kara Zor-El.
She has the perfect balance of feisty teen, self-sure angst, and sweet, heart-of-gold superhero bravada. Alcock brings a degree of acting chops that one might not associate with a run-of-the-mill superhero franchise. This elevates Supergirl a little higher than I was expecting, and it was a welcome surprise.
The story is based on the 2021 Supergirl comic series Woman of Tomorrow written by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. Which itself was loosely based on the novel and film adaptations of True Grit. Adapted for the screen by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie, the film is heavily influenced by the old-school western genre. The world-building and the character design in Supergirl are also worth mentioning. The Denizens of the bars, saloons, and planets are a smorgasbord of alien races. I adored the variety of aliens across the board.
Supergirl does a fine job of balancing the tragedy with the humor. This isn’t a James Gunn film, but you can feel his influential fingerprints throughout the production and in the way the film is crafted. This is good because a little James Gunn-ness can go a long way, and Supergirl has just the right amount while still being its own girl.
I can’t wait for my second viewing so I can really take in all the creatures and production design. I highly recommend Supergirl and can’t wait for more of both Corenswet and Alcock in the future. I think they not only nail the characters but also have great chemistry together as Superman and Supergirl, the last survivors of Krypton.
* * * * *
Produced by James Gunn, Peter Safran
Written by Ana Nogueira
Based on Characters from DC and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley,
David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa
