This is not another Superman story. It is about a woman carrying grief across galaxies and still choosing to show up.
I wouldn’t call myself the biggest DC fan. I’ve followed the movies, watched a few of the shows, and like many viewers, my main introduction to Supergirl was watching Melissa Benoist play the character on television.
The film loosely follows Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the DC comic by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, but it does not feel like a standard superhero setup.
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Here, Kara is older, restless, and clearly tired of being defined by what happened to her. She spends her 23rd birthday drifting through the galaxy with Krypto, only for her messy escape to be interrupted by Ruthye Marye Knoll (played by Eve Ridley), a young girl looking for the man who killed her family.
That search leads Kara into a rougher side of the universe, where planets are dangerous, villains are cruel, and revenge is never as simple as it sounds.
Spoiler warning: Like Kara on a galaxy bender, this review goes places. It contains spoilers for Supergirl, including key plot and character details.
It’s also a very different kind of superhero story. Because while Superman often centers on hope and responsibility, Supergirl spends more time exploring loss, anger, and what happens when someone survives a tragedy they never fully moved on from.
Kara remembers what Clark never had to
The movie also frequently returns to one important fact: Superman lost his home planet, but Kara remembers the people, places, and life that disappeared with it. She remembers her family, her home, because she grew up there. That grief follows her throughout the movie, even when she tries to distract herself with planet-hopping, drinking, and getting into trouble across the galaxy.
It gives Milly Alcock’s Kara a different weight. She is powerful, but she does not always seem sure of herself. She can fight, fly, and survive brutal situations, but emotionally, she still feels like someone trying to outrun everything she lost.
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The galaxy is not as shiny as it looks
Supergirl has the shape of a cosmic adventure, but it is not all bright planets and quirky alien encounters. There is a roughness to this world.
Much of that comes from Krem and the Brigands, the violent band of outlaws he moves with across the galaxy. The Brigands are among the movie’s most unsettling elements. They are brutal, barbaric, and involved in trafficking, making them feel far more dangerous than the usual comic book villains.
The film is not overly bloody, but the threat they pose feels real. Their presence gives the story a darker edge and reminds viewers that the galaxy Kara travels through is not always a safe place.
Then there’s Lobo
I’ll admit I knew very little about Lobo before watching the film.
Played by Jason Momoa, Lobo is an intergalactic hunter who seems to thrive on chaos. Loud, reckless, and completely unapologetic, he brings a very different energy whenever he appears.
What’s interesting is that Lobo was not part of the original Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic. He was added for the film, though the character was reportedly part of an earlier concept for the story before it evolved into the comic readers know today.
Whether this is simply a fun introduction or the beginning of something bigger for DC remains to be seen. Either way, Momoa leaves enough of an impression to make you curious about where the character shows up next.
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Not a perfect hero
I still left the movie with questions, particularly about Krypton, Argo, and some of the deeper parts of Kara’s history that longtime comic readers may already know.
But I enjoyed this version of Kara. She is not perfect, and the film never tries to make her one. She can be angry, grieving, reckless, funny, and frustrating. At times, she seems more interested in running away from her problems than confronting them. Yet beneath all that is someone who continues to show up.
What I appreciated most is that Supergirl does not present Kara as a fully formed hero. Instead, it follows someone who is still carrying old wounds, still searching for her place in the universe, and still learning how to believe in herself.
Supergirl is now showing in cinemas worldwide
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