Supergirl has been long overdue for the big screen ever since she first took flight in the 1984 film starring Helen Slater. Although she had a highly successful television series starring Melissa Benoist between 2015 and 2021, this only got fans more interested in seeing the Girl of Steel on the silver screen again.
Fans got a small taste of a cinematic experience in 2023 when Sasha Calle played an alternate timeline version of Kara Zor-El in The Flash. Unfortunately, this didn’t lead to a solo film for her due to a change in leadership at both Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios. Fast-forward three years to 2026, and fans finally have the Supergirl origin movie they’ve been waiting for, though it has some flaws.
Starring House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock as Kara and Eve Ridley as Ruthye Marye Knoll, Supergirl adapts the basic plot of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. This works to keep the story self-contained whilst still connecting it to James Gunn’s larger DC Universe. The movie further honors the source material by homaging Evely and the comic’s editor, Brittany Holzherr, by naming two planets after them.
Although the film doesn’t replicate Evely’s gorgeous sci-fi fantasy visuals, the cinematography still does an excellent job at capturing the tone of its story. For most of the film, Supergirl still uses color to great effect. In scenes where Kara recalls her past on Krypton, the film uses orange and yellow hues to evoke nostalgia. In scenes where Kara is at a low point, the film makes good use of dark, claustrophobic spaces to evoke a sense of dread. For scenes involving David Corenswet’s Superman, the film perfectly replicates the color palette of his 2025 film.
Another high point of the film is its ability to balance high-octane action with more dramatic scenes, resulting in a well-paced story. Supergirl’s fight scenes are well-choreographed, and the cameras are angled in such a way that allows you to see what’s happening clearly while still making you feel like you are a part of the action. When Supergirl flies, the camera follows her every move to make you feel as though you’re flying with her. When she fights, the film uses slow motion sparingly to capture her moments of besting an enemy, whilst letting the cameras roll naturally to capture her speed and efficiency.
DC Studios/Warner Bros. Discovery
Of course, none of these developments would stand out without the excellent performances of all the actors. Milly Alcock flawlessly captures Kara’s emotional vulnerability and profound sadness over the loss of Argo City, her Kryptonian home. Alcock also excels at presenting Kara as a layered, complex individual and can balance her confidence and anger without being over-the-top in her delivery. Despite playing a version of Kara who is still recovering from the traumatic loss of her home and family to a natural disaster, Alcock still makes her lovable and easy to sympathize with.
Alcock also has excellent onscreen chemistry with her co-star, Eve Ridley, and plays well off of her energy. Ridley succeeds at presenting Ruthye with a more childlike innocence than her comic book counterpart. This helps sell the idea of this young girl immediately attaching herself to Kara after witnessing the ruthless murder of her family. Ridley’s performance also succeeds in showing the progression of her character’s growth, especially as she comes to admire Kara and even becomes disappointed in her at various points in the film. Another key reason this works is that Ruthye gets to participate in the action rather than just observe.
Other standout performances are Jason Momoa as Lobo and Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem of the Yellow Hills. Despite being a supporting character in the film, Momoa still makes every scene he’s in count. He perfectly embodies the nonchalance of the Czarnian bounty hunter whilst still succeeding at capturing his love of violence. Momoa even plays off of Alcock and Ridley in a way that is humorous and feels organic. Schoenaerts also succeeds in playing Krem as a villain you love to hate, namely by presenting him as cocky and funny yet still deadly. This allows his taunting of both Ruthye and Kara to work your every nerve.
Whilst Supergirl has many positive things going for it, it does have one major flaw, and that’s the writing for Kara herself. At best, the script does justify presenting Kara as jaded by framing the story as taking place early in her superhero career. This allows Kara to grow organically from a traumatized young woman with nothing left to lose to a hero who can protect lives, sharing Superman’s values. Where the script misses the mark is in the execution of the latter idea. Nothing epitomized this problem more strongly than in the handling of Krem’s fate.
The latter is one instance where the film could have benefited tremendously from following the comic exactly, as it would have more effectively conveyed Kara’s growth. The fact that it didn’t means it repeated the same controversial mistake as Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel. (If you know, you know.) Aside from the fact that Krem’s fate in the movie does not align with the core of Kara’s character in the comics and why she’s a pop culture icon, it also undermines the message of that very scene.
DC Studios/Warner Bros. Discovery
If the whole point of Kara stopping Ruthye from killing her family’s murderer was to prevent her from going down a dark path, what Kara does immediately after that contradicts that very message and paints the character in a pretty negative light. Whilst it might make sense for a character like Helena Bertinelli to not feel strongly about permanently taking an enemy off the table, this should not be the lesson that Kara learns from this journey. If the final act of Man of Steel caused a stir amongst Superman fans, I suspect we’re going to have this same conversation again with Kara, as it profoundly misunderstands Supergirl as a hero.
All in all, Supergirl is a pretty enjoyable film that differs from 2025’s Superman yet still feels like part of a larger universe. It honors the source comic fairly well and delivers excellent cinematography. It excels at balancing action with drama, and every actor brings their A-game to the table. The only thing that would make Supergirl a solid 10/10 would be a better understanding of its main hero and not undermining the character’s journey with a climax that immediately invalidates her growth.
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