*Warning! This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Supergirl (2026)! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want anything spoilers, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*
So, uh…..the new Supergirl movie came out this weekend. And just like with every other estrogen-fueled superhero movie that is not about Princess Diana of Themyscira (and even that eventually fell flat on it’s face a few years later with it’s sequel), it has had it’s wide share of controversy. I would go over exactly what *some* of this controversy stirs from but literally just think of any woman-lead ANYTHING that has come out post-GamerGate and you will know exactly what I’m talking about. And as much as folks would love to rally behind this film’s defense, Supergirl (2026) is just not good or interesting enough of a movie to die on it’s hill.
It has received a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the first project in the DC Universe to receive that rating (The MCU didn’t have a single rotten rated film until Eternals in 2021 btw!), it got a very poor B- rating on CinemaScore (With Superman 4‘s C and Joker: Folie A Deux‘s D being the only two DC films that have received worse ratings), and even the audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes have been just decent at best (ranged around 75 to 76%). Because of these mixed reviews and poor word of mouth, Supergirl (2026) underperformed in even it’s slimest of expectations this weekend, grossing a dreadful $37 million domestically and only $62 million worldwide, that’s lower than the opening weekends of Morbius, The Marvels, & Joker: Folie A Deux. To put it simply, things are not looking good for Supes’ cousin at all.
So, what exactly happened here? While the stirred controversy I mentioned earlier before is nothing out of the ordinary, not even hardcore DC fans, moviegoers, or actual sane people not brainwashed by Fox News are coming to their (Super)girl’s support! Was it with Supergirl (2026) that is not connecting with anyone? The character has had her success in comics and television but can’t seem to translate that onto to the big screen, with both the 1984 version with Helen Slater and the 2026 version with Milly Alcock being financial bombs.
While I can go into things I pointed on in my review such as the barebone storytelling, uninspired direction, subpar looking visuals, and the main villain with somehow even less charisma and memorability than whatever the hell Christopher Eccleston was suppose to be playing in Thor: The Dark World, the moment that really sealed this movie’s faith for me was with Kara Zor-El’s final decision she makes at the end. It’s a decision that not only contradicts the source material it’s based off of but also contradicts the entire point to Supergirl’s arc in the movie.
In case anyone is unaware, Supergirl (2026) is based off Tom King’s 2021-2022 comic run of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. In that version, we seen a young Kara being striped down from what would you expect from young blooded female superheroes. Instead of being portrayed as the biggest piece of eye candy you have ever seen or the ultimate girl power fantasy, Supergirl is just a girl who lost everything in her life at such a young age. She was raised on Krypton, watched everyone she loved perish away, and now has no one but herself and her lovable dog Krypto. It made for an interesting portrayal that you usual see from older, male superheroes.
Instead of using her superpowers to save as many people as she can and do pure good like her cousin, Superman, she instead uses it to go to red sunned planets to get drunk, party like a punk rockstar, and kick whoever ass gets in her way. That is until she has a come to Jesus moment and is offered a journey with another young girl named Ruthye, to take vengeance against the man who killed her parents, Krem. Kara refuses at first until Krem comes along the way to crash the party and puts a needle right through everyone’s favorite alien dog, Krypto. And just like that, the two go on a quest for revenge, to not only find Krem to put him out of commission but also to uncover the secrets behind this group known as Brigands, a group of space pirates and human traffickers.
It’s throughout the course of the film where you get to see just how Supergirl differs than Superman. Instead of finding family and love like her cousin did, she found only pain and lost. Instead of using her powers for the means of helping others, she uses her powers for the means of helping herself. And as the movie claims, instead of finding the good in everyone, she only she’s the truth. It’s loneliness that trumps togetherness, selfishness that trumps selfness, and being a realist that trumps being a optimist. Regardless of whether or not you think the film and/or comic goes too far with it’s “edgy” portrayal of Supergirl, you can’t deny it does help separate Kara than just being a gender-swapped version of Superman (something which CW’s Supergirl got bluntly excused off as that show went on).
However, the real dealbreaker that seems like was the one element that both super siblings could agree on is to NOT be a killer. While Superman (2025) certainly had a body count of some sort, you never got the sense that Clark Kent would go out of his way to kill someone out of the lime, even his worst enemy. And that is the one element that Kara wants to portray herself has to. Throughout the entire film, she tells Ruthye that killing is not the answer. No matter what Krem could’ve possibly done to take everything away from her, killing him would not bring ANYTHING back for her. Instead of leaving filling out that black hole inside of her, it will only just make that hole bigger forever and consume what good is left in her.
We then come to the final confrontation where Ruthye has Krem exactly where he wants him, he’s on his knees and vulnerable. If there is a more open time to kill him, it’s this one. However, once again, Kara arrives and tells her to spare his life, reminded her again that this won’t change anything and will basically just gives him exactly what he wants. After immense hesitation, Ruthye agrees and spares his life.
It’s that this moment where you expect a slight change from the ending of Woman of Tomorrow. While doing a notable time jump is perhaps out of the question, you can still have Supergirl make a move that leaves a big mark on Krem’s face, a scar that will remind himself of what he did to earn that mark. Whether it’s a cane or not, you can still have Supergirl acts as a mean of revenge that doesn’t take away her arc. However, director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira decided to go in a complete different direction have Kara flat out kill Krem herself. Yes, you heard that correctly!
SUPERGIRL KILLS KREM!!!
That’s right! Instead of just giving him a ding to the head while getting the antidote to cure Krypto, Supergirl picks up her sword and kills Krem. Despite the fact that Kara has spent the whole movie preaching to Ruthye about how you can’t kill people because of how wrong it is, she does the dirty deed herself. Not only is that a complete betrayal of the Woman of Tomorrow comic itself, it’s a betrayal of Supergirl’s arc in the movie itself.
Despite what some might claim, NO, Krem is NOT killed in the comic run. Not only was this confirmed by comic writer Tom King himself in 2024, it’s made obvious in the final few pages where Krem is laying on the ground and covering his face after he just got wacked by an older Ruthye’s cane. He didn’t die there nor was he killed by Kara. It was actually Ruthye letting out years of vengeance inside of her and dumping it all over Krem right after he spent 300 years in prison, while Kara watches. Whether you think that’s tacked on or not, it still keeps Supergirl’s characterization consistent by her being as an edgy anti-hero that doesn’t feel the urge or teaches to kill. And the fact that writer Ana Nogueira interpreted that sequence as something different and didn’t even bother to check in with Tom King himself or do a quick google search is baffling to me.
But it hurts Supergirl even more in the movie itself. While Kara doesn’t see herself as being a Mr. (or Mrs.) Goody Two Shoes hero like her cous, Supes, she still draws the line at killing because that is what separates her from being an anti-hero to a straight up villain. That’s why she keeps telling Ruthye to NOT kill Krem, once you start down that dark path, you will never come back from it. It’s what keeps her from being Supergirl to just being Homelander with a vagina (or basically Stormfront). However, in the case of Supergirl (2026), it almost seems like a decision that would be more in line with what Zack Snyder’s version of Supergirl would be like instead of James Gunn.
Now, this is not me trying to defend the actions of Krem himself. He was objectively a terrible person who is the caught of tracking children and young girls alike. He deserved the most cruel and unusable punishment imaginable but I don’t think Supergirl killing him is exactly that. It almost feels like he got exactly what he wanted. Instead of living out the rest of his days in a jail cell, possibly turning into the same depressed and jaded individual that Supergirl herself became at such a young age, he now is left off the hook scott-free. And our main heroine let him do just that.
The only way this could’ve possibly work if we saw a certain change in Kara in the aftermath of her killing Krem. However, instead of seeing a sense of doubt or her being mentally scarred by this decision, she kinda just carries on like normal. She reunites with Ruthye one last time, letting her join along in celebrating the rest of her birth week, and then reunites with Superman on Earth. She doesn’t have a conversation about what transpires or get a hint of how she changed or grew from that experience. It’s back to stage one except she is slightly less depressed and angsty now.
Say what you will about Superman killing Zod at the end of Man of Steel, but at least we were able to get an IMMEDIATE reaction out of him after he did the dirty deed. Literally just SECONDS after he killed one of his own, he screamed in utter pain and agony, almost as if he just killed someone he loved deep down inside. It was then Clark was able to help heal the mental wound inside of him by being closer to his adoptive mother, Martha, and his new girlfriend/partner at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane. I still can’t say I was in love with that decision from Mr. Snyder and Mr. Goyer but you could at least see somewhat of a justification for it given Superman was trying to save literal human lives.
When it comes to Supergirl (2026), Kara killing Krem just seems like a decision that just comes out of nowhere. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to make that change from the comic to catch people off guard. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to subvert our expectations by showing how this Supergirl is much different than Superman. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to show us how Krem basically won because he got Supergirl to break her unwritten rule. And I certainly don’t know if it’s because that’s what Ana Nogueira ACTUALLY thought happened at the end of Woman of Tomorrow so she decides to do the sequence just like that. The fact that I can’t tell you why that decision was made speaks volume to the film’s overall aimless writing and direction.
I’m not gonna act like Supergirl (2026) is the worst comic book movie of all time or even the worst one that has come out recently but it’s this one decision made at the ending with Kara that brings this movie down from being just a simply mid movie to a kinda crappy one. I also believe that is the one decision that is keeping even the most diehard of comic book fans from defending it from the corrupt mainstream media. It showed a fatal understanding of the comic it’s based on and even what the whole film itself stands for.
I’m not saying you have to stay faithful to every comic you adapt to an absolute T or can’t make required changes but you need to at least capture the full hearted spirit of it and why that story has resonated with comic readers all around the world. While Supergirl (2026) can claim it’s honoring it by incorporating certain story elements and characters from the book and bringing in Jason Momoa’s Lobo to steal the show, Kara’s ending actions and the way it’s executed proves that it doesn’t understand the point it’s source material was trying to make nor it’s own point. I don’t think I’ve seen an ending of a comic book movie misunderstood the point of it’s source material THIS hard since The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
I sure do hope that Supergirl (2026) only amounts to a slight bump in the road to whatever DC Studios has planned with their current cinematic universe and beyond. However, if this really is the quality we can expect for projects which James Gunn himself is NOT writing or directing, then we might be back in the same well hole we were in around this time a decade ago with the LAST DC cinematic universe and the ones before that.
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