Who is Supergirl outside of Superman? It’s a question that’s plagued the character ever since her creation in 1959, when she was introduced as, essentially, a blonde, female version of Superman. Her powers, her costume, her backstory, and even her personality were all intrinsically linked to her Kryptonian cousin. While that’s changed in the comics over the years, movies and TV — with a few exceptions — have struggled to pull Supergirl out of Superman’s shadow.
But, intriguingly, a short cameo by Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El at the end of 2025’s Superman teased a fresh take on the Girl of Steel. This Supergirl was a rough-and-tumble misfit who scoffed at Superman’s corn-fed optimism and rejected his brand of relentless kindness in favor of partying it up on alien planets. (She also was the proud owner of a very unruly, but cute, dog.) And it’s this Supergirl that becomes the unexpected antiheroine in Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl, a gritty space western that simultaneously feels like a novel take for the long-underserved superhero… and a well-worn retread of the cosmic superhero adventure that hasn’t felt fresh since the last Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It’s almost a shame — Supergirl, with its perfectly cast lead and its space-western stylings, has all the ingredients to be amazing. But instead of soaring, it just falls short.
