In 2026, it’s hard to imagine a world where comic book films aren’t a focal point of the summer blockbuster season. Since the one-two punch of Iron Man and The Dark Knight in 2008, the industry has seen a major shift in what audiences want from these stories. The answer was clear: comic book films treated with respect rather than as a joke. Sure, the likes of Superman and Batman had already shown the world these characters could make money and draw crowds, but it wasn’t until the mid-2000s that the genre truly exploded.
However, like anything in life, oversaturation can do a lot of damage, and that’s exactly what happened with comic book films. Sure, they remain profitable, but only certain properties still feel like true event-level releases. That brings us to 2025’s reboot of the DCU with Superman, a film that received mostly critical praise and achieved financial success. Its success immediately raised expectations for the second big-screen entry in the new DCU, Supergirl, to perform on a similar level.
Now the question is simple: could it reach those same heights?
Supergirl hits both the best and worst of the genre. Its faults are often masked by Milly Alcock’s wonderful performance, but the film is dragged down by a villain so bad it makes the ’90s Captain America Red Skull look inspired, and third-act VFX so rough it makes The Flash look like Avatar.
An unfortunate mixed bag.
Drawing from Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Supergirl follows Kara Zor-El, who isn’t exactly looking to be a hero when we first meet her. Instead, she’s drifting through the galaxy with Krypto, avoiding Earth, avoiding her cousin Superman’s attempts to help her find purpose, and carrying the kind of grief Clark never had to fully understand because Kara actually remembers Krypton. But her self-imposed isolation is interrupted when Ruthye, a young girl hunting down Krem of the Yellow Hills after he murdered her family, crosses her path. When Krem poisons Krypto and escapes with the only antidote that can save him, Kara is forced into a mission she never asked for, teaming with Ruthye on a revenge-fueled journey that pushes her to confront her past, her pain, and the hero she has spent so much time trying not to become.
On the surface, it’s commendable that director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira attempt to distinguish Supergirl from being a carbon copy of Superman in terms of visual style. However, the film still harkens back to much better films, namely Mad Max and Guardians of the Galaxy. Where Nogueira’s screenplay works best is when it focuses on Kara and Krypto and their bond because, let’s be honest, I would absolutely engage in intergalactic battles to save Krypto. Unfortunately, Ruthye’s desire for revenge ultimately falls flat, and while the chemistry between Milly Alcock and Eve Ridley is undeniable, Ruthye’s journey never elevates the film as much as I would have liked, leading to stretches where the pacing comes to a halt.
Where Nogueira truly succeeds, however, is in revisiting the fall of Krypton through Kara’s perspective. Rather than simply retelling an origin story we’ve seen countless times through Superman, the film reminds us that Kara actually lived through Krypton’s destruction. Experiencing that tragedy through her eyes adds an emotional layer to her journey while offering audiences a fresh perspective on one of DC’s most iconic moments.
Speaking of Milly, her performance as Kara is easily the best aspect of the film. My feelings are similar to my thoughts on David Corenswet’s performance last year, as both feel tailor-made for these roles. Alcock offers a complex portrait of Kara that feels distinct from Clark, and ultimately, her journey feels earned because of Milly’s work. Her scenes with Corenswet are some of my favorite moments in the new DCU, and it’s a partnership I hope to see explored more in future entries.
Unfortunately, that’s where the performance highlights mostly stop. While plenty of praise has been bestowed on Jason Momoa, I found his character to be quite a waste. He has the Indiana Jones effect, where the story would still arrive at point B without his inclusion. Momoa brings his trademark charisma to the role, but it never feels like he’s playing anyone other than Jason Momoa. That approach works for many, but it simply didn’t work for me.
This brings me to the film’s weakest aspect: Matthias Schoenaerts’ portrayal of Krem of the Yellow Hills. To be fair, this isn’t a criticism of Schoenaerts, who does what he can with the material. Rather, it’s a failure of the screenplay. Krem enters the conversation as one of the weakest antagonists in modern comic book cinema. It’s often said that this genre struggles to produce memorable villains, and Krem does nothing to buck that trend. He’s little more than a villain of the week who never feels like a genuine threat to Kara, robbing the story of any real stakes because the outcome never feels in doubt.
Ultimately, Supergirl is a film that never quite figures out its own identity. For every emotionally resonant moment between Kara and Krypto or every heartfelt flashback to Krypton, there’s another sequence that feels borrowed from better films. The constant needle drops evoke Guardians of the Galaxy to the point where they stop feeling like a stylistic choice and instead become a distraction, preventing Supergirl from carving out a personality of its own. By the time the third act arrives, the film’s already shaky foundation is further undermined by visual effects that simply aren’t up to the standard audiences have come to expect from a blockbuster of this scale. Rather than enhancing the spectacle, the CGI repeatedly pulls you out of it.
Yet despite those shortcomings, Milly Alcock almost single-handedly makes the journey worthwhile. She understands Kara in a way that few actors immediately understand an iconic character, delivering a performance filled with vulnerability, anger, compassion, and quiet resilience. Much like David Corenswet did with Superman, Alcock leaves no doubt that she is the right person to carry this character forward.
In many ways, Supergirl feels like a promising first draft for the character rather than the definitive introduction she deserved. The foundations are there. The emotional core is there. The casting is unquestionably there. But between an uninspired villain, inconsistent pacing, derivative stylistic choices, and a visually underwhelming finale, the film never fully escapes the shadow of the movies that inspired it. Ironically, for a film so determined to distinguish itself from Superman, Supergirl spends too much of its runtime chasing the DNA of other franchises instead of embracing its own. If the DCU can learn from those missteps while continuing to build around Milly Alcock’s exceptional portrayal, Kara Zor-El’s brightest days are almost certainly still ahead of her.
