Supergirl Movie’s Biggest Controversy Doesn’t Hold Up Against the Comics

One key controversy regarding the Supergirl movie doesn’t stand up against the comics. The DCU film centered around Kara Zor-El has attracted considerable ire from online critics. However, this particular complaint is not borne out by the source material.

The controversy in question regards the end of the movie and the final fate of the villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills. In the movie, Kara kills the villain after stopping her adventuring companion, Ruthye, from doing so. Supergirl does this to preserve Ruthye’s sense of innocence following Krem’s murder of her family.

This ending was attacked by some critics of the film after it was released. They claim it goes against Supergirl’s character for her to intentionally take a life. While it is true that Kara generally avoids lethal force, it is inaccurate to say her actions in the DCU movie are out of character.

Supergirl’s comic history shows Kara Zor-El has used lethal force before

While it is true that Kara Zor-El tries to avoid killing she is far from innocent and is not as idealistic as Superman. Her character in the DCU is built around this point and the movie based around showcasing it. Moreover, this is a fair assessment of Supergirl’s personality in most comics.

Perhaps the most famous example of this came in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Here, Supergirl became enraged when the Anti-Monitor nearly kills Superman. She responds by trying to destroy the Anti-Monitor and his machinery. While this only delayed the Anti-Monitor’s plans, Kara clearly declared her intent to kill and sacrificed herself in the attempt.

In the Post-Crisis timeline, Kara showed a similarly pragmatic attitude toward combat in extreme situations. After coming to Earth, she received combat training from Wonder Woman and her sisters on Themyscira. While Kara did try to follow her cousin’s code against killing, she voiced the very Amazonian opinion that “if you kill them, you don’t have to worry about them coming back.” She would definitely have killed General Sam Lane for his genocidal actions during the 2008 New Krypton storyline had Lois Lane not talked her down.

It is worth noting the same critics who insist Supergirl should not kill have tried citing the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic as proof. Reportedly, writer Tom King claimed in a 2024 interview that people were misinterpreting the comic’s final scene. It is here that Kara and Ruthye apparently kill Krem.

This may well have been King’s intent, but many readers (including Supergirl screenwriter Ana Nogueira) saw it differently. This is understandable given how freely King’s text plays with the idea of unreliable narrators. This includes a report that Kara did kill Krem and the driving action of Krypto being poisoned being a lie. In any case, the vast majority of comics show Supergirl has little issue with lethal force, while trying to avoid it.

Originally written by Matt Morrison at SuperHeroHype

Source: Comingsoon.net