Milly Alcock made her delightful debut at the end of Superman, unveiling a version of the character very different to the one played by Melissa Benoist. An Australian actress who sH๏τ to fame after House of the Dragon, Milly Alcock is the latest actress to bring Kara Zor-El to the big screen.
The DCU’s Supergirl is clearly very different to any we’ve seen on-screen before. This version is inspired by Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s portrayal in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which saw Kara go on a cosmic quest for vengeance after her dog Krypto was injured. Superman‘s ending is setup for an adaptation of that same story.
But how did Superman’s cousin survive the destruction of Krypton, and just how can a Kryptonian be drunk?
Supergirl’s Origin In The DC Universe Explained
Reboots have been a part of the DC Comics universe for decades, and Supergirl’s origin story has been rewritten many times (some versions haven’t even been Kryptonian). She’s typically Superman’s teenage cousin, raised on a Kryptonian city that survived Krypton’s destruction thanks to a force field, sent to Earth when that field faded.
In more modern versions, Supergirl was fifteen years old when Krypton exploded; she was sent to Earth to look after Kal-El, but her ship was damaged and she was placed in cryogenic suspension. Kara only arrived on Earth years later, a Kryptonian who was shocked to learn her baby cousin was now all grown up.
The most recent retelling of Supergirl’s origin – likely to be the one attached to the DCU – is subtly different. Here, Kara’s pod reached the solar system but orbited our star for some decades, deliberately fueling her Kryptonian powers. The result was the same, though; Kara found herself stranded on an alien world with an adult cousin.
Where Was Supergirl During The Events Of Superman?
Supergirl was offworld during the events of Superman, on something of a cosmic bender. In the comics, Kryptonians cannot get drunk on Earth; their superhuman metabolism processes the alcohol too quickly. Thus a Kryptonian seeking to get drunk first has to find a red sun, which leads to them losing their powers.
It seems Supergirl had decided she wanted to go on a drinking spree, and she’d chosen to leave her dog, Krypto, with Kal-El to be looked after. That’s quite a sweet touch; it means Superman’s desperation to rescue Krypto also reflected his love for his cousin.
It’s unclear how widely Supergirl’s existence is known on Earth. Superman seems to have caused quite a stir, earning the enmity of Lex Luthor over the three years since he began operating in public, and he has a particularly strained relationship with Earth governments. Supergirl wasn’t mentioned, which may imply she’s kept her head down.
That said, Peacemaker season 2’s premiere revealed that Supergirl too has been working with the Justice Gang on occasion. The retconned opening showed Milly Alcock’s Supergirl among the team who arrived a little too late to help Peacemaker save the world, even raising the possibility that she sometimes serves as a member of the Gang.
Why Supergirl Was Drunk In Superman
Viewers who are more familiar with Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl will be understandably surprised at this new portrayal. But this is a very different version of Kara, one who isn’t processing her grief and loss anywhere near as efficiently as the one who saw in the Supergirl TV show.
This is a Supergirl who knows what she lost when her homeworld was destroyed. Superman had no knowledge of Krypton, but Kara had been born and raised there, and she has lost everything she ever knew – along with her entire family. The pain is much fresher, much deeper, than anything Superman feels.
Superman rewrote Kal-El’s origin story, revealing his parents sent him to Earth as a potential conqueror. This imperialistic background also naturally has an impact on Supergirl as well, because she was actually brought up in this society. It’s striking that she hasn’t influenced Kal-El; she may be doubting her upbringing, adding more emotional confusion into the mix.
Whatever the case, Kara has clearly learned that she can get drunk by finding a red sun and losing her superhuman powers. As in the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book story, she presumably has a spacecraft that she’s used to head to a red sun and drown her sorrows for a while.
In Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Kara’s grief had become overwhelming because she’d reached the milestone of her twenty-first birthday. The awareness her family were not there to celebrate it with her, plus the knowledge she had lived on while her loved ones had died, meant she was desperate to escape. It’s likely Superman‘s ending has set up a very similar story.
