Megabite @megabite56 - Tumblr Blog

BRUHHHH at this rate just fricken confirm Battinson is in the DCU, for the LOVE OF! 😭 like that wording tells me the merge is happening... stop gaslighting everyone and just give us Battinson in the DCU. 😭😭🙏🙏

I need to see Battinson and Corensupes on the big screen, and I need to see David and Robert on a press tour together... can you IMAGINE. The very unserious guy who lies in every interview with the down to Earth guy who takes everything at face value? Good god. 😭

sneakecoyote

I need to see Milly Alcock hear Battinsons bullshit and give it right back.

megabite56

@sneakecoyote I tried posting a video of Milly being asked which DC character she'd like to be on screen with, and her answer was Batman. She was then asked which Batman, and she gave Christian Bale as her answer after she thought about it, and then she said, "R. Pats, because... he's amazing. But any of them."

I've never heard anyone call him R. Pat and the way she answered that was so... idk, man 😭 I never thought about seeing her and Battinson on screen together. They would not only be so funny, but they would have an incredible dynamic with each other. I could absolutely see Battinson being totally suspicious of Kara, because of how she has way less restrain than Clark.

Don't even get me started on why Battinson is perfect for Corensupes 😭

I'm a huge fan of EPIC the Musical, I have been since the moment I heard Ruthlessness... well, I'd known about the musical before, but I didn't know what the story was and I'm not a musical fan. I love The Lion King, but that doesn't make me a musical fan. The songs from The Troy and Cyclops Sagas didn't capture me until Ruthlessness took over my entire being. Now I'm obsessed.

I know Jorge says the point of the musical is to have the audience ask whether or not Odysseus is a monster for what he's done. I have a lot of respect for Jorge, but death to the author and all, because I just don't find that question interesting. It also has never made sense to me, and I feel like it falls apart based on lyrics within the musical. Odysseys calls himself a monster and willingly turns into one. Of course Odysseus is a monster for what he'd done to his crew by the events of Scylla. Like, I'm not even going to debate anyone in this. I remember, back before The Underground Saga came out, there were people who were dead set on the idea Odysseus didn't drop the infant, that the infant was spared. But Odysseus did drop the baby. That's a really fucked up thing to do, and it was so horrendous that people refused to believe it until "Monster confirmed it." Not only did the song confirm it, but Odysseus outright admits to himself he'll drop more of them for his own selfish gain, because he's okay with turning into a monster. So yea, he is a terrible person at times. To be VERY clear, I love Odysseus in EPIC, and I can also hold the very real truth that he is a deliberately bad person at times. So in my head I reject Jorge's question of, "do you think Odysseus is a monster? Or is he just a man?"

I don't have a counter question to propose, not really. If anything, I have Superman, specifically Absolute Superman, at the front of my mind. The premise of Absolute Superman is, "what happens when Kal-El is forced to live the worst possible life imaginable, where he does get to know his parents and Krypton, but he loses them in his escape to Earth? What if he gets to meet the Kents and embrace their kindness, only to have it ripped away from him by the system? What if he never gets to know a home, and never gets to feel like he belongs? Will he remain steadfast in his desire to be kind and compassionate, or will he succumb to callousness?" On almost every page the core of who Kal is, is relentlessly attacked and torn away at, and at every single step of the way he still chooses compassion and kindness. He refuses to be molded into the killer the people of Earth him to be.

I follow a video game streamer, Dr. Mick, who plays different games and breaks down very real psychological concepts in a way that's approachable for people who may not have access to that information. Something he talks about is how people will say something like, "I didn't have a choice," and he counters that by saying, "everything is a choice." Lets use EPIC as an example, specifically when Zeus tells Odysseus to end Prince Hector's infant son's life. A lot of people, I'm sure, would say, "Odysseus wasn't given a choice! He had to end the child's life to see Penelope and Telemachus!" But he did make a choice. He chose to obey Zeus' order, instead of defying it. He could have chosen to spare the infant, and risk his family's life. It's a shitty decision, but a decision nonetheless. Here's a more controversial one: Odysseus and Scylla. When I was on TikTok, people would get pissed off at me for saying Odysseus had the choice to not sacrifice his men. They were mad because they fully believed he had to in order to return home. No. He could have made the decision that he would not betray his men's trust, that he'd instead face Poseidon's wrath head on.

As a side note, Dr. Mick's play through of God of War Ragnarok is SO GOOD. I HIGHLY recommend it.

To me, EPIC is about the choices humans make in a world ruled by gods that do not value mortals, where they're only minor annoyances to do with as the gods pleased. Do you obey the gods, potentially betraying your own morals, or do you disobey them, and likely face punishment? Do you disobey them because you would rather not make the selfless (I used selfless intentionally) choice?

In the same vein, I also believe the gods are responsible for their own choices, and in fact, they have a greater responsibility. They are essentially all-powerful compared to humans. Eurylochus has gotten a lot of backlash from the fandom, and they blatantly ignore the fact that Aeolus' winions go out of their way to make Odysseus' crew believe the bag contains treasure. And you truly expect me to believe the crew is going to take Odysseus' word at face value, the same man who's INFAMOUS for being a snake and a liar? Really? I see the gods as parents overseeing a bunch of four year olds, and punishing the mortals in a way that's completely skewed. It's the same with Polyphemus. He's an adult cyclops. He is completely and utterly capable of making decisions, and I'd argue he's capable of realizing Odysseus and his men were completely ignorant in killing the sheep.

My point is that the gods are CONSTANTLY punishing mortals for, honestly, honest mistakes, at least when you compare them to the omniscient position of the gods. The gods will even go out of their way to trick mortals into disobeying their commands, just so they can punish mortals.

So mortals live in this world that is constantly battering at them, always a step away from fucking over their entire lives. The only thing mortals can control is how they respond in a world that is constantly attacking them. Odysseus, in a way, is in the same position as Kal-El, but unlike Kal-El, Odysseus chooses to become a monster. He literally tells us this. "I'll become the monster."

That's why, in my opinion, Jorge's question doesn't work as the premise, because Odysseus makes the deliberate choice to become a monster so he can return home. He will sacrifice his crew. He will choose himself over them when Zeus' demands him to make a decision. Zeus even uses that word, "choose." Because it is a choice.

I guess I solved my own problem of not having an alternate question the musical proposed. I'd argue instead of the question, "is Odysseus a monster, or just a man," I'd say that a better fitting question is, "what choices are you willing to make in a world that demands you to be something you aren't?" You could be a terrible person and the gods could demand you make a selfless choice. Will you obey them, or will you defy them? For Odysseus, he chose to become a monster, thus becoming what the gods had tried shaping him into.

Athena, I think, is a perfect example of this. She chose to stay steadfast in her godliness. Odysseus was tired of tricking people and killing senselessly, so he told the Cyclops his name, because I think that was Odysseus trying to be honorable, and to say, "fuck you," to Athena and her ways. He chose instead to try to follow the path of, "open arms." He tried, and then he abandoned it. Athena, by the time she approaches Telemachus, is now wonders whether or not that was the right thing to do. She's now recognizing her choices had an impact on what the events in Odysseus' life, and what he became. And I think she realizes that because Telemachus has had such a loving and supporting mother, he's been able to hold onto his light and goodness. Athena abandoned Odysseus' in his darkest time, and subjected him to suffering the horrors of immortal beings with absolutely no support. She's not responsible for his choices, but she did play a big part in it, because she'd decided her ego as a god is more important. During "God Games," when she begs Zeus to spare Odysseus, she doesn't use logic or anything like that. That's the moment she breaks the cycle, and pierces through Zeus' ego by simply begging him be kind to Odysseus. She doesn't offer anything in return. Just do it, because you can. You know what happens? Zeus lets him go.

I also want to bring up Hermes, someone who's in a greater position of power, because when he helped Odysseus, he never commands him on how to deal with Circe. He simply warns Odysseus to be wary, and wishes him luck. Because Odysseus listens to his own heart and instinct without trying to be something that's expected of him, Circe ends up helping Odysseus and freeing his men out of kindness and a hope he'll pass it forward. The next time he sees Hermes, Hermes once again offers advice without any expectations of how to handle the obstacle that will be in his way. Odysseus assumes he means Charybdis, and once again, Odysseus is left to deal with the situation without any expectations other than to be what he is, and now what's expected of him. He escapes Charybdis without ever harming the creature. Hermes showed Odysseus empathy and kindness, and never punished him for the choices Odysseus makes. He's by far the most empathetic and altruistic god, and Odysseus ends up being successful because of it.

In the song, "I Can't Help but Wonder," Athena ponders if she had been more emphatic and kind towards Odysseus, if she could have helped him stay more like Telemachus and spared him from what he's turned himself into. She even asks Odysseus if the world could be better if everyone made more room for empathy. I don't think she's just talking about the two of them. I think she's realizing that the gods have created a reality in which they view everything as "tit-for-tat." If the gods stepped back, and viewed mortals with more empathy, maybe the world could progress into something brighter.

By the end, Odysseus recognizes what he's done, and while he's haunted by it, he accepts those actions. He recognizes that the world he's lived in has made his heart dark and heavy, but he also accepts that he made the choices he did, because there's only one goal that matters to him. When he tells Penelope of his years away from home, he doesn't put any responsibility on anyone except himself. He recognizes that despite living in a world where the gods forced horrible choices on him, he still made ones to serve his own ends - to get back to his family. He became a monster because he's just a man in a brutal war. He simply wants to do whatever it takes to get home. He doesn't want to be a great man with pure morals. He wants to be just a man who's willing to make awful choices.

He essentially tells Athena, "it's a world I'll have to miss, because it's far from here, and I may not live long enough to see it." He tells Athena because of her position and status, she has the power and lifespan to maybe help change the ways of the gods, to make the world kinder than the one Odysseus has known. Maybe she can use her position of power to make a world where gods hold themselves accountable, so that maybe Telemachus and those who come after him will know a kinder world that won't ask them to make terrible decisions.

Does any of that make sense? I hope it does.

megabite56

I want to talk about WHY Kara Zor-El is a role for women and women only in Supergirl 2026. Everyone knows the drill, spoilers!

I've seen a few people say this, and even my mom said this a couple times, that her role in the movie isn't gendered. They don't think it's exclusively a girl's role, and that's what makes Kara so good. And I take so much issue with this because if you put a man in Kara's place, the context for EVERYTHING she says and does changes. She would inherently behave differently.

Before I start: I get it, someone's going to say, "but not all men!" I'm going to make generalizations because 1. It's like Russian roulette for women, and 2. It'll get old real quick making disclaimers every fricken time. Also, I'm exclusively talking about media. Yes, all this applies to real life, but since my point is about how Supergirl is inherently a gendered role...... everything below is in the context of storytelling and portrayals.

Let's look at the very beginning of the movie, before she meets Rutheye. Whenever men are depicted drinking to cover their pain, almost everything they do is an act. They're covering up their hurt and putting on almost a fake persona. Sometimes that can be gruff and stoic, or silly and unserious. Maybe something else. But Kara isn't doing that. She's authentically herself throughout the whole movie. She finds joy in life. She desires community. She wants to feel her emotions. She wants to experience normal physical sensations under a red sun. Nothing she does is an act, or a false persona she puts on. Kara wears all of her emotions and hurt on her sleeve. She drinks, sure, but I don't think she's doing it to forget as much as feel. Because when Rutheye asks Kara when she stopped feeling angry, and Kara tells her, "any day now," she's still deeply connected to her emotions. Shes still letting herself feel that anger instead of shutting herself off from it. I don't think her drinking is to cover it up as much as she just doesn't know how to work through it. That's not the same as suppressing it. Men... just aren't ever portrayed like that when they're in a similar position of drinking alcohol frequently. They typically suppress whatever internal struggle is dragging them down.

When Kara meets Rutheye at the dive bar, her reluctance never comes from not wanting to protect Rutheye, but instead not waning to lead her on a mission of murder. When men have been placed in this same role, they tend to keep their distance either because they genuinely don't care about the kid who will become their ward, or they fear it will hurt themselves. Examples that comes to my mind are Joel Miller from The Last of Us (video game), or Logan from the Logan movie. But Kara never hesitates to let Rutheye in. She's open and honest about her emotions and opinions at every given opportunity. She flat out tells Rutheye she will not take her into the mountains to kill Krem. She tells Rutheye that if she pursues revenge, it will destroy her. She doesn't come up with some bullshit to cover up her vulnerability. She speaks from the heart and genuine empathy.

We even see Kara willingly apologize to Rutheye after causing a scene at the bar on Bilquis, and not only did she acknowledge she handled the situation poorly, Kara directly pinpoints exactly why she lost her temper. Again, how many male characters can you think of who ever apologize, and when they do, point out their failings of their own volition? Barbie is what I'm thinking of as an example. Ken literally almost destroyed Barbie Land all because of his insecurities and inability to actually create a meaningful life on his own.... and he never once had to take accountability. I mean, I get he's supposed to be a criticism of toxic masculinity, but my point still stands. Since I've used it in the past in comparisons with Supergirl, Hidalgo is another movie where the male lead suppresses a lot of his hurt, and he never has to take accountability for the harm he caused, even though it was very much indirect and unintentional.

There's also the moment when Kara decides to tell Rutheye she's from Krypton. She initially lies to Rutheye about where she's from, and Rutheye takes it at face value. When Rutheye expresses curiosity about it later on, Kara makes the deliberate decision to be vulnerable about it. Kara doesn't have an external force pushing her to open herself up to the hurt and immense sense of loss. She does it so she can show empathy to Rutheye. They barely knew each other for a day by then. Men rarely open up like that in movies, and if they do, they're often badgered into it.

I really want to talk about the silent scream - this is honestly the part that made me want to write up an analysis to begin with. I've seen people say that how women let out their anger and frustration is significantly different than how men do it in movies and shows. Women, generally, try to limit as much harm as possible, which is why Kara screams into the vacuum of space. It's only recently we've seen women actually display rage and not shrink themselves to accommodate male characters. Men, on the other hand, tend to never consider what's around them, where they'll yell in someone's face, or they just bottle it all up and maybe destroy/hit something. I fully agree with all of that, but something I haven't seen anyone talk about is how this scene, fundamentally, proves that Kara Zor-El is a role only for women. Kara screams into the void. She purges her system of all the pent up anger and hurt... and then she locks the fuck in and gets to work to save her dog. Think of how many men in movies experience hardships, and then they need someone, usually a woman, to rally them into action? Obviously there are exceptions, like Clark in Superman 2025, but even though he had that moment with Pa Kent, I still don't consider that part of the trope, because if Clark had known Metropolis is in danger, he would've dropped his baggage for the sake of everyone else. But regardless, I feel like women have a much easier time regulating their system by putting themselves in a position where they can release emotions, and then they're able to get the job done. Men typically are forced to disconnect from vulnerable emotions, or anything that toxic masculinity thinks is too "feminine." It truly bleeds into tons of male roles, from how they're written and/or portrayed.

I can keep going on how Kara navigates the world, but I really want to touch on the sexism aspect. Think of men at a bar in movies when they're drinking. A woman might hit on him, but usually how they do it is by talking. Sometimes it gets physical, but more often it's simply talking, with flirting involved maybe. When Kara is at the dive bar right before Rutheye walks in, that alien guy stops Kara on the way to the dance floor, and it's heavily implied he asks to dance with her. Yes, he accepts her saying no, even though he's clearly bummed about it, but it's just so... typical that a man's first thought would be physical.

We have the moment where the alien takes Rutheye's sword and Kara goes out to reclaim it for her. It's implied the alien says, "you talk too much." Male characters like Peter Parker, who's a literal chatter box, has never been told he talks too much. From what I can remember, anyway. I'm sure there are dozens of other examples out there. But the point is that if Kara had been a male character, I can guarantee the line, "you talk too much," wouldn't have been in there, and I do think the script writer being a woman writing a woman character led to that moment being in the movie.

The entire bar sequence on Bilquis and how Kara and Rutheye are treated... I feel like all of that is self explanatory.

Kara is roofied. Like, I'm sure everyone picked up on that, but I'm so surprised I haven't seen anyone talking about it. She literally gets roofied to be traded in for sex trafficking. It's basically stated in the movie that the only prisoners the Brigands want are girls and young women. If Kara had been a man....... the intentions would have been MUCH different. The implications would have been different. Krem only changes his intentions with Kara once he realizes she's Kryptonian. Once he does, he cares more about her as a trophy than a slave, but until then... yea, it's fuckin dark. But I cannot get over the fact Kara is roofied, and how everything about that scene would have inherently meant something different if it had been a man.

Because Kara is a woman, she's experienced sexism firsthand. She immediately clocks what the Skalarian raiders are talking about in regard to the sex trafficking, and you can see in her expression she's dreading what she's dragging Rutheye into. A man might've eventually picked up on it, but the weight of it wouldn't have hit him like it does Kara. The male character probably wouldn't even fully be aware of the true danger Rutheye is in, and maybe wouldn't have been quite as protective in the ways Kara is.

Honestly, I could probably keep going. Maybe I'll make another post with more examples eventually. I just really wanted to word-vomit the points I had at the front of my mind. I think what they mean is that Supergirl isn't a "girl-power" movie, but there aren't any woman-led movies out there like this one. It's hard to define because it seems like it's the first of its kind. Supergirl 2026 is the first time we're seeing a woman get to be fully realized and display our true lived experiences. This is the most authentic lived experience I've seen for women since... ever.

Basically, I feel like Kara is the first woman character I ever thought something along the lines of, "this person exists in real life. Everything about her is real and authentic. She's not written or portrayed through a lens to make her an idealization for girls, particularly what men consider the 'ideal' woman. While I'm not 100% like her, I find so much about her that's relatable, and I actually see myself in her in so many ways. I actually feel inspired because what Kara does, being good and caring, is achievable for me. I can't say that about almost any other woman character. They feel they're out of reach for where I'm at."

She's real. She's exactly how women interact with themselves and the rest of the world in real life. And how she finally finds her stride feels like something all women are able to take to heart. It's a very real, honest expectation.

megabite56

@the-gray-son I mean, that's quite literally what being roofied is. Someone put a substance in Kara's drink to specifically make it impossible for her to resist future sexual assault. That was 100% the plan if the poison had worked on Kara. If it had, Kara would've been sold off to be an unwilling bride for a man who would've taken full advantage of her. Just because it didn't work on her like the family and Krem thought it would doesn't negate the fact her drink was roofied.

Drugs used to roofie women can have varying effects, including total blackout and/or muscle relaxation. That's what the poison the Brigands use does. It makes the victim's muscles go completely lax, maybe even cause a blackout.

Just because it didn't affect Kara like they expected doesn't mean the intention disappears or becomes something else. That's what the family fully intended to have happen - drug Kara via a drink and trade her for their daughter so that Sarna is spared from sexual slavery. It's not an allegory. It's literally what almost happens to Kara. She's lucky she had some amount of immunity to the poison and could save herself and Rutheye from that terrible fate.

I still stand by my point Kara was roofied in the movie, because that was fully the intention of the family and Krem. 😅

I want to talk about WHY Kara Zor-El is a role for women and women only in Supergirl 2026. Everyone knows the drill, spoilers!

The entire bar sequence on Bilquis and how Kara and Rutheye are treated... I feel like all of that is self explanatory.

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #james gunn #milly alcock #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl 2026 #supergirl dcu #supergirl #supergirl woman of tomorrow #analysis #feminism #women representation #media analysis #dc #dc comics

I just learned that The Batman Part 2 is getting delayed, which I'm not mad about, except I'm terrified it could mean there's a slightly higher chance there will be another actor playing the DCU Batman.

I hope to god the delay doesn't have any correlation to Robert Pattinson potentially being in the DCU. I've seen the fancasts and every single one is inferior in my opinion. 😭 I've already made a few posts about why The Batman belongs in the DCU, and with the delay... ugh. I was using its release window with Man of Tomorrow as one production example for why the merge is potentially happening. Again, I have posts breaking all that down. I'm pretty sure one of them is my second post ever.

James Gunn just needs to tell us what's happening with Batman because I am so tired of discovering more and more parallels and contrasts between The Batman and Superman 2025, and then remembering there's a chance they'll never be in the same universe. It's so dumb. They're the literal definition of "two sides of the same coin." Just do it - the naysayers will see the vision. 😭

Spoilers for the latest episode of My Adventures with Superman!

As a heads up, I'm not looking to argue with anyone or change my mind. If people dislike my opinion, you're free to block me. I have a deeply personal reason for feeling so strongly about The Death of Superman comic, but I'll not be sharing that personal reason. All I'll say is this story broke me because it hit way too close to home. All I ask is read through the whole post. I have absolutely no issue with them changing the entire story. Except for the thing I'm about to go on and on about, I think everything else works for what they're doing.

I'm going to be that annoying person and say that I'm pretty annoyed that MAWS took the title of "Death of Superman," and then didn't even actually go through with WHY that title exists.

I read that comic arc for the first time this year, and I sobbed several times reading it. Clark losing powers isn't anything new, and there have been alternate timelines where he's died. But in The Death of Superman, seeing how his death affected his parents and Lois... god, that killed me. Ma, Pa, and Lois didn't even get to properly say goodbye. When he died, his body was claimed by the world, and his loved ones had to grieve over the concept of him, while his body was put on a pedestal and fought over between agencies. His parents literally had no say in any of it. That was their baby boy and the only way they could see him was through a tiny TV screen. The three of them were the only non-powered people who knew the truth, and they could only find comfort with each other. Martha went out of her way to be there for Lois, because Lois couldn't even open up to her family about losing Clark.

I cried so hard when he came back, and he was even told that if he died again, he'd never come back to life. There were too many pure coincidences that lead to the ideal scenario for coming back to life. It shouldn't have happened, basically.

Taking Clark's powers away and calling it The Death of Superman is just...... ugh. I get that he'll have to go through an arc and realize he's Superman because of who he is, not his powers. But that's the POINT. Superman doesn't die with the powers. He's lost his powers several times throughout the comics, and every single time he stepped up and did what needed to be done to the best of his abilities. He knew when to step back and call for help. He knew if it was time to write an article for the Daily Planet.

And I get that he's been dead in alternate timelines or stories that take place in the future. Of course Clark can die. But the Death of Superman is as impactful of a story as it is because it takes place in the mainline story, and it deals with the fallout of his death. The power vacuum, the loss of the symbol of Hope, the loss of the shield of Earth, the absence of his stubborn kindness... The Death of Superman is specifically supposed to deal with the grief of Clark being gone, and how his literal death had a rippling effect around the world. Even comics published years and years later were still dealing with the fallout of it. I read a comic arc in 2006/2007 where Clark lost his powers for a year, and when he returned as Superman, civilians, and even other heroes, openly questioned if it was actually him, because they remembered what happened when he'd died and imposters had popped up claiming to be him. But the world never really truly felt the loss of Clark, because he was still there, calling the League when he saw something, and working overtime to publish articles.

The Death of Superman is not just about Clark dying. It's what the aftermath of that looks like, and how everyone deals with Superman no longer there to protect people.

There's also a level of tragedy in Clark embracing his death. Moments after the battle, he knows it's inevitable, and the solace he has to take with him is that at least he saved the world. All I'll say is that if this had been in the episode, I would've been a total mess of tears.

And again, I understand that in MAWS Clark thinks without his powers he can no longer be Superman, and he'll probably go through an arc in the next episode or two learning that it was never his powers that made him Superman. I get it. And again, it's not the first time Clark has lost his powers in other iterations. But on a meta level everyone knows he's Superman because of his innate goodness and desire to help, so for the audience there is no true "death." We will still see his kindness and eagerness to help, even without his ability to move mountains.

I also want to add that I don't have ANY issue with Clark losing his powers. I'm actually quite eager to see how this will affect him psychologically. In versions I've read or seen where he doesn't have powers, he immediately adapted and figured out ways to be helpful. He still affected the world around him, and he went on as if not having powers is normal. That's fine, whatever, but I AM curious to see if MAWS is going to have Clark really struggle without having his abilities. Not just from not being able to help people like he used to, but how it affects his day to day life. How it affects him feeling so disconnected from the world by having normal, human level senses. Like how declawing cats fucks with their minds, or keeping orcas trapped in tanks makes them lose their minds. I'm curious if they'll explore that, even if it's surface level. Moving on.

The latest episode shouldn't have been called The Death of Superman, and frankly I'm not sorry to say it. To be VERY clear, I don't have an issue with them changing the whole story - that's not what I'm critiquing. If they're going to co-opt the title, then they should at least legit kill him and make the audience and characters grapple with a reality where he's flat out gone. He's literally on his knees right after defeating Hank. That would've been the perfect time for it, and would've mirrored his battle with Doomsday so well. Shit, make it last into the next season. Let us actually see a world with no Superman, and make us live through it. That, or call the episode something else.

Showing a future reality where Clark is dead just doesn't count. That falls under the trope of a future or alternate reality where he's dead. The Death of Superman should take place in the current timeline and make the audience and characters live through the aftermath.

If anyone is curious, this is generally how I would shape the last portion of the season since they wanted to use The Death of Superman title so badly. It's going to be bare bones, because of course this is not the direction they're going, and unless I decide to write my first ever fanfic, I don't want to spend more than a few minutes jotting down some thoughts.

And nope, I'm not going to be tempted to write a fic. But I'd sure read this if someone wants to write it!

So my idea is that the episode would remain basically unchanged, but Clark dies moments after his battle with Hank. I don't even think Lois should have a chance to say goodbye. Maybe they have a chance to make one last eye contact, but.... idk. I'd personally start sobbing if they don't even get to have last words, but they get to see each other one last time. That's just me, though.

The government and/or Luthorcorp claims his body for their own selfish reasons. I don't think there should be any funeral put on by the government, maybe only through civilian efforts. I say this because in the comic Superman was a close ally to the government, so his funeral turned into a major national event. But in MAWS? The government wants him in their custody. So his body would remain with either organization and they wouldn't be the ones to put on any service. That would be up to the people, partially as an act of protest for withholding their hero's honor in death.

Now we have the Fortress Robots that have seemingly been forgotten. I only saw the first episode back when it aired, and I can't remember if any of the robots called themselves the Eradicator. If they did, then I missed it. Either way, I'm pretty sure that's what they're supposed to be, or what they're replacing. The way they were miffed by Kal-El's disregard gave me major flashbacks to the Eradicator prior to Clark's death in the comics, when the Eradicator had messed with Clark's mind to make him think and act more Kryptonian than human (I think that was back in the 80s?). In MAWS, the Eradicator should take Clark's body from the government/LuthorCorp and back to the Fortress... and then end that arc there. What happens next should be picked back up in season 4, and no one knows the fate of what happened to his body. Let the rest of season 3 show the characters having to figure out how to stop Lex without Superman's help. This could open the door for Bizarro and John Irons to play a huge role in the story, which would integrate the Reign of Superman arc into the show.

Season 4 can deal with the Eradicator bringing Clark back to life and molding him to be more like a true Kryptonian, a Kryptonian who wasn't raised to be human. I don't mean like what Brainiac did, because he bastardized the culture to make Kara into a killer. Clearly how Kara was raised wasn't how all of Kryptonian society was. Maybe not even any of it. I don't believe the simulations that Brainiac put Clark through to maintain control of his body represented the real Krypton at all. What would the real culture look like? I don't know. There's so little we know about Krypton in MAWS. But it would be fascinating to see Clark return from the dead, and I imagine there would be some major amounts of trauma from that. I'm sure his mind would not be okay, and coming back from death would likely make him even more susceptible to the Eradicator's determination to bring back remnants of Krypton.

I understand this is a show for kids, but with how the battle played out between Superman and Hank, clearly they trust kids can handle such a brutal display of violence. I was SHOCKED. If they trust kids with that, then they can trust kids to watch Clark close his eyes and let out his final breath. That's so much less gruesome than Kryptonite fucking erupting from his eye socket - good lord. I watch violent stuff, and my jaw dropped watching what Hank did to Superman beyond just poisoning him. Kids can handle seeing Clark pass away peacefully if they can handle everything else that came before it.

#clark kent #superman #dc universe #kal el #kal-el #lois lane #dc clark kent #dc lois lane #maws season 3 #maws spoilers #maws s3 #maws clark kent #maws lois lane #maws lex luthor #my adventures with superman #the death of superman #death of superman #hank henshaw

I'm gonna be completely honest, I love the Supergirl movie WAY more than Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. I wanted to go in blind to the movie so I held off from reading the comic. I also went in with the understanding that Supergirl took direct inspiration from the comic, and that it was NOT an adaption. I really liked the movie the first time, and having seen it three times now, it's hands down one of my favorite movies of all time. I read WoT and................. there is nothing about that comic that to me justifies not liking the movie in any way. Like, I'm sorry, but I walked away thinking it was just fine and that it felt less nuanced than the movie.

If you haven't seen Supergirl or read Woman of Tomorrow, there will be spoilers!

Tbh, I struggled to even get through WoT. A couple times I thought about setting it down and seeing Supergirl 2026 again instead. But I wanted to give it a fair shake, because WoT is so beloved in the comic space and I really wanted to try LOVING it.

Everything just felt shallow compared to the movie. While I do like Kara in the comic, she felt... idk. I saw where they got the inspiration for Milly's Kara, but I felt like the movie explored her anger and grief much more in depth, and a lot of that IS thanks to Milly's performance. She felt like a much more fully realized character, and giving her a tangible reason to seek out Krem gave her arc much more weight. I also don't care they changed some pieces of her origin, and there really wasn't that much of a difference. If anything, there was way more emotion poured into the flashback on Krypton in the movie. We actually SEE Kara's parents and how they handled the destruction of their planet and the poisoning of their city. In WoT, they kind of felt like Clark's parents from John Byrne's origin, and the events of Krypton felt glossed over. The fact I'd have to go back and look to see what directives Kara was given in the comic by her parents already tells me that I did not connect with the Krypton flashbacks, not nearly like I did with the movie counterpart. WoT's Krypton sequence came across as emotionless and sterile. I also get why the lead sheets weren't included. For one thing, that concept wasn't introduced in Superman 2025, and lead seems like something that shouldn't be brought up for the first time in Supergirl. Secondly, there's a good chance Kryptonians just didn't know that lead can negate the effects of Kryptonite. Seeing Kara in the medical wing tending to patients was so gut-wrenching compared to seeing her hammering sheets of metal. She's trying so hard to help her people who are being poisoned from the last remaining piece of their home.

Rutheye's origin to get revenge on Krem felt so...... underdeveloped in the comic. I get that we're supposed to understand Rutheye loves her father, and that who she is as a person is the catalyst for why she wants to kill Krem. She didn't even see him die. She simply came across his body. But compared to the movie? It doesn't have any weight for me. Having Rutheye watch her family get slaughtered and seeing her whole world shatter out from under her...... it makes her drive for revenge so much more compelling, and better mirrors Kara's loss. Rutheye literally lost her world, and she has to seek out a new one in her aunt, just like how Kara finally decides to find one in Clark. I wish I had a more nuanced way to talk about Rutheye, but truth be told I simply liked her arc better in the movie. I also loved her characterization and the best parts about her still ended up in the movie. I thought how she was written and portrayed was incredible, and deeply nuanced.

Rutheye and Kara's dynamic in the movie is so much better too. Idk, man, but there wasn't anything from the comic that I wished ended up in the movie. The hand washing scene is something I've heard people gripe about not being included, and not knowing that while reading, I thought it was fine. It's literally just fine. I think the moment where Kara and Rutheye hug and Rutheye says, "I wish it never happened," and Kara replies, "I know." ........ man, that hits so freaking hard. I'd take that every single day over the handwashing scene. It's a cute moment, but the hug in the movie just conveys so much more tenderness and connection between them. Those two were also just so much better in general. The parallels between them is displayed way better, and we truly see it play out in how they interact. We actually see Rutheye take what she's learned from Kara and put it to use. Kara tricks Lobo by acting like a valley girl, and Rutheye later tricks the guards by putting on a tearful act. They learn so much from each other and it's just... it's way more powerful in the movie.

Now Krem................. sorry, but I was beyond let down by him in the comic. I saw people say he's so much better in it, and he's just not in my opinion. His tie to the main plot is so flimsy. Yea, he's not supposed to be central to the comic, but if that version of him had been put on the big screen, the plot would've felt loose. He would've truly felt pointless because he is pretty irrelevant. By making him the leader from the start and already running a trafficking network, and actually poisoning Krypto, it ties him more closely to what Kara and Rutheye are doing. Also, he's just as smart in the movie as he is in the comic. I've said this in previous posts, but he traps her on a planet with a green sun and shoots her with Kryptonite arrows in both versions. They made him far more menacing and he reflects very real predators in our government. The way Krem was portrayed also felt so disturbing. I really, really liked how giddy he was in every scene. It made what he was doing even more horrifying because he lives for it. He LOVES the harm he causes, and what better way to portray that than making the character display childlike glee. Also, the way he eats other peoples' food like he's entitled to it showed another way he asserts his dominance over people. He's just so much better in the movie and he might be one of the best comic book movie villains I've seen. The comic version? I couldn't care less about him.

When it comes to the sex trafficking plot, once again, I'm sorry, but the tragedies in WoT felt so fucking shallow. The narration from Rutheye literally went out of its way to skip over tragedies, and they felt distant. There was no real emotion from the characters, and most of the time Kara came across as kind of distant to it. I wish I could find the post again, but I saw someone say that they were committing a genocide in the movie, it wasn't just sex trafficking that they were doing. Either way, I don't think either topic is any less horrifying, and they didn't need to go deeper than they did in the movie. We saw what was happening quite explicitly AND they kill Krem. Seriously, how many movies have you seen where a woman beats the shit out of child abusers and kills the predator? There might be one or two out there, like I think Black Widow was one, but the movie completely shied away from the actual trafficking plot. It started out promising, but it shied away entirely from that discussion until the end, and it still stayed determined to stick as close to the MCU formula as possible. It even had the fucking audacity to center the Red Guardian or whoever and make him sympathetic, when HE GLADLY BENEFITED FROM THE TRAFFICKING SYSTEM. I genuinely believe Supergirl handled the trafficking plot well, better than any other story I've seen, because when we first learn about it, the moment is allowed to breathe. We see Kara's reaction, and the way she looks over at Rutheye, understanding the danger they're walking into. There aren't any jokes for a good couple minutes after that. The MCU would've cracked a joke in 10 seconds thinking the audience isn't mature enough to handle the topic. The B plot in Supergirl also remains prominent through the rest of the story. They don't let you forget the Brigands are traffickers. Also, remember, this movie is supposed to be approachable for children. Of fucking COURSE it's going to be simplified. If they handled it in a way intended only for adults, then kids couldn't watch Supergirl, and this movie is supposed to be for little girls to look up to. I feel like everyone keeps forgetting this major important fact, and it's pissing me off. Children need to be able to watch it and parents have to be comfortable taking their kids. So, yea fucking duh the sec trafficking is simplified. I'm still shocked it's even allowed to exist as it is.

Also also, I like that Kara kills Krem in the movie, but I won't be expanding on it because I already haven't a post about it. I don't hate he lives in the comic, I just like how the movie dealt with him better, because it fit the character arcs and themes.

Another thing I've seen people complaining about is the lack of color and how similar everything looks in the movie. To begin with, each planet they visit feel VASTLY different, and the last two (I can't remember their names and I can't be bothered to google it tbh, but they both look distinct in my mind) are supposed to be visual representations of how horrific and desolate sex trafficking is. Idk, the planet designs worked for me. Now Rutheye's planet? From the little we've seen, it's green and beautiful. But as far as variety of colors go... idk, I thought the comic was beautiful, but there was no possible way they could bring that to life. They would've had to use tons of weird color grading and CGI, and this is a low budget film. I also wasn't that enamored with the scenery in WoT, to be quite frank. The art style and coloring are really the only real draw, but when I looked at the actual environments, past the pretty colors, there really wasn't much of a distinction. The art style and coloring did all the heavy lifting and the environments themselves fell flat.

I don't care the dinosaurs weren't in the movie, and I don't care we didn't see the dragon. It just wouldn't have worked in the movie. I wish I had more to say about those, but honestly, I barely remember the dragon. I LOVE the scene with the Skalarian Raiders so much more. It shows how both her and Clark are so good at coming up with ideas on the fly, and getting scrappy with their opponents. The movie counterpart did so much to show who Kara is as a person. The dinosaurs would've been a budget nightmare and completely taken away from the core plot and themes. I've made posts about them and will keep making more posts eventually. I'm not going to expand more here.

Idk, guys. Maybe it's because I saw the movie first, but Supergirl 2026 meant so much more to me emotionally, and I'm starting to genuinely get pissed off every time I see a movie review and someone says the movie is weak because it's not like Woman of Tomorrow, because for me that's a GOOD thing. I literally have no desire to read it again. I had planned on buying the physical copy after I finally read it on DC Infinite, and I've removed it from my shopping cart. I order physical comics through Golden Apple Comics, btw. For Supergirl 2026? I already pre ordered the steelbook case and depending on when it's available on HBO, I do NOT mind buying it digitally. I just can't take criticisms of the movie with comparisons to the comic seriously. It genuinely feels like it's rooted in sexism.

I plan on making posts about what else I love about Supergirl 2026, but I want those to be topic focused. I've already made a handful of posts talking about the movie. This post is specifically taking gripes with people who say the movie isn't good because it's not like the comic. It literally never claimed to be an adaption, and honestly thank god it did its own thing. I adore Supergirl 2026.

#supergirl #supergirl 2026 #supergirl dcu #milly alcock supergirl #milly alcock #dc #dcu #dc universe #james gunn dcu #james gunn #superman #clark kent #superman 2025 #david corenswet #david cornswet superman #woman of tomorrow #supergirl woman of tomorrow #clark kent dcu

I'm here to further push The Batman merger into the DCU agenda. The more I think about these movies, the more insane it is to me there's a chance we'll have another actor, because both movies, once you see them, almost feel incomplete without the other.

Let's start with how Bruce's arc perfectly sets him up to be suspicious of Superman's "Boy Scout" persona. Both Clark and Bruce go through a journey where they dedicated their superhero personas to their parents, only then to learn their parents weren't who they thought they were. This leads them having to interrogate what their paths forward will be. For Clark, it's realizing that being a helper is what he's always wanted to be, based on the childhood his parents provided him. For Bruce, he realizes he needs to let go of Vengeance and become a symbol of Hope. I mean come ONNN. But anyway, the revelation of Bruce's parents opens him up perfectly for being paranoid of Superman. When Bruce confronts Falcone, Falcone says, "you thought your father was a Boy Scout, but you'd be surprised even a good man like him is capable of the right situation."

GUYSSSSS 😭

Not convinced and need further proof? Okay, here's another example.

Superman 2025 opens up in the tundra, with the sun out. The very first living being we see on screen is Superman, and once he's healed from the sun, we as the audience experience firsthand the warmth and kindness that exudes from Superman. You can't help but smile and feel a little safer. For at least roughly of the first 10 minutes, Clark is the ONLY protagonist we see on screen (barring Eve, but on the first watch we don't know this), and we see how comfortable civilians are around him. They barely run when he gets tossed onto the sidewalk.

Now with The Batman, we don't see Bruce for at least 10 minutes. Yes, we see him as the Drifter, but we don't actually really SEE him until he shows up to confront the thugs. Before we see him walk out as Batman, we witness how terrified the criminals in Gotham are of The Batman. The tension and the terror is palpable, and already the audience is tense, just from observing how the city reacts to him, long before we ever see him. When we see Batman interact with a civilian, the victim begs Batman not to hurt him.

Superman is the sun.

Batman is the shadows.

UGHHHHH 😭😭 I could literally go on and on, about how Lex and The Riddler are obsessed with the heroes, how incels help push the main antagonists' plots forward, how Superman 2025 took the audience on a journey to rediscover Superman's humanity and The Batman took Bruce on a journey to reconnect with Bruce Wayne after trying to disappear into The Batman... I mean seriously, how can they NOT be in the same universe??

I've been thinking a lot about Kara's arc, because while I love it, I couldn't really figure out how to actually describe what it was. I don't think the issue is that her arc was disconnected throughout the movie, but more so it's very much unspoken. It's left up to the audience to pick apart the themes and messaging. Honestly, this is why I haven't been talking much about Kara as a character yet. I didn't really know what to write, because I knew I was missing something about it.

Supergirl spoilers!

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #james gunn #milly alcock #supergirl 2026 #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl #kara zor el dcu #kara zor el #kara zor-el #superman 2025 #david corenswet #david cornswet superman #superman #clark kent

The Hollywood Reporter released an article that is completely ripping Supergirl to shreds that's so clearly a hatred of everything the movie is about. And yes, it's written by a man. It's so full of sexism, it's not even funny. "Is Milly Alcock right for Supergirl?" Literally shut the FUCK up. 😭

"Sources claim Graig and James had creative differences-" AND WHO ARE THE SOURCES. Because THR is claiming Supergirl didn't do well with test audiences, but I swear to god I heard it did SUPER well (pun NOT intended, I only caught it when I read back).

I also met someone through a client I exercise horses for in summer of 2025, and he worked on the Supergirl teaser that released in December, and he said the movie is incredible. That was LONG before any test audiences were brought into the picture. He never indicated there was ANY studio drama, other than Superman having a shaky start in production, and he absolutely came across as someone who wouldn't just say shit to say it. He came across as someone who was very careful and wary if I was reliable. I think I only earned his trust because I told him not to spoil the movie, and I only asked about his actual job, nothing related to specific projects. Anyway.

What pisses me off is how everyone is spiraling over James "lying" about giving full creative freedom. Um. Yea. That doesn't mean he's not going to step in if something isn't working 😭 I fear he's in a no-win situation. If these supposed sources say he didn't get involved at all, he'll get slammed for not stepping in when necessary. If these "sources" claim he did step in at points, then he'll get blamed for the project "flopping." Which Supergirl didn't! It's the most popular movie on Letterboxd right now for this week! For a movie with so much hate surrounding it, it actually did well at the box office!

I genuinely think the reason why James Gunn gets as much hate as he does is because he doesn't adhere to the system. He doesn't deal with assholes, he's picky about who he puts on his teams, he calls out corrupt systems pretty blatantly, and what he pushes forward challenges the patriarchy. It does. Superman is an act of defiance against patriarchy. Just look at how toxic men reacted to Clark in that movie.

I know he's not part of the dark side of the system because when he made those really stupid tweets in the early 2000s, he faced genuine consequences. He got blacklisted from the industry............. I'm just saying that if he actually was a questionable person, if he did benefit from the dark side of the industry, he would've been protected. He's the only white man I can think of who actually faced very real repercussions. He literally lost his career. OVER TWEETS. I'm not mad he got in trouble. My point is that there are white men in Hollywood who we KNOW have actually done far worse, and they're still working... because they're part of the dark side of the system that exploits people.

!Spoilers ahead for Supergirl!

But anyway, I literally don't trust a lot of men right now. I've seen some genuine good faith conversations from men on Threads, but in general so many journalists and critics are showing their asses. That claim about Graig and James clashing feels too fucking convenient. It's JUST now coming out? Really? While the movie is picking up more in popularity after the initial critical reviews didn't seem to turn people away? God. It's so obvious this movie triggered something in the media system. Like, how many people are actually connected to potential pedophilic rings? Or how many of them know someone who is? I feel like Supergirl is receiving a kind of hate I've NEVER seen before for woman-led movies. I feel like it's no coincidence that because Supergirl beats up pedophiles and sex traffickers and kills the ring leader, it's getting a genuine campaign to tear it down. I've never seen men so mad about women relating to a woman-led movie.

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #james gunn #milly alcock #supergirl 2026 #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl #kara zor el dcu #kara zor el #kara zor-el

My dad liked the Supergirl movie. As in, when I asked him a couple of times what he thought, he said he really enjoyed it and that it was action packed, which is what he usually says of most action movies we've seen together. We even talked about a couple of plot points pretty positively. Supergirl came up in a conversation again, because my mom made a comment about how Clark is an actual nerd and kind of lame. I got offended by that, because she meant it condescendingly, and I relate deeply to that character. I took it quite personally. My dad started talking about how Clark is basically an upstanding guy and for literally no reason, said, "Kara is a complete ditz in the movie. She's a real bimbo. She drinks and parties and acts like an idiot." I had to stop myself from saying anything because I could feel anger boiling in the pit of my stomach. I thought I was mad about the comment regarding Clark... that paled in comparison to what I felt when he said that about Kara.

Be forewarned that there will be spoilers for Supergirl and Hidalgo! It'll make sense why I'm talking about Hidalgo, but if you haven't seen it and don't want to get spoiled on it... I'm not saying to go watch it, but I will be spoiling it. Also, Hidalgo is not a historical movie. It claims it's based on real events, but it's not. Frank Hopkins was widely known as a fabricator, so there's a lot of doubt surrounding claims he made during his life. That's important due to a plot point involving a deeply tragic moment in history I'll be talking about in this post. The plot points I discuss are fictional in a real historical event.

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #james gunn #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl 2026 #supergirl #milly alcock #kara zor el dcu #kara zor el #kara zor-el #hidalgo

Fuck, guys, I love the Supergirl movie. I can't stop talking about it. This post will mostly be about Clark, because he's my favorite character of all time and I can't not think about his arc in Supergirl. I'm also not going to apologize for it because I relate to this character on so many levels, primarily him growing up with a strong sense of loneliness and isolation.... but I won't be getting into my own personal shit. I'm simply justifying a whole post dedicated to Clark in Supergirl.

Spoilers!!

I saw Supergirl a second time, and all I have to say is (minor spoiler warning):

This is a movie you have to watch at least twice because criticisms I had in my initial review post have basically evaporated. No seriously, I don't have any criticisms or anything. I mean sure, the visuals got wonky during a couple of flight sequences, but I'll accept it in the face of the entire Krypton sequence. I had to keep reminding myself it's all CGI because it was all so stunning.

I had thought the music choice wasn't good at all during my first watch, but knowing what to expect, I actually appreciate the needle drops so much more. I was a complete and utter mess in the final needle drop. I was trying so hard not to sniffle too loudly. If you know you know.

The pacing works perfectly, and what I originally thought was clumsy editing wasn't bad at all. It's actually quite well done. It all feels jarring on a first watch through, but it definitely gets smoother with each watch. Even the flashbacks have specific triggers, so they don't feel all that random.

I even appreciate the scenes on Krypton way more, and while it WOULD be nice for the flashback scenes to be longer, I think they have better revisit value as they are. Besides, I'm sure we'll get more information on Krypton in future DCU installments, especially if this version of Braniac is actually from Krypton, and not Colu.

The same goes for Clark. I appreciate what we have so much more now. Added scenes or added find would have belabored the point they don't know each other.

Honestly, Supergirl went from a 7/10 to a 10/10 in my eyes.

From here on out there will be spoilers!

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #milly alcock #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl 2026 #supergirl #kara zor el dcu #kara zor el #kara zor-el #clark kent #superman #superman 2025 #david corenswet #david cornswet superman

Okay, I can't stop talking about Supergirl, apparently. Spoilers!

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl 2026 #supergirl #milly alcock #kara zor el #kara zor el dcu #clark kent #superman #superman 2025 #david corenswet #james gunn #david cornswet superman #lobo #lobo dcu

Supergirl. I'm sorry, I have to talk about it more. This WILL contain major spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie... SPOILER WARNING!

#dc universe #dcu #james gunn dcu #milly alcock supergirl #supergirl #supergirl dcu #supergirl 2026 #milly alcock #kara zor el #clark kent #superman #superman 2025 #david corenswet #david cornswet superman

Okay, so I saw Supergirl. This is a movie I've been excited for since she stepped foot on screen last year. I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but if you want to go in COMPLETELY blind, be warned that there could be some very minor spoilers. I'm also not editing so if there's any grammar mistakes... SORRY! I had to drive two hours yesterday to see it on LieMax and I got home late. I'm also incapable of sleeping in, so this is my word vomit thoughts. I just wanted to write my analysis down as a way to process how I feel, because I do have some mixed feelings.

There were some really good things about it, and some things that I felt were really weak.

I want to add the caveat I've only seen the movie once, and I'm SURE "grievances" l have will disappear. The first time I saw Superman, I thought it was a 7/10. Every time I watched it my rating increased and now I think it's a solid 12/10. This analysis is genuinely based on my first impression of Supergirl, and I'm sure my mindset will change with more viewings.

Update: I haven't seen the movie a second time yet, but I plan to, and I'm going to see if I have the motivation to actually write a proper analysis with full spoilers. I'm appreciating the movie more and more and I keep getting choked up thinking about certain moments and scenes. When I say I have a lot of good things to talk about, I mean it!

Let me start with the good. I ADORE Kara and Milly is PERFECT for this role. Throughout the movie I thought about how I'd seen other male characters be given a similar archetype, and how she was done SO much better. Her dynamic with Rutheye was so much more compelling than counterparts like the new True Grit. Tbf, I saw that movie once in theaters when I was in my teens.

I was NOT expecting such a prominently dark plotline, and I'm not really sure I can think of a blockbuster movie where they also platform such a dark topic. Maybe as a subtle subplot, or an implication, but not as a primary, explicit plot. Not to mention, I cannot believe it was given to a WOMAN-led movie. It couldn't have worked with a male lead. Honestly, the moment I clocked what the secondary main plot was, I thought to myself, "this is why men are shitting on it. This is why they won't actually say what they don't like."

The villain was creepy as FUCKKKK. His calm and cool demeanor is just... it makes his context with the overall plot even more horrifying. My stomach was churning and my skin was crawling.

I LOVE how this movie showed that Kryptonian powers from a yellow sun are actually terrifying and powerful. Where Superman mostly kept us in the POV of Clark using his powers, Supergirl gave us moments showing what those look like from an outsiders' POV. It really makes you appreciate both characters and how they approach how they use these powers. Like wow, Clark is really truly restraining himself on an insane level.

I wish I could go into more positives about the movie, but I'd have to get specific... so unfortunately I have more criticisms than I do praise... but that's only due to what I can avoid spoiling.

HEADS UP: I'm keeping this post up, but I no longer stand by the criticisms below. I've since seen the movie three times and now I have a far better understanding of it. I honestly don't have any criticisms anymore, but I honestly don't see the point in deleting any of this.

But, unfortunately, the more I think about the movie as a whole, I find a couple moments kind of weak. This section is going to be longer, but I swear it's only because it's easier to be vague about the downsides than it is about the upsides. I have PLENTY of good things to say about this movie... but I went to an early screening, so... I'm trying to be vague.

I can't decide if it's just because I need to watch the movie again because what I expected was barely touched on, or wasn't ever touched on, in Supergirl, or if the script/post-production editing made the movie feel chopped and incomplete. I ADORE Kara, but her character arc going from point A to point B felt... literally out of nowhere. She viewed the world one way, and then suddenly she was stepping in a new place mentally. I've been thinking a lot about what/where the defining moment was... I have no idea. I think I know what the moment is supposed to be, but...... ehhhh?? If that was the moment, there was ZERO introspection. I can't tell if I just need to watch the movie again to see if I missed the defining moment, or if that's simply because of creative choices.

The villain, while a terrifying presence, is just your average, run of the mill villain. I think what gives him most of his gravitas is the actors', well, acting, and the context for everything he says and does. But take out the plot I mentioned earlier, and he really doesn't stand out much. The plot gives him SO much weight.

Lobo was just there. He literally felt tacked on, and honestly I was hoping he'd actually be more central to the story. Take him out, and besides some world building, he doesn't serve any real purpose. If they wanted to use him as a mirror to Kara, to show the other side of what being godlike could look like, then sure, I can understand that, and they succeeded. I just wish he'd had more of an important role to play in the plot.

The needle drops... sucked. I wasn't expecting them to use THE most famous songs ever. But I was expecting better songs. I think Greg and Ana did a great enough job of showing us how different this movie and character are from James Gunn's Superman, but they tried to use the needle drop trope, and it fell flat in comparison. They wanted to use more obscure music like James Gunn does, but his selection of music is actually good. And somehow they always fit the scene they're in. Five Years Time in Superman is a great song, AND it does an awesome job of showing how EFFORTLESS the entire fight is for Mr. Terrific. It's setup perfectly with Lois' panicked expression off to the side of the screen. In Supergirl, I didn't like any of the songs. At all. And besides maybe the first, second, and last needle drop, I didn't get why they were there at all. And again, none of the songs were good. I saw them use Bad Reputation for a makeup ad for Supergirl, and I thought for SURE we'd get more songs like that. I mean, even if it's popular, I would've LOST IT in a good way if they started playing So What by P!nk. I think Greg was trying to set himself apart with music selection, and it fell flat. None of the music really even felt like what Kara would listen to, either. The last song was okay, and the more I think about it the more I'm feeling neutral with its inclusion. I think by the time that song in that moment popped up, I was burned out by the previous needle drops I didn't care for.

They needed to spend way more time on Krypton.

This is going to be a more explicit spoiler in terms of formatting and content, so heads up.

They have flashbacks of Krypton, and they should've been spread out more, rather than clumped as one montage sequence, and been made longer. Especially because the goddamn marketing spoiled too much. I didn't watch the trailers, but I still saw clips fans posted. It's impossible to avoid spoilers on social media. It felt like they needed more, to actually give more weight to the loss of Krypton. I wanted to be emotional, and I wasn't. I was emotional because of Kara's reactions, not to the actual loss.

They needed more scenes with Clark, and make the ones that exist longer. I get there's the choice to let things be implied rather than show the audience everything, but........... we're TOLD their conflicting dynamic during one scene, and we don't EVER see it play out on screen. They expect us to just believe it. Marketing revealed WAY too much with Clark, that I thought for sure there'd be some big pivotal scene showing us WHY they're so awkward and distant. But nope. I'm also even more confused why Kara dumped Krypto on Earth before the events of Superman, tbh. They needed more scenes between Kara and Clark. It was a TRUE missed opportunity to explore how their lived experiences affect their relationship and how they interact. He also felt tacked on, and I wish there just had been... more. More showing, less telling.

I don't think it's a BAD movie. I think it's solid. The other thing to remember when comparing Supergirl to Superman, each movie had completely different goals and needs. Superman had to earn back audience trust, make Superman the central DCU character, be damn near perfect as the first installment, establish Lois and Lex as main characters who'll have a grander impact on the universe, give SOLID character arcs, and setup threads for the rest of this universe. It literally had to carry the universe on its back. Supergirl gets to ride off that high and be a character study. It gets to set itself apart entirely from everything Superman is. That's really what Supergirl is - a character study. And it does a pretty solid job. Like, when I compare it to MCU movies, I definitely like it more than basically every MCU movie out there. Kara is so much better than basically every MCU character, it's not even close.

I don't think Supergirl is perfect, but it's better than every MCU movie in my opinion. I don't think any MCU movie has ever been this daring and touched had such profound character work. And let's be real, if the lead was a man, no one would be shitting on it. It would be getting 7-10 out of 10 across the board. It's a solid movie that has its flaws. It may be one that requires one or two rewatches to really pick up on the subtleties.

Overall, I'm so happy James Gunn gave this movie space to exist, as the SECOND INSTALLMENT, no less. Come on, the MCU can barely stomach pushing out solo woman led movies and in almost 20 years we only have, what, three? And the plots they're given are mostly trying to prove to men why they should exist. Supergirl is wholly and totally unapologetic. It does exist. She does exist. Kara Zor-El is important. Suck it up. And we got a solid movie out of it, too.

I'm also glad Supergirl wasn't a perfect movie. It gives me a lot to think about, and it shouldn't have to be perfect to justify existing. We've had so many critically-acclaimed painfully mediocre movies with male leads. One Battle After Another? Anyone? I couldn't even get through the first five minutes. Give me solid, messy movies with women leads.

I'm coming back to this hours later after reading Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which I held off on until I saw the movie. I kept seeing people say that Krem was better in the comics, Kara and Rutheye's grief were handled with more nuance, and that the comic was superior in general. I'm sorry, but I full heartedly disagree. 😭 I kept waiting to get that gut-wrenching feeling I felt every time Krem was on screen, and by the last page I said out loud, "that's it?" He felt so generic and non-threatening compared to the movie counterpart. I thought Kara's grief and trauma was so much more compelling and fleshed out in the movie too. I also thought Rutheye's story changes were better than in the comic.

The other thing I saw people say is that they didn't like a big change at the ending... without spoiling, I'm confused why they say this, because the same thing happens in the comic, it's just that it took place MUCH later. In fact, I thought it was even more jarring and out of character in the comic than in the movie? Idk. I truly prefer the movie in every regard. I think the only thing I'd add from the comic are slower moments of Kara and Rutheye actually connecting over small moments, but otherwise I really love the movie and I think it stands so well on its own and as an adaption.

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