The new Supergirl movie, starring Milly Alcock, is now playing in theaters, and it is a direct adaptation of the acclaimed comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira have brought Kara Zor-El’s space-faring adventure to the big screen. However, like any good adaptation, they made some significant changes to the source material.
The film keeps the core of the story: a grieving young girl named Ruthye (Eve Ridley) teams up with Supergirl to hunt down the space pirate Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), who killed her father. While some fans might be surprised by the differences, many of these changes actually make perfect sense for the new DC Universe (DCU). Here is a breakdown of five major things the movie did differently and why they work.
Supergirl Kills Krem, Not Ruthye
Perhaps the most talked-about change is the ending. In the Woman of Tomorrow comic, Kara stops Ruthye from killing Krem. Instead of dying, Krem is sent to the Phantom Zone for 300 years. When he is finally released, he is an old, changed man who begs for forgiveness. Ruthye, now elderly, hits him with her cane, but he survives.
The movie takes a more definitive and Hollywood-style approach. In the final battle, Supergirl stops Ruthye from becoming a killer, but she then takes the sword herself and stabs Krem, killing him. Screenwriter Ana Nogueira explained this was always part of her pitch. She felt that the comic’s ending with a time jump wouldn’t work on screen.
“I was like, ‘We gotta kill the guy. You can’t let the little girl kill the guy,’” Nogueira told Entertainment Weekly. This change is crucial for establishing Kara’s character in the DCU. It shows she has her own moral code, one that is different from her cousin Superman’s famous rule against killing. “It means she has her own moral compass going forward,” Nogueira said. This sets up an interesting dynamic for when Supergirl meets Superman in the upcoming Man of Tomorrow movie.
Lobo Joins the Adventure
The comic Woman of Tomorrow does not feature Lobo. However, Tom King has confirmed that his original pitch for the story was a Lobo and Supergirl team-up before editors suggested changing it. The movie brings this early idea to life by introducing Jason Momoa as the intergalactic bounty hunter.
Nogueira said that DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran asked her to put Lobo in the movie. They saw it as the perfect opportunity to introduce the character in a space setting. It makes sense for the story. In the original True Grit-inspired comic, there wasn’t a third character. But Nogueira realized that in the movie True Grit, there is a character like Matt Damon’s LaBoeuf, who serves as a “frenemy” to the main duo. This is exactly the role that Lobo plays in Supergirl.
The Brigands Are Now Sex Traffickers
In the comic, the villain Krem is a “kingsagent” who kills Ruthye’s father. He later joins the Brigands and is involved in the genocide of the purple people on the planet Maypole. The movie simplifies this complicated backstory significantly.
Here, Krem is already the leader of the Brigands, an all-male group of space pirates. Instead of genocide, the movie reveals that the Brigands kidnap young girls from across the galaxy to be their “Brides.” This change was made to make the story feel more immediate and personal.
Nogueira explained that the genocide in the comic happened in the past, which is hard to convey in a movie. She needed something that would put the main characters, Kara and Ruthye, directly in danger. “I wanted it to be something that specifically put our girls in jeopardy,” she told Variety. This darker change makes Krem and his crew much more despicable and gives the audience a clear reason to want them stopped. This change has received some criticism online, with Vulture calling the adaptation “bad” due to the loss of nuance.
The Story is Told From Supergirl’s Point of View
The Woman of Tomorrow comic is narrated by Ruthye. It is an old woman looking back on her life and her time with Supergirl. The movie, however, focuses on Kara Zor-El as the main character. Nogueira explained this was a necessary change for audiences.
“Comic readers know Supergirl really, really, really well, so they are OK with meeting her through somebody else’s eyes,” Nogueira told Variety. “But for the movie-going public, Supergirl is not Batman; we haven’t seen her parents die a bunch of times… we don’t know it that well.” The filmmakers decided they needed to introduce the general public to Kara, her trauma, and her personality directly. The movie shows her childhood on Krypton and the loss of her parents, making her a more relatable and three-dimensional character from the very start.
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Krypto’s Poisoning is a Real Threat
In the comic, Krem shoots Krypto with a poisoned arrow, which kicks off the journey. However, Kara later reveals that she lied. The dog was never in real danger; she made up the story about needing an antidote to get Ruthye to come with her so she could convince the girl not to seek revenge.
The movie takes Krypto’s poisoning completely seriously. Kara is told she has only three days to get the antidote from Krem, or her dog will die. This raises the emotional stakes. Krypto is Kara’s last connection to her home and family. “He is the only thing that she brought with her, the only tangible reminder of her parents,” Nogueira said. Making Krypto’s life hang in the balance adds a powerful motivation for Kara, turning her from a reluctant partner into a desperate protector.
Supergirl is currently showing in theaters worldwide. The film offers a new take on the character, and it will be interesting to see how these story choices affect her future in the DCU.
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