Commentary: The ‘Supergirl’ Solution To Overpowered Characters

Superman and other extremely powerful characters can be difficult to writer. Because of their strength, storytellers have to get creative in pitting them against a challenge. In Superman (2025), the movie opens with him (David Corenswet) losing a fight, instantly informing the audience that he can and will lose. This doesn’t happen with Supergirl (2026). There’s never truly a character in the movie that can challenge her physically, so the film takes the opposite approach. Instead of finding ways to challenge her, the movie finds ways de-power her.

While dealing with the emotional trauma of having her home destroyed, Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) is out on a partying tour to celebrate her birthday. She visits a planet with a red sun to negate her powers and get drunk. While there, she gets wrapped up in a girl named Ruthye’s (Eve Ridley) quest for revenge against her family’s killers. However, the mission doesn’t go as planned. Kara is first poisoned by someone she thinks will help and is then tricked into arriving on a planet with a green sun that leaves her completely vulnerable.

Supergirl losing her powers is a trend throughout the film. First, she’s powerless due to the red sun. Then she’s poisoned before finally arriving on a planet that renders her almost near death. This isn’t a coincidence. Whereas Superman was filled with antagonists that could challenge the hero’s strength, Kara is after a band of raiders who cannot contend with a Kryptonian’s power. Lobo (Jason Momoa) is very strong in the film, but he’s more of an anti-hero than a foil or Supergirl. Rather than rehash the challenges faced in Superman, Supergirl took a different approach without any serious threats that can match her. It is definitely a creative way to threaten an incredibly powerful hero, but not having a physically imposing antagonist may explain some of the audience’s complaints with the film.

Supergirl is now streaming on HBO Max.