The most famous Kryptonian in the superhero cosmos is probably Superman. However, he is not the only one who survived the destruction of his planet. His strong cousin is launching this week in the cinema.
Which character is it? Already in 2025, viewers were able to catch a first glimpse of Supergirl, played by Milly Alcock, in the new Superman movie. This week, on June 25, her own film also premieres in German cinemas.
Even if one might suspect from the outside, she is not just a female clone of Superman. She has an individual history and her own struggles that show she does not have to hide in her cousin’s shadow.
Superman was not the only survivor of Krypton
Who is Supergirl? In 1959, Supergirl made her debut in the comic Action Comics No. 252. In that comic, a rocket, like the one Superman had, landed on Earth. Inside was Kara Zor-El, as Supergirl is known by her civilian name. At that time, it was explained that a small group of Kryptonians survived and founded a colony on another planet. This colony was also doomed, which is why Supergirl came to Earth.
Over time, the story changed regarding whether other Kryptonians exist, how Kara survived, and how she made it to Earth. In 2021, the comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow established a mix of various origin stories. Some Kryptonians were able to flee before the destruction and founded Argo City, a colony. Kara was also born there.
But there was also a problem in Argo City. Below the surface of Argo City, there was a kryptonite source that slowly poisoned the inhabitants. Although her father tried to contain this problem, Argo City was slowly doomed. As with Superman, Kara’s parents sent her away, making her the only known survivor of Argo City.
This is how she also landed on Earth (but not as a baby, as she had already lived a few years in Argo City). There, she met her cousin Superman, and her story as a heroine began. In 2025, this was slightly altered in the book The New History of the DC Universe, mixing different time periods together. It was stated that she was sent to Earth to protect her cousin. However, due to a wormhole, she arrived only when Superman was already grown up.
Protecting is also a good keyword, as Supergirl does not have to hide from her world-famous cousin.
Not only Superman is incredibly powerful
How strong is Supergirl? Due to her physiology as a Kryptonian, she, like her cousin, benefits from the yellow sun of Earth. Thus, she is superhumanly strong, fast, and resilient. Additionally, she has flight, heat vision, and other powers that one would also expect from Superman.
Unlike her cousin, she has been trained in Kryptonian martial arts in various iterations, which is why she often masters more techniques
than Superman, who learned to fight only on Earth and mainly relies on his abilities. Compared to Superman, she succumbs to anger more easily, and thus she often fights. This is why she is also susceptible to the Red Lanterns’ ring, which is powered by rage.
At the same time, similar weaknesses are present. Green kryptonite weakens her as well, although less than Superman. Additionally, it seems that synthetic kryptonite does not harm her. In the comic Supergirl No. 0, the artificial version of the green crystal was harmless to her, unlike Superman (source: ScreenRant).
Her fighting nature has been proven multiple times in her 67-year history. During the great Crisis on Infinite Earths
event (1985-1986), she was able to injure the Anti-Monitor, one of the most dangerous beings in the entire DC Multiverse, even though she died in the process. Previously, Superman had also been overpowered by him.
In the animated movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, she was able to deal some heavy blows to Darkseid, the Thanos of DC, after her cousin was taken out. In the CW series Supergirl (2015-2021), she was able to lift the prison Fort Rozz, which according to the series weighs 1 million tons (via IMDb).
In all those situations, she showed that she can keep up with her cousin and is thus capable of defeating him.
What do you think of the character Supergirl, and will you watch her new movie in the cinema? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments. Although Superman is considered the Man of Steel, he has also lost some battles. We summarize 7 of them for you here: Superman is one of the strongest heroes in the universe, but 7 villains are even more powerful than the Man of Steel
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