Action
Adventure
Review: ‘Supergirl’ is an Occasionally Entertaining but Ultimately Underwhelming Adventure Undone by One of the Weakest Comic Book Movie Villains in Recent Memory
June 25, 2026Ben MK
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When it was announced that the DC Extended Universe would be coming to an end, and that its replacement, the DC Universe, would be rebooting the cinematic world that filmmakers like Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins and James Wan spent a decade building, the news was met with a mix of excitement and apprehension. Yet, with 2025's Superman, James Gunn managed to dismiss many of the fan base's concerns, delivering a promising start to what would soon become the new home for DC's superheroes on the big screen. Now, one year later, director Craig Gillespie is following up Gunn's hard launch of the DCU with a blockbuster focused on another Kryptonian warrior. But does Supergirl have what it takes to soar to the same box office heights as her more famous cousin? Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) is the sole survivor of Argo City, which Kara's father, Zor-El (David Krumholtz), saved from destruction by encasing in a giant force field when their home planet, Krypton's core imploded. After decades of floating in space, however, Argo City's inhabitants have begun to die from Kryptonite poisoning; and so, in an effort to save his daughter, Zor-El sent her to Earth to live with her cousin, Clark Kent (David Corenswet). Fast forward to Kara's 23rd birthday, and despite Clark's attempts to help Kara integrate into human society, the last daughter of Krypton still finds herself alone. And with her pet dog and best friend Krypto in tow, she's taken to travelling off-world, visiting bar after bar on various planets throughout the galaxy — all to see if she can eventually stumble upon someone or something that can give her purpose. It's a quest that one day brings Kara to the planet Evely, where she encounters 13-year-old Ruthye Knoll (Eve Ridley), whose entire family was recently killed by the sadistic space pirate Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and his band of Brigands. Yet, despite Kara's initial refusal to join Ruthye on a revenge mission to kill Krem, it's a mission she ultimately winds up on anyway, after Krem commandeers Kara's ship and ruthlessly shoots Krypto with a poison dart. With a fleeting 72 hours until Krypto succumbs to the deadly concoction of chemicals coursing through his veins, Kara must race against the clock in order to track down Krem, retrieve the antidote from him, and then make the journey back to Evely to administer it to Krypto. As she soon comes to realize, though, doing so may be significantly more risky and challenging than it sounds, even with the powers of flight, super strength and super speed imbued to her by the light of a yellow sun. Fortunately, Kara and Ruthye won't have to take on Krem alone, as their dangerous assignment will take them to the planet Bilquis, where they'll cross paths with the motorcycle-riding mercenary known as Lobo (Jason Momoa), who happens to be on his own mission to hunt down the Brigands. But even after setting aside their differences, can this unlikely trio manage to overcome the odds stacked and defeat not only Krem, but also his heavily armed band of merciless space pirates? More importantly, even if they manage to do so, will they be able to make it back to Evely in time to save Krypto's life? Written by Ana Nogueira, what follows is a generic, Mad Max-style space adventure that attempts to disguise its cookie-cutter narrative by borrowing the human-trafficking aspect of Taken, the broad alien comedy of Men in Black, and the canine-motivated revenge of John Wick, and throwing it all into a blender. Yet, while the strategy does occasionally work, yielding some fairly entertaining action set pieces along the way, Supergirl's biggest problem — and its ultimate downfall — is its bland, uninspired main villain, who comes across as little more than a leather-clad bully with a penchant for stealing others' property and eating their food. Make no mistake, Supergirl fans will still get decent mileage out of this latest take on the Maiden of Might, thanks to Alcock's spunky portrayal and Momoa's brutish yet likeable Lobo. That said, for viewers expecting a movie as crowd-pleasing as its DCU predecessor, the result leaves much to be desired. Either way, there's no denying that Supergirl falls short of its potential, especially when you consider the fact that it was adapted from the acclaimed 2022 comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. As for what this means for the next installment in the DCU, it's never too late to make things right — or at least better. Supergirl releases June 26th, 2026 from Warner Bros. Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking. Its runtime is 1 hr. 47 min. |
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