Imagine discovering your hero's family legacy isn't about saving the world, but dominating it—what does that mean for the rest of your universe?
James Gunn's take on Superman in the 2025 film was a game-changer for DC Comics, not just raking in big bucks at the box office and revitalizing the DC Universe's movie lineup, but also shaking up the Man of Steel's backstory in ways that had fans buzzing for ages. In a jaw-dropping twist, the movie reveals that Superman's Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, sent him to Earth with a mission far from being a beacon of hope—they wanted him to conquer and rule, turning him into a symbol of oppression rather than benevolence, all to perpetuate their own culture. This revelation helps Superman forge his own heroic identity, but its ripples might just be starting to spread across the DCU.
But here's where it gets controversial... The film also confirms that Kal-El isn't Earth's only Kryptonian visitor. In its closing scenes, we meet Superman's cousin, Supergirl, portrayed by Milly Alcock, who pops in to pick up her dog, Krypto, after Superman has been babysitting it. With this new lens on Kryptonians as potentially villainous figures, a massive question looms: What does this say about Supergirl's character, and perhaps even bigger, does the message from Superman's parents reflect the entire Kryptonian society?
Supergirl and Superman Grew Up Worlds Apart, Literally
To tackle these burning questions about Supergirl and Superman, the straightforward answer is that they're not cut from the same cloth—but that's only scratching the surface. People from the same culture or family don't always adopt identical beliefs, right? Think about siblings in real life who end up with totally different political views or life philosophies despite growing up under the same roof. That said, the gap between Superman and Supergirl is amplified by their vastly different life experiences, a detail that's deeply embedded in DC's comic lore.
Superman, known as Kal-El, arrived on Earth as a tiny child—whether as an infant, newborn, or toddler varies across different comic runs—but the key point is he has zero personal memories of Krypton or his biological family. As a result, he lacks any direct cultural imprint from his home planet. Everything he knows about Kryptonian society, its values, traditions, and worldviews comes to him secondhand, like learning history from a textbook rather than living it. It's abstract for him.
Supergirl, on the other hand, was older when Krypton exploded. She experienced the full brunt of growing up immersed in its culture as a young girl, giving her a firsthand understanding that's far more visceral and impactful.
And this is the part most people miss... While you might assume Supergirl would automatically embrace her aunt and uncle's supremacist ideals, we can't jump to conclusions without considering how Krypton's destruction might have reshaped survivors' perspectives. Not every Kryptonian perished in the cataclysm—Supergirl's home city of Argo broke off from the planet during the chaos and survived for a time. Isolated in space, this group of survivors could have evolved their own distinct subculture with beliefs and ideologies diverging from the pre-destruction Kryptonian norm. Surviving the end of your entire civilization? That's a profoundly traumatic event that could humble anyone, leading to new reflections on power, superiority, and what it means to be Kryptonian. For instance, imagine if a community from a war-torn country rebuilt in isolation—what new values might emerge from their shared hardship?
Moreover, it's plausible that Jor-El and Zor-El (Supergirl's father) didn't see eye-to-eye ideologically. Hints of this appear in the comics, especially in Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which inspires the upcoming Supergirl movie. The story, narrated by an alien named Ruthye, describes Krypton's slow, agonizing death: the planet deteriorated over time, and in its final moments, Argo separated and floated in space. Zor-El, a brilliant scientist, encased the city in a protective bubble to shield thousands, but radiation from the ground poisoned them. Despite efforts to block it, Argo's fate was sealed. Kara (Supergirl) witnesses her mother succumb to cancer-like illness, followed by the deaths of everyone she knows. In desperation, Zor-El repurposes the city's shielding materials—ironically using plans from his "frivolous" brother Jor-El—to craft a ship for Kara. He sends her away with a single directive: to be good.
Two key insights stand out. First, Zor-El's dismissive label of his sibling as "frivolous" suggests he disagreed with Jor-El's views on certain matters, implying that not all Kryptonians subscribed to the supremacist mindset of Superman's parents. This raises a provocative point: Was Jor-El and Lara's decision to send their son to Earth a selfish act of a minority group, not a mirror of broader Kryptonian culture? If they viewed themselves as superior conquerors, why didn't they build more ships to evacuate more people? It hints that such extremist ideas might have been fringe, not the norm—a counterpoint that could fuel debates among fans about whether Kryptonian society was inherently evil or just flawed like any civilization.
Second, Zor-El's parting advice to Kara is simply to "be good." If all Kryptonians were oppressors, wouldn't he have echoed his brother's imperialist message? More likely, these are just two brothers with clashing ideologies, a common family dynamic. No two people, even twins, always align perfectly—right?
What Kind of Hero Will Supergirl Turn Out to Be?
As for how the bombshell about Superman's parents' message might influence Supergirl, that's still unfolding, though teasers suggest the upcoming Supergirl film will touch on it. For now, it's reasonable to bet that whatever turmoil Superman faces won't fully explain Kara's current reckless behavior, like the drunken antics we've glimpsed. She's more plausibly a young woman reeling from overwhelming loss and trauma: losing her home world, watching her civilization crumble, her mother's painful death, and the slow extinction of her city Argo. Years spent in survival mode, constantly on the edge, would mess anyone up. The revelation about Kryptonian oppressors probably ranks low on her list of woes—at least she has her father's final words urging her to choose goodness as a guiding light.
What do you think—does this retcon redefine Supergirl forever, or is it just a minor ripple in a larger ocean of trauma? Do you agree that not all Kryptonians shared Jor-El's views, or should we prepare for Supergirl to embrace a darker legacy? Share your thoughts in the comments and dive deeper into the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!
