The Dazzling Growth of a Tomboyish and Free-Spirited Supergirl: Info, Cast, Villain, and Post-Credit Scene

The Prelude to a New DC Universe and a Nostalgic Discovery

Following Superman, who opens the prelude to the new DC Universe, the highly anticipated movie Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow has finally unveiled itself and proudly landed in theaters. To many, Supergirl might be more familiarly etched as the protagonist of the long-running TV drama series that aired over the past few years. However, this is actually not the first time a standalone live-action movie featuring Supergirl as the main character has been produced; a classic film of the same name was already made and released in 1984. Since I also thought Supergirl only existed as a television drama, discovering through this opportunity that a standalone live-action movie had already graced the screens in the past was quite fascinating.

Milly Alcock's Overwhelming Screen Presence

The actor leading the play as the protagonist Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, in this massive blockbuster is Milly Alcock. This charming young Australian actor made a strong impression on the public by appearing as a key child actor leading the early parts of the globally massive hit drama House of the Dragon. Despite only appearing until the middle of Season 1 of that drama, her overwhelming screen presence and delicate acting skills were truly remarkable. In particular, since she recently made a short cameo appearance in the new Superman movie, leaving a deep impression and showcasing an excellent presence, the expectations for this Supergirl movie, where she takes the sole lead, were inevitably higher than ever.

A Threatening Villain with Both Brawn and Brains

As with all hero genre movies, the presence of an attractive villain who confronts the protagonist and breathes tension into the narrative is a crucial element that can determine the success or failure of the work. In this movie, the main villain facing Supergirl, 'Krem of the Yellow Hills', is passionately played by actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who boasts a weighty and bold acting style. Well-known to the public for his deep acting in the Netflix movie The Old Guard, he unabashedly radiates his unique aura in this work as well. In the play, Krem is a cold-blooded character who, if something displeases him even slightly, will tenaciously chase it down to the end and enact cruel revenge. At the same time, he is a threatening character who also possesses an extraordinary brain, constantly driving the protagonist into crises.

The Unexpectedly Crucial Role of Krypto the Superdog

Following the previous Superman movie, a special animal character that instantly captures the audience's attention appears in this work as well: the superpowered dog 'Krypto'. This dog is known to be a character born from the deep inspiration of the actual pet dog owned by director James Gunn, the head and producer of the new DC Studios. Although he is a fundamental character who also appears as a loyal member of the Superman family in the original comics, I initially had some doubts about whether he really needed to occupy such a high proportion on the screen. However, as the narrative gets on track and develops, Krypto goes beyond being a simple cute mascot and excellently performs the most core role of driving the overall story of this Supergirl movie and triggering major events.

A Rebellious Youth: Breaking Away from the Righteous Image

Supergirl has already established herself as a hero with a fairly familiar and upright image to the public through the popular TV drama broadcast over several seasons. Therefore, I was very curious about how she would be reborn with a new, three-dimensional appearance on the bigger stage of a movie, differentiating herself from her existing neat and righteous image. To define the new Supergirl on screen in a word, she is tightly packed with an unstoppable tomboyishness, a free-spirited nature that extremely hates being tied down, and a rebellious temperament against the older generation. Furthermore, deep in her heart lies a certain massive resentment and sorrow related to the destruction of her home planet, and unable to fully resolve this, she transparently and explicitly shows the portrait of an unstable youth who constantly wanders and frets internally.

Tragic Past and the Fatal Limits of Her Power

Contrary to the predictable expectation that the movie would solely highlight her heroic exploits in the present time, it devotes a considerable amount of time to deeply introducing the tragic past narrative she experienced. This is an essential device to provide justification for why the current Supergirl has no choice but to act so rebelliously and cynically, and to draw deep empathy from the audience. When she stays in a star system illuminated by a yellow sun like Earth's, she gains infinite and marvelous power comparable to a god, becoming an invincible being. However, she is depicted as a character with an extreme and fatal limitation: when exposed to a harsh environment where a red sun shines or where the green mineral that is her fatal weakness exists, she instantly loses those immense abilities and becomes endlessly helpless.

The Craving for Human Vulnerability Under a Red Sun

Amidst such stark differences in conditions, on Earth, where she possesses absolute power, Supergirl instead fails to feel the sensation of truly being alive as a human being and merely hovers like a stranger. Exhausted by the boredom and emptiness that being an invincible existence brings, she intentionally seeks out a planet illuminated by a red sun to try deviating and enjoying entertainment in order to regain her senses as an ordinary living creature. In that place where her superpowers are perfectly suppressed, if she drinks strong liquor, she gets pleasantly drunk like ordinary people, and if she takes physical blows while fighting strangers, she feels the bitter physical pain exactly as it is. Paradoxically, rather than remaining an invulnerable, perfect, god-like being, she exhibits a strange psychology where she actually prefers and desperately craves this weak, human sensation of being able to bleed and feel pain.

A Reluctant Hero and an Uncomfortable Journey

Due to this complex internal state, in the early part of the movie, she adheres to a strictly bystander attitude, unwilling to rashly intervene in the complicated circumstances or dangers of others. She has absolutely no interest in upholding grandiose causes or cosmic justice, revealing a somewhat selfish and calculating aspect where she considers only her own safety and mood as the top priority. It has been a long time since she completely forgot the noble teaching of her parents in the past, who earnestly requested that even if she loses everything else, she should never lose her good and warm heart toward others. Meanwhile, she accidentally encounters the bold and revenge-driven girl 'Ruthye Marye Knoll', played by actress Eve Ridley, and entangled in her persistent demands, Supergirl very reluctantly begins an uncomfortable journey with the same destination.

The Catalyst of Revenge and the Introduction of Lobo

The decisive trigger that makes the consistently indifferent Supergirl earnestly jump into the fierce vortex of events is none other than the noble sacrifice of her precious companion, the dog Krypto. Krypto falls into the cruel villain Krem's trap, is struck by a fatal poison, and collapses. Faced with a desperate crisis where Krypto will lose his life forever if she cannot find the antidote within the short time of exactly three days, she explodes the dormant anger she had been suppressing and begins to madly pursue Krem. Joined by the girl Ruthye, who tragically lost her parents at the hands of Krem and vows bloody revenge, the two fiercely sprint toward their common goal. And during this rough and unpredictable chase, actor Jason Momoa unexpectedly makes a strong appearance as 'Lobo', the universe's ultimate bounty hunter.

Jason Momoa's Dream Role and Supergirl's Path to Growth

The fact that Jason Momoa, who has long been so familiar to us as the king of the sea, 'Aquaman', plays the anti-hero Lobo, who has a completely different worldview, comes across as very fascinating and interesting. Reportedly, Jason Momoa himself has picked Lobo as his absolute favorite character, whom he has passionately loved since his days of enjoying comic books, and earnestly wished to take on this role for a long time. The overall narrative seemingly takes the form of a simple revenge play and chase sequence, but essentially, it depicts the dazzling growth process in which the scarred and wandering tomboy Supergirl desperately realizes what she truly needs to protect and which path she must walk. Milly Alcock, who plays Supergirl, flawlessly and charmingly digests this character undergoing a multi-layered journey, firmly holding the center of the play.

A Captivating Character but No Post-Credit Scene

The Kara Zor-El newly created by Milly Alcock boldly breaks away from the typical mold of existing female heroes, boasting a somewhat androgynous and rough charm, while paradoxically transparently revealing a rich and fickle spectrum of emotions that is most un-hero-like. Thanks to this excellent character building, which makes her more endearing and worthy of support because she is not perfect, the audience could deeply immerse themselves in the play without a moment of boredom throughout the running time and enjoy the movie much more. Lastly, I patiently stayed in my seat until the ending credits completely rolled up, wondering if there might be a hidden post-credit scene included in the majority of hero movies released these days. However, unfortunately, there is no additional cookie video in this movie. Unless you are someone who wishes to appreciate the lingering impact of the movie while reading the subtitles filled with the production crew's names to the very end, it would be fine to get up from your seat without regrets after the main feature ends, without necessarily wasting time in the theater.