Superman Vs. Supergirl: The Movie

Chapter 1: The Preamble

I'm sure by now all of you have seen Superman, directed by James Gunn and released back in 2025. It grossed $613, 723, 803 worldwide which basically means it a big hit. This year, Supergirl was released and grossed $125.7 million worldwide, and it's probably still generating revenue now since it's relatively recent. Both movies are about an alien from the distant planet Krypto that came to Earth to be its new hero. Their powers both include super strength, flight, super speed, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, super hearing, freeze breath, and more. Though both of these superheros are similar, their story arc's are extremely different.

Chapter 2: Superman (2025)

In Superman the movie, Clark Kent has been working at the Daily Planet, a News Station, and finding ways to fight crime without getting caught for a while now. The story starts off where Superman is already a recognizable hero that the city loves and sees as their protector. Most of the city loves him anyway...Lex Luther is his biggest hater. Lex Luther is an evil billionaire hellbent on Superman's demise. His main issue with Superman is the fact that he isn't human. He sees Superman as a threat to mankind. One day, he could turn evil and rebel against everyone with humanity left defenseless. One of the main problem haters had with the movie is that it was too "woke."

I think this point comes from the previous Superman movies. Though the girls loved Henry Cavil, I disliked his and many previous Supermen for the same reason: They seemed like a cocky god. In the previous movies, Superman seemed unbeatable. All he did was act like he was the coolest thing in the world, and it honestly left him feeling flat and boring. Superman (2025) is actually more accurate to his personality in the comics than the other movies. In the movie, Superman crosses government lines and stops Boravia's military invasion of Jarhanpur. Superman technically isn't allowed to get involved in international conflicts. He's supposed to wait for the government's decision. However, comic Superman would never wait. He saw people in danger that needed help and he did just that. Lois Lane, Superman's love interest, tried to reason with him and told him that there are processes to doing things. Now he looks like a terrorist. Superman knew that he could help, so he did so. His moral compass is above the law. Later in the movie, we see that Superman's parents intended for him to be a god and rule above mankind. He never got this message because it was intercepted. Regardless, Superman decides he will always fight for mankind. Throughout the entire movie he encourages others to help him and save everyone. He can't be everywhere at once, but he serves as an inspiration to others that they can help too. In the end, we see that he's more human than everyone because of selfless he is, but that's a topic for another time.

Chapter 3: Supergirl (2026)

The Supergirl movie arc goes in a different direction. Unlike Clark, Kara was old enough to remember Krypton and her family there. Clark was sent to Earth as a baby, while Kara was sent as a teenager. In the movie we see that Krypton didn't die in one big swoop, but Kara was kept safe in a dome that encapsulated part of Krypton called Argo City. She lived there for years, but slowly debris from Krypton turned into radioactive meteorites and poisoned the soil of Argo. Kara watched as the people she loved slowly died around her, and she was sent to Earth knowing that everyone she loved would be dead before she even reached it.

Kara wasn't alone however, she was with her adopted stray puppy, Krypto. He was the only thing she had left from her home. Clark found her when she arrived on Earth, and helped her accumulate. But Earth was all Clark knew. Kara already had an emotional attachment to her past home. She ended up flying to planets with a Red Sun, because the Red Sun allowed her to get drunk and took away her powers. She lived the life of an alcoholic party girl with Krypto being her sole companion. Clark tried to reach out to her, but she didn't want his help. One night, Kara met a young girl named Ruthye who seeks help to avenge the death of her entire family by killing Krem, a mercenary. Kara only agrees to find Krem because they poison her dog, who will die in three days without an anecdote. The difference between Clark and Kara is that Clark does things for the good of others and to help them. Kara only agreed to help Ruthye to help herself. The relationship is good for her, because she sees the misery of others that she could help and bonds with Ruthye. Kara doesn't believe herself to be good. She believes that she is a broken woman from her traumatic past. She says that her cousin Clark has a good heart, but he's naive. Ruthye sees the good in Kara that she doesn't see in herself at first, but by the end of the movie she at least sees part of it. Kara doesn't allow Ruthye to kill Krem because she knows it will change her. If she allows Ruthye to murder it will corrupt her heart. The most significant moment in the movie is that Kara kills Krem. It solidifies that she believes her heart is already doomed, but maybe there is some good in it. She decides to go back to Earth and help people in the end.

Chapter 4: Supergirl Vs. Superman

So after all this turmoil and trauma that Kara has faced, why is she only seen as the female version of Superman? It's evident that the two couldn't be more different. I believe it's the same reason most female sports, interests, or characters are not taken as seriously as their male counterpart. Even her name is diminishing. Why is Superman a man while Supergirl– a grown woman– is a girl? The patriarchy diminishes women as second to men. Even in the Bible, Eve is the one who brought sin into this world and doomed humanity. Adam, even though he also ate the apple, is innocent. Women were denied the right to participate in spaces like these for a very long time. Now that they can participate, it seems like they're always playing catch up. Female Superheroes don't get the same attention as males and it's incredibly sad.

If anything, Supergirl has more "masculine" qualities than Superman. She's emotional scarred, has issues bonding with others, has coping issues, believes she's not good, extremely strong, doesn't easily trust others, fights against all odds, borderline suicidal, etc.

Superman is like you're lovable puppy. He's loyal, caring, extremely emotional, has a high moral compass, loving, protective of the people he cares about, acts without thinking, etc. Also Supergirl fights at full power while Superman doesn't. I'm surprised more men don't cheer on Supergirl more than Superman. This isn't your chance to bash on Superman though, we love him.

Chapter 5: The Sign Off

There's a lot more I could say about Superman and Supergirl, as well as the complicated relationship Lex has with Superman and their love child– so let me know in the comments if you're interested!

P.S.

Fun fact about Superman: He's eaten steel multiple times. I'm starting to think he likes it.

Supergirl fun fact: Her ship was stalled in a transit zone causing Superman to age while she was stuck the same age. She feels like a failure for not raising her baby cousin which adds to her emotional trauma.