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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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We've seen plenty of screen takes on Superman, but considerably fewer versions of Supergirl, his cousin. Now she's headlining a new movie, and it turns out she is kind of a dirtbag, in the good way.
Fearless and grumpy, Supergirl sets out on a quest to support a new pal's revenge journey, and to make a point that should really be clear by now. Never mess with a lady's dog. I'm Glenn Weldon.
And I'm Linda Holmes. Joining us today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is Daisy Rosario. She's the senior supervising producer of audio at Slate, where she works with shows like Death, Sex and Money and I See Why Am I. Hello, Daisy. Hello, Linda. Hello, Glenn. Happy to be here. So good to have you.
We briefly met this version of Supergirl played by Millie Alcock in 2025's Superman starring David Corenswett. Her name is Kara, she's Superman's cousin, and she also was born on Krypton. When this story begins, she's celebrating her birthday, getting very drunk with the only real friend she has, her dog, Krypto.
She soon crosses paths with a young girl named Ruthie who has lost her family to an attack by a brutal villain named Krem. They are played by Eve Ridley and Matthias Schoonertz. Ruthie wants revenge on Krem, and after he tangles with Krypto and leaves him injured, Kara needs to find him too. So the unlikely pair begins the hunt.
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Chapter 2: What makes the new Supergirl different from previous portrayals?
Along the way, they meet a wide variety of colorful characters, both human and not, including Lobo, a biker dude and bounty hunter played by Jason Momoa. The movie is directed by Craig Gillespie, whose varied resume includes I, Tonya, and Lars and the real girl. Maybe he just likes blondes. It's in theaters now. I'm going to start with you, Glenn.
Obviously, you and I have spent a lot of time talking about Superman and his expanded universe. What did you think about this movie?
I mean, I liked it. I think it's a solid addition to the canon. I don't think it's a game changer. I don't think it's setting out to be a game changer. It's setting out to establish that in this relatively new version of the DC universe we're getting, it's not a monolith that has different notes that you can play in different genres. And there's a real... I'll be kind here.
There's a simplicity to this story that comes straight from the source material, which is a book called Supergirl, Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King, illustrated by Bilkis Eberle. It's a Western in space. And the motivation could not be simpler. You shot Madame Dog. The central dynamic of it is very true grit. And to be fair, a lot of things like it, you know, Lone Wolf and Cub, Logan.
There's a lot of stuff that kind of follows this same central dynamic. I will say the book is a lot weirder than this movie is. It's got a little bit more grit in the gears than this movie does. And it does feel sometimes like the grit has been used to sand things down and make them a bit more, you know, four quadrant family friendly.
And I realize that sounds like a complaint, but this is at the end of the day, a superhero movie. So if it misses kids, if it doesn't reach kids, it's not doing well. pretty essential job of superheroes. But the fact is that with simplicity, with really established conventions of genre, you get familiarity. You will know every story beat that hits before it comes.
So what matters, you know, is going to be the details of the execution. And I think Millie Alcock is great. She's given you layers. The villain, Krem, you mentioned, is a throwaway. He's a cartoon. Mm-hmm. He's trying to give you a lot, but there's not a lot of there there. And we get the introduction of the character of Lobo, who you mentioned, a character that I've known.
I remember reading about in the 80s and 90s. He was boring then. He's boring now. I don't think there's just enough there. He's kind of a one trick pony. I like this. Didn't love it. Really wanted to love it, but I liked it.
All right. Daisy, how about you? What'd you think?
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Chapter 3: How does Supergirl's quest for revenge unfold in the movie?
And so there were things that kept reminding me of both of those. And those are both really great movies. And this wasn't either of those. And I think if I had just felt that some of those things reminded me of those movies early and then it stopped, it would be one thing. But it was pretty consistent throughout the movie for me. So I just found myself constantly distracted by that.
That said, I did find myself feeling like, you know, if you're not as easily distracted by these things, you might just be having a better time than me in this movie. But I think it just made it really hard for me to get fully invested.
I get that. I think I come down somewhere in between the two of you, probably a bit closer to Glenn. I did enjoy it. I like her. I did like Millie Alcock. I thought she was good in this. I thought she was fun in this. I do like the idea, as we mentioned in the intro, of kind of a dirtbag superhero. Not that we have not ever seen that. But I did like that idea and I enjoyed her.
I think my issue was I would have liked to see, I think, her in a different story. Yeah. Yeah. And I think there gets to be a point where like when your big source of tension is literally a cage full of screaming girls. I think you have to do that awfully carefully or it can seem exploitative. And I'm not sure they stayed on the right side of that line.
The other thing is that in several places, you know, we talked about the fact that the story of Ruthie kicks off with her losing her whole family to this violent violence.
attacked by creme i just felt in several different places like it was just too dark for what i want a movie like this to be and we have been round and round and round about this so many times with superhero movies how much do you want it to be fun how much do you want it to be you know heavy and serious
There are certain rules that I have in my head about I don't want you to do X. I don't want you to do Y. We've already talked about the fact that they injure the dog. And that's one rule that you're brushing up against. And I felt like I got to the end. There's a lot of trying to kind of triangulate around this question of should you kill people? What does it do to you to kill people?
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Chapter 4: How does the film's direction affect its storytelling?
And I'm not sure the movie really earned where it was trying to get to with that question by the end. And that's something I want to talk to Glenn about because Glenn and I have talked about this many times. And I think without giving away plot points, did you find their approach to that question satisfying enough?
I'll say yes with a but, because I think one of the challenges of this particular character is that different people over the years have characterized her in vastly different ways. And they are keying off of this one book by Tom King and Bilka separately, which said, OK, here's the thing. She's different than Clark. And here's why.
You know, we do get a few scenes with David Coren Sweat's Superman. And I think those scenes just point up how they really captured lightning in a bottle there. Not just with that performance, but with that characterization of Superman as a kind of big, lovable doofus. And it does the thing that putting two very different characters or... Similar characters with different motivations together.
Chapter 5: What are the main themes explored in Supergirl's story?
You kind of bang them against each other and you start to dilinate them. And it's those scenes where you contrast Superman and Supergirl that you allow Supergirl's – it really sets her apart. Clark has not suffered. He hasn't gone through it. He is coasting on what is essentially a very noble but completely unearned belief in humanity. And life hasn't afforded Kara that luxury.
That privilege is what it is. It's a privilege. And if Alcock leans too hard into that cynicism, I mean, she's writing a line here, then Supergirl becomes an off-putting jerk. But they show us how and why the values that she grew up with are not Clark's Midwestern values. This is something that the film, I think, handled well.
She wants to do good, and she knows that that's not the same thing as being nice. Because being nice is for show. It's about showing an outward face. And being concerned with how you're perceived. And that's something that Clark, we see in this film, is very concerned about. That's why the suit.
Being good is about helping others being of use and not being particularly concerned about what others think about it. And that's interesting. And I've, you know, long ago I wrote a book about Superman. And that is actually a new wrinkle. And I think that's the best thing about this movie.
I think for me, that part of it, though, is why I really felt like she wasn't quite up to the material. And again, I mean, I don't think that the script was inherently strong per se. So, I mean, I do want to be fair about that. But I found myself even during the movie, right, just trying to do a little fantasy casting.
And I couldn't necessarily think of somebody who is really in the spotlight right now who could potentially crush it. But I did find myself thinking like, man, if you had like younger Emma Stone, like back in the EZA era, like I would have believed her in this. Like she can really do a range and has kind of a natural sense of fun to her that could work.
Because I think that those things are both really hard, but I also am somebody who really believes that you can kind of have them both in the same place, but you have to earn them and you have to really lean into them. And to me, it just felt very lukewarm. Yeah. In both directions. Yeah.
We've touched on this already, but I think the biggest problem I had with this movie, nuts and bolts wise, was the villain is no good. It's not the performance. I think script wise, this guy just sort of comes at you with one tone, one note, exactly the same presentation every time you see him. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And there's no color that you can add to him when he's introduced in that way.
It's not that Lex Luthor doesn't have his own list of dastardly deeds. It's that when you introduce a character who a lot of the audience doesn't know anything about, and that's how you meet him, he just becomes kind of undifferentiated evil, especially after he injures a dog. I just felt like that was not a successful characterization. And like, I would have bought him as like,
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