With the advent of James Gunn’s DCU and the release of 2026’s Supergirl coming ever closer, let’s take a look back at the character’s journey and growth through film, both live action and animated.

Supergirl (1984)

The original Supergirl film, starring actress Helen Slater as the titular character, serves as a spinoff to the iconic Superman film series starring actor Christopher Reeve. While Reeve himself does not appear in the film, actor Marc McClure reprises his role as Jimmy Olsen from the Superman films in Supergirl.

The film begins at Argo City, an isolated community that survived Krypton’s destruction. After a wizard named Zaltar steals and loses an item that helps power the city. Chasing its trajectory through space, Kara arrives on Earth in search of the power source to save Argo City, donning the identity of Supergirl in the process. 

Through the journey of the film, Kara learns to become a hero of her own, save Argo City, and learn about Earth’s culture as she enrolls in an all-girls school with the secret identity of “Linda Lee”. 

The Flash (2023)

The DCEU’s interpretation of Supergirl, played by actress Sasha Calle, has a short but memorable appearance in the Ezra Miller-led Flash film. Calle’s version of Kara is presented as somewhat jaded at first, fitting in with the overall darker tone of the DCEU, as she had spent her initial time on Earth in isolation, having been detained by the government. This origin serves to parallel the story of her cousin Superman in the iconic Flashpoint storyline, where Superman is raised in government captivity as opposed to being raised by the Kents. After some convincing from Barry, who talks about his own interactions working alongside Superman, Kara joins the fight against the menacing General Zod, played by actor Michael Shannon, a Kryptonian General seeking to terraform and take over the Earth.

Similar to her arc in her own film, Kara must learn to trust humanity, become a hero, and fight off evil to save an endangered world. Her journey is one of personal growth and learning, embracing her own identity as a hero distinct from her cousin, which continues on in other appearances across both the animated and live action mediums.

Legion of Super-Heroes (2023)

Legion of Super-Heroes, directed by Jeff Wamester and written by Josie Campbell, stars actress Meg Donnelly as Supergirl, the lead of the film. While the film is a part of a larger continuity, dubbed the Tomorrowverse by fans as the universe began with the animated Superman: Man of Tomorrow, it stands enough on its own to be a solid Supergirl-focused adventure.

The story begins with a brief flashback to Krypton, showing Kara’s experiences on its final day before being sent to Earth. We then flash forward to Supergirl fighting the villain Solomon Grundy on Earth, causing property damage and destruction in the process. Batman and Superman show up at the end of the fight, with the former stressing over Kara’s recklessness during the battle. Kara and Clark have a heart-to-heart shortly afterwards, where he offers to send her to the 31st century, where the superhero group known as the Legion of Super-Heroes train potential members at Legion Academy. Discovering a plot to break into the Academy’s Vault, Kara and several of her fellow Academy classmates must save the day and stop the heist into the Vault.

Once again, Kara’s journey is that of self-discovery and heroism, not only inspiring herself to improve on her own issues of recklessness but also inspiring her fellow classmates. Due to their acts of heroism in saving both the Vault and the Academy as a whole, Kara and her classmates are all ultimately let in as official Legionnaire members, graduating from the Academy.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Parts 1-3 (2024)

Serving as the overall conclusion to the animated Tomorrowverse, this three-part adaptation of the iconic comic event puts a heavier focus on Supergirl’s time on Krypton, the immediate aftermath of her escape, and the struggles that came with it. While Crisis does require the larger backdrop of the other Tomorrowverse films outside of just Legion, Kara’s multi-movie arc set up in Legion of Super-Heroes ultimately comes to a satisfying close in Crisis, where she directly faces and deals with the trauma of her upbringing and losing her world.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

Based on the Superman/Batman storyline “The Supergirl from Krypton”, the film follows Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman teaching and helping a newly arrived Supergirl how to control her powers, live on Earth, and protect people as a hero. Actress Summer Glau voices Supergirl, while actors Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, and Susan Eisenberg voice the roles of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman respectively, having voiced the characters in other projects like the animated Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons.

In the film, Kara arrives on Earth dazed and confused, having been stuck in suspended animation for decades. After being calmed and debriefed by Superman, she trains with Wonder Woman and the Amazons to become a hero, as she catches the attention of the infamous Darkseid, an evil dictator from the planet Apokolips, fighting against him to protect her new home. Similar to other stories she features in, Kara learns about Earth culture, discovers how to be a hero, and ultimately takes on the mantle of Supergirl.

Kara’s Characterization Through The Years

A trait often at the center of Kara’s character, as showcased by her several film experiences explored above, is that of self-acceptance, trauma, and self-growth. Having experienced the destruction of Krypton as a young girl, unlike Clark who escaped the planet as a baby, Kara has a uniquely tragic backstory. While this origin isn’t always the case, as with the original Supergirl film where she was born on Argo City, films like Legion of Super-Heroes and comics like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which serves as direct inspiration for the upcoming 2026 Supergirl film, explores how that trauma impacts her as a young adult.

Like many other comic book characters, Supergirl has a long, convoluted history full of retcons and the occasional death, like in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths comic event. Through these retcons and shifts in continuity, she has had her origins set on Krypton, where she is older than Superman, she has had her origins set on Argo City, where she is younger than Superman, and she has even spent periods of time as a clone. Yet despite all these differences and ranges in tone from her Silver Age goofiness to her more modern darker shift, much like her cousin before her, she stands as a symbol of hope, a role model to empower readers, and a symbol of growth and change, even through her darkest moments.