Late last week we reported that a Supergirl TV series had found a series commitment at CBS, from The Flash producer Greg Berlanti and Chuck‘s Ali Adler. The report came with some vague plot details that suggested there would be a few changes to Kara Zor-El’s origin story for the new interpretation. That has now been confirmed by DC Entertainment, who provided the following synopsis on today’s episode of DC All Access:
“The series will follow Kara Zor-El, a Kryptonian girl who’s been hiding her powers here on Earth, but decides to embrace her powers, and become the hero she was always meant to be.”
That description is nearly identical to the one Deadline provided in their initial report:
“Born on the planet Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she’s been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.”
The glaring difference between the two is that the DC All Access description doesn’t mention Superman, Kara’s Kryptonian cousin, at all. In the comics, a teenage Kara escapes from Krypton before its destruction and flees to Earth hot on the heels of Kal-El’s vessel. For one reason or another, her trip takes longer and she arrives on Earth to find Kal-El already a grown man, sporting his Kryptonian colors and flying around the globe as a superhero. Superman then helps Kara learn about and control her own powers until she is able to adopt the Supergirl alter-ego and fight for truth, justice, and the American way herself.
It seems that the new series will skip this origin entirely, and begin at the very start of her superhero career. My guess is that Superman himself won’t feature in the show at all, due in no small part becuase of how tied up the Man of Steel is on the big screen at the moment. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the series needs to stand on the shoulders of its titular superheroine first and foremost, but I can easily see some die-hard Supergirl fans upset about any deviations from the source material.
Tell us, what do you think of a revised Supergirl origin for TV? Do you think it could work, or would you rather see Kara don the cape and spandex on the big screen instead? Let us know in the comments section below.