Here’s a pop quiz for you. Name a superhero who regularly saves the world while wearing red and blue tights, leaps tall buildings in a single bound, outraces trains, planes and bullets, and possesses amazing powers like heat vision, freeze breath and invulnerability. Oh, and did we mention that she’s a girl? If you thought that Superman was the sole survivor of the planet Krypton, you missed a branch on the family tree. He has a cousin, known to the world as Supergirl!
Superman’s Kryptonian cousin, Kara Zor-El, first appeared in Action Comics #252 in May of 1959. She was the daughter of Zor-El (Jor-El’s brother) and Alura. A group of Kryptonians had survived the destruction of their planet, and had been floating around through space on a chunk of it known as Argo City. However, a hailstorm of meteors destroyed the lead shielding that was protecting Argo from kryptonite radiation, and, much as Jor-El had sent baby Kal-El to Earth to save his life, Zor-El followed suit and rocketed his teenage daughter off to Earth as well.
Once Kara arrived on Earth, her cousin Kal-El helped her establish a secret identity. By covering her blonde hair with a brunette wig (hey, it beats a pair of glasses), Kara would become Linda Lee, who took up residence at the Midvale Orphanage. In many of the early stories, Superman encouraged Kara to keep her existence as Supergirl a secret until she learned to use her powers responsibly.
In 1984, Supergirl appeared on the big screen in a live-action movie of her very own. Produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the producers of the Christopher Reeve “Superman” films, “Supergirl” starred newcomer Helen Slater in the title role. The film also starred Faye Dunaway as Selena, a witch with dreams of world domination, Peter Cook as her companion Nigel, and Peter O’Toole as Kara’s Kryptonian mentor, Zaltar. The movie was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, who would go on to direct several episodes of “Smallville” some 20 years later (most notably the fourth season episode “Spell,” which also dealt with witchcraft)!
“Supergirl” was intended as a direct tie-in to the Christopher Reeve movies, with hopes that Reeve would make an appearance in the film as Superman. He ultimately chose not to be involved, and Superman appeared in the movie only on a dorm room poster. The film did tie into the franchise in other ways, however. Marc McClure reprised his role as Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane’s sister Lucy was introduced. Lucy made numerous references to Lois, Clark Kent, and the Daily Planet. Also noteworthy – the film provided fans with their first view inside the Phantom Zone. In “Superman” and “Superman II,” the Zone had been portrayed simply as a spinning pane of glass… “Supergirl” revealed the inside of the Zone to be a kind of volatile desert. (A similar portrayal was later used on “Smallville.”)
It was hoped that the movie would launch a series of Supergirl films. It didn’t. The movie was met with less than stellar reactions from both fans and critics, mainly due to some campy performances from Faye Dunaway and Peter Cook, and the more fantastical elements of the witchcraft subplot. Slater’s performance as Supergirl, though, was highly praised, having played the character with a sense of innocence and wonder. In fact, “Supergirl” earned Slater a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress in 1985.
Ms. Slater’s connections to the world of superheroics did not end with “Supergirl.” In the 1990s she provided the voice of Talia, Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter, on “Batman The Animated Series.” More recently, she returned to the Superman mythology on “Smallville” as Clark’s birth mother, Lara, in three episodes of the series. She will soon pass the torch to a new Supergirl; she is set to appear as Dr. Eliza Danvers, Kara’s foster mother, on the new “Supergirl” series premiering Monday on CBS.
After the 1984 movie, Supergirl would not be seen outside the comics again until 1998 when the character appeared on “Superman: The Animated Series.” Her voice was provided by Nicholle Tom, probably best known as Maggie Sheffield on “The Nanny” and Ryce Newton in the “Beethoven” movies. She also recently appeared on the TV series “Gotham” as Miriam Loeb.
The creators of the animated series wanted to keep the emphasis on Superman being the last of his kind. As such, in this version Supergirl was not actually from Krypton! Instead, Kara In-Ze (not Kara Zor-El) was from Krypton’s “sister planet,” Argo, named after the floating city from the original comics. Though the two were not actually biologically related, while on Earth Kara posed as Clark Kent’s cousin.
In a special feature on the “Superman: The Animated Series” Volume 3 DVD set, series writer/producer Bruce Timm revealed that it was planned to have Kara eventually develop some powers that were different from Superman’s, since they were from different planets. This never happened, simply because they never got around to it. Though Superman was more powerful than Supergirl, the two had all the same powers.
This version of Supergirl traded in her traditional costume for some different threads, though… the animated Supergirl sported a white baby tee with the “S” logo on it and a short blue skirt. This look was temporarily adopted by the comics as well.
In 2004, Cartoon Network launched “Justice League Unlimited,” a new incarnation of its previous “Justice League” series. This time, more than 60 heroes had joined up with the League, and Supergirl was among them. Appearing in the series’ first episode, “Initiation,” Nicholle Tom reprised the role of the Girl of Steel. Supergirl would become a prominent character in the “JLU” series. In one of the later episodes, “Chaos at the Earth’s Core,” Supergirl finally updated her threads and donned a costume more reminiscent of the traditional Supergirl outfit. (It was also very similar to the version designed by artist Michael Turner for the “Superman/Batman” comic book series.)
“Smallville” gave fans a tease of Supergirl at the end of its third season, with the episode “Covenant.” In that episode, a mysterious blonde girl named Kara arrived in Smallville with powers similar to Clark’s. She claimed to be from Krypton, and told Clark that it was his destiny to return to Jor-El through the caves beneath the town. There was no mention of the two being cousins here… in fact, Kara implied that she and Clark were meant to procreate to carry on the Kryptonian legacy. In the end, “Kara” was revealed to be a girl named Lindsey Harrison who was caught in the Smallville meteor shower, and was under Jor-El’s control. At the episode’s end, she was apparently killed. Kara/Lindsey was played here by Adrianne Palicki, who has numerous other comic book connections – though you may not have seen a couple of them! She played the title role in the unaired “Wonder Woman” pilot episode, and she had a role in an unaired “Aquaman” pilot that starred Justin Hartley. Though you may have to scour the internet to see those two appearances, these days you can see her regularly on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” where she plays Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird.
In the seventh season of “Smallville,” the series finally delivered their version of Supergirl. Actress Laura Vandervoort played the role of Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin. Sent to Earth at the same time as baby Kal-El, Kara had been in a state of suspended animation ever since her arrival, and awoke to find that her “little” cousin was now older than her! Clark and Kara formed a very unique mentor/mentee bond; Clark helped his cousin adapt to life on Earth, while Kara (who had mastered her newfound superpowers very quickly) tried to teach the “no tights, no flights” Clark to conquer his fear of heights and finally take to the skies. Being that Kara was portrayed as potentially more powerful than Clark, the “Smallville” writers seemed to need to find ways to keep her out of the action at times. Her storylines throughout the season involved amnesia, abduction, and imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. Kara was a regular character during season 7 and made a few additional appearances throughout the rest of the series. Ms. Vandervoort currently stars on the Canadian TV series “Bitten.”
In the fall of 2010, DC and Warner Brothers released the animated direct-to-DVD movie “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.” The movie was based on a storyarc from the “Superman/Batman” comic book series (issues 8-13) by Jeph Loeb and the late Michael Turner. The story centered around Supergirl’s arrival on Earth and the very different reactions that Superman and Batman had to her. Supergirl/Kara was voiced by Summer Glau, who is well-known to sci-fi and comic book fans for her roles as River on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” and Isabel Rochev on “Arrow.”
Another direct-to-DVD animated feature, “Superman: Unbound,” was released in 2013. This film was based on a storyline from Action Comics #866-870 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank which introduced a revamped Brainiac to the comics. Supergirl had a supporting role in this film and was voiced by Molly Quinn, known for her role as Alexis Castle on the TV series “Castle.”
Supergirl is about to fly back to television screens when she debuts in her very first solo TV series, “Supergirl,” which premieres on October 26 on CBS. Melissa Benoist stars as Kara/Supergirl. The new series boasts some super street cred right out of the gate: executive producer Greg Berlanti also oversees the popular “Flash” and “Arrow” TV shows. Don’t expect “Supergirl” to cross over with Berlanti’s other shows though, at least not right away. “Flash” and “Arrow” air on the CW, and CBS president Nina Tassler has said they are going to “keep Supergirl to ourselves for awhile”… although hopeful fans aren’t ruling out the possibility that that could change down the road. (Fun fact: “Supergirl” star Melissa Benoist and “Flash” star Grant Gustin both previously appeared on “Glee.” Although they were in a few of the same episodes, their characters never interacted with each another.) The new series will follow Kara as she starts to follow in her famous cousin’s footsteps. Viewers aren’t likely to see much of Superman himself, however. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Ali Adler drew comparisons to “the way the president is shown on ‘Veep’.” (Translation: He will be referred to but probably not actually seen much, if ever, on screen.) As stated earlier, Helen Slater will appear as Eliza Danvers in the new “Supergirl” series, but she is not the only face that should be familiar to longtime fans of superheroics. Dean Cain, who played Clark Kent/Superman on “Lois & Clark,” will play Jeremiah Danvers. Rounding out the cast are Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, and Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant.
It is interesting to note after all of these examples that the new TV series marks only the second time that Supergirl has flown into the spotlight solo rather than playing a supporting role to her more famous cousin. The 1984 movie showed potential, but did not quite make Kara Zor-El a household name. Today, superheroes are appearing all over the television airwaves and filling the movie screens. In a landscape so cluttered with comic book adaptations, audiences might finally be ready for a different kind of superhero. If Ms. Benoist can channel that same sense of innocence and wonder behind the super strength that Helen Slater brought to the role 30 years ago, maybe Supergirl will finally soar to her greatest heights yet.
Supergirl premieres Monday night, October 26 at 8:30PM ET/PT on CBS. Read some of Russ Dimino’s other Many Faces columns here!
