5 Ways That Supergirl is Different from Superman in DC Comics

The next DCU movie hits this year with Supergirl, and the story introduces a very different hero from her cousin Superman. Supergirl made her DCU debut at the end of 2025’s Superman, arriving at the Fortress of Solidude, busting a hole in the ceiling, and then she took back her dog Krypto, whom she had left with her cousin. Many fans seemed shocked to see her portrayed as a “party girl,” but that isn’t exactly what she is, or what this scene meant. Supergirl does drink more than her cousin, but that is because her life is very different from Kal-El’s.

Here are five ways that DCU fans will need to keep in mind about Supergirl, and what makes her different from Superman, before her solo movie arrives later in 2026.

5) Supergirl Wasn’t Raised With Clark Kent’s Morals

Superman has made it his goal to save as many people as possible, and his main goal is to help everyone, even his enemies. However, Supergirl is not that person. The big difference here is that Superman arrived on Earth as a baby and was raised to adulthood by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Superman isn’t a great hero because of anything except for the way that the Kents raised him. However, Supergirl was not raised on Earth at all. She was raised in the Kryptonian city of Argho City, a city that survived Krypton’s explosion.

Supergirl then grew up in Argo City with her fellow Kryptonians, but things were not easy there. The city had strife and disagreements, and the end came when someone demanded to move it further into space, where the protective bubble surrounding it was punctured. She then watched her family and friends die, and she arrived on Earth as a teenager with great anger. She didn’t have the family Clark Kent had.

4) Supergirl Has A Few Powers Superman Doesn’t

Supergirl and Superman have similar powers. Under the yellow sun, they have the same powers that all Kryptonians have in that atmosphere. They both absorb the solar energy, and it gives them super strength, durability, and stamina, allowing them to shoot heat vision from their eyes, as well as super hearing, X-ray vision, flight, super breath, and more.

The joke is that DC Comics always just gave Superman more powers when the need arose, but most of his weird powers were one-off powers that didn’t stick. However, Supergirl does have some unique powers that Superman doesn’t have. She has energy projection powers that can cover her body with a glowing light that even allows her to break free from Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth. The New 52 also gave Supergirl the power to create a super solar flare to act as a human torch.

3) Supergirl Often Prefers to Be Off Earth

Superman is a child of Earth, even if he was born on Krypton. However, Supergirl never felt at home on Earth, and she prefers to leave Earth more often than her cousin. This was made even more apparent when New Krypton was moved to the other side of the sun, and Supergirl preferred to leave Earth and live on New Krypton with her own people rather than on her adoptive home planet.

This was also the leading plot point from the Superman: Woman of Tomorrow comic book that the upcoming movie is based on. She can’t get drunk on Earth, so she goes to a planet with a red sun so she can drown her sorrow, thanks to her depression surrounding her origin story and the death of Argo City. In the upcoming movie, she is on a space-faring adventure where she helps a young girl from another planet find revenge.

2) Supergirl Doesn’t Hold Back Like Superman

As mentioned, Supergirl did not grow up with the morals or patience of her cousin Superman. In the trailer for the Supergirl movie, the Woman of Tomorrow said that Superman looks for the best in people, and she sees them for the truth. This is why Superman holds back in almost all of his fights, while Supergirl is not quite so careful when it comes to beating up her enemies.

Supergirl has no problem brutalizing her superpowered enemies when the time comes, and she won’t hold back to protect her villains. This is something that looks like it will play into the upcoming movie, as Supergirl seems more than happy to get into a giant fight and seems to thrive on these battles, whereas her cousin prefers to avoid a fight when possible.

1) Supergirl Grew Up Watching Her Planet Die Around Her

As mentioned, Supergirl watched her family and loved ones all die on her planet before she ever headed to Earth to join her cousin. When Krypton was about to explode, Kal-El’s parents decided to rocket their baby to Earth to keep him alive. However, Kara’s city leaders chose to protect their own home, and they built a giant dome to surround the city, which protected it from the explosion.

After Krypton exploded, Argo City floated through space in the bubble, and everyone went on with their lives. However, with limited resources and a need for survival, the government had to become stricter and more draconian. As the city moved closer to a yellow sun, the Kryptonians began to develop powers, but city leaders knew this was a mistake and forced the planet away from the sun. However, a leak caused the ground to become radioactive. This is when Kara’s parents finally sent her away before all her friends, family, and fellow Kryptonians in Argo City died.

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