DC’s Upcoming Supergirl Comic Will Make Arrowverse Fans Very Happy

It’s a great time to be a Supergirl fan. When James Gunn announced the DCU, Supergirl was a part of it, and Gunn revealed that Supergirl would take inspiration from the modern classic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. That series reignited interest in Supergirl in the comics, and she’s since been a part of the cast of Action Comics and Power Girl, as well as appearing in a one-shot. DC has announced a new Supergirl series to coincide with Gunn’s Superman, from writer/artist Sophie Campbell, ready to take advantage of Super-mania. Campbell has talked about the series a lot and in a recent League of Comic Geeks’ AMA revealed that one of the most important relationships in the book will be the one between Supergirl and Lena Luthor, something that was also very important in the Arrowverse, specifically The CW’s Supergirl live-action series. It’s news that will make fans very happy.

When a fan asked about Campbell’s inspiration for the comics version of Lena Luthor in the upcoming series, Campbell confirmed that she was a fan of actor Katie McGrath’s portrayal and while there are some differences overall, there is a strong influence in the relationship between Kara and Lena.

“I also love Katie McGrath’s Lena, she is the best,” Campbell wrote. “The character in the comics is Lex Luthor’s daughter rather than sister, though, so our Lena is a bit different, she’s younger and less put-together than the CW Lena. I’m definitely aiming for a strong friendship between she and Kara, in any case!”

Much of Supergirl’s current popularity came from the CW series Supergirl, which starred Melissa Benoist as Supergirl. Benoist redefined who Supergirl could be to modern audiences and part of that was her relationship with Lena Luthor, played by McGrath. In the show, Lena Luthor was the half-sister of Lex Luthor, and she took over LexCorp from her half-brother, often working with Supergirl. Their friendship became an important part of Supergirl, and it sounds like Campbell plans to use that sort of relationship as the basis for the relationship between Supergirl and the new Lena Luthor in the comics.

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Lena Luthor in Comics is a Little Different (And Complicated)

Lena Luthor first appeared in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #23. After Lex began his criminal career, the family changed their name to “Thorul”, and Lena never knew she had a brother. Her parents were killed in an auto accident, and she learned the truth about her heritage after meeting Lois Lane. After Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted DC continuity, the first Lena Luthor in the post-Crisis universe was actually Luthor’s daughter — that’s the version that will be in the new Supergirl series — named after his dead foster sister. After Infinite Crisis reset things to be more pre-Crisis, Lena returned as his bio sister, but was paralyzed. When Flashpoint created the New 52 DC Multiverse (DC continuity is almost comically convoluted), Lena Luthor was brought back as Lex’s sister and she was paralyzed, becoming a villain for Lana Lang while she was Superwoman. Lena Luthor sometimes had telepathic powers, and sometimes was just as smart as her brother.

Lex Luthor has been going through a lot of changes in the Superman books in recent years. Lex and Superman have been working together since Lex was arrested for murdering Manchester Black, using his telepathic brain to erase the memory of Superman’s secret identity from the world. Lex transformed LexCorp into SuperCorp, putting all of his resources at Superman’s disposal. Lex lost his memory during an attack by Brainiac, but has been slowly regaining it, revealing his true plan for SuperCorp. His daughter Lena returned to his side, enjoying this new side of her father and finally forging a relationship with him.

Supergirl has been hanging around Superman ever since he returned to Earth at the end of “Warworld Saga”, and has worked with Lena several times. The two of them are of a similar age and temperament, so getting a book where they work together like they did in the CW show is a great idea. Supergirl needs her own supporting characters if she’s going to have a series who aren’t just Superman and his family, so shifting Lena to her book is an idea ripe with potential.

Supergirl #1 releases on May 14, 2025 and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow hits theaters on June 26, 2026.