Supergirl Just Set Up Another Huge DC Retcon (& An Even More Tragic Origin For Kara Zor-El)

DC enjoys putting its characters through the wringer. Bruce Wayne is more well off than most, but by all accounts, he’s a humble kid who’s looking forward to making positive changes to the world once he’s all grown up. Well, that plan goes up in flames when his parents meet the wrong end of a gun in an alleyway. Instead of following in his father’s footsteps and spending all his time running Wayne Enterprises, Bruce picks up a few tricks from masters all over the world and becomes the vigilante known as Batman. It’s easily one of DC’s most tragic origin stories, but at least Batman gets to know his birth parents.

The other half of World’s Finest, Superman, leaves for Earth when his home planet, Krypton, is on the brink of destruction. He’s fortunate to end up on the doorstep of a lovely couple in Kansas and learn right from wrong, but something is still missing from his life. Unfortunately, barking up the Krypton tree proves to be a bad move for Kal-El in James Gunn’s DC Universe, as he learns his birth parents wanted him to rule the Earth, not save it. However, as bad as that is, it pales in comparison to what Supergirl is setting up for Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El.

The Supergirl Trailer Teases the True Fate of Krypton

The only real connection Superman has to Krypton in the DCU is the Fortress of Solitude, which houses a message from his parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. Of course, Lex Luthor and his cronies uncover the fact that their words come from a hostile place, which shakes Clark Kent to his core and makes the public turn their backs on his superhero persona. What’s strange, though, is that Clark never asks his cousin about the message, letting her off the hook when she comes and picks up Krypto at the end of the movie. But he may have a good reason for going easy on her, as the Supergirl trailer teases that life on Krypton was far from straightforward for her.

In the first look at the new film, Kara makes a new friend, Ruthye Marye Knoll, who has more than a few questions about Kryptonians. Kara isn’t all that eager to answer them, but she does drop one line of dialogue that’s worth 1,000: “Krypton didn’t die in a day. The gods aren’t that kind.” While it’s easy to assume she’s alluding to the fact that Krypton’s leaders knew about the dangers the planet faced way ahead of time, there’s another explanation that comes straight out of the comic books that could change everything.

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DC Comics has been through its fair share of reboots, but the powers that be at DC Studios don’t have to follow just one continuity and can pick and choose what they want to bring to the big screen. Based on Supergirl’s comments, it seems as if her solo movie is going to adapt a portion of Krypton’s Earth-One storyline. In that continuity, Kara’s father, Zor-El, places a dome over his home, Argo City, which saves most of its residents during Krypton’s destruction. The city wanders the stars for a while before coming into contact with a yellow sun that grants everyone powers. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys their abilities, and Argo City is sabotaged, setting the stage for its end as well.

Zor-El and his wife, Allura In-Ze, have the foresight to send their daughter away, hoping she can reach her cousin on Earth. However, the rest of Argo isn’t so lucky, with the rest of the Kryptonians meeting their end around 15 years after Krypton’s destruction. The timeline of events may need to be adjusted for the DCU, but there’s a good chance that Kara is wrestling with the demons that come from losing Argo, not from losing Krypton as a whole. That would explain why she’s not quick to talk about Jor-El, as her focus is on her own parents, who probably weren’t worried about their offspring ruling other plants but keeping their own colony alive and thriving.

Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026.

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