Every Actor Who Has Played Supergirl in DC’s Live-Action Ranked

Though her lore may not be as old and varied as her Kryptonian cousin’s, Kara Zor-El, or Supergirl has still made an indelible mark on comics and media since she was introduced in 1959. Unlike Superman, Kara was a young girl when her home Krypton was doomed, and escaped the planet’s demise with her parents Zor-El and Alura In-Ze in Argo City, a self-sustaining portion of Krypton where life continued as it drifted through space. Yet when Argo City, Kara was sent to Earth, much like her cousin Kal-El. Since then, she’s gone by several aliases, from Kara Kent, Kara Danvers, Linda Lee, or some combination of the former names, and has lit up both the big and small screens. However, some actors have done a better job with Kara than others.

Honorable Mention – Milly Alcock, The DCU

So far in the DCU, Kara Zor-El has only appeared in one scene at the tail end of Superman and in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in the Peacemaker Season 2, so it doesn’t feel fair yet to add her to the rankings of Supergirls yet. We will say that actor Milly Alcock is off to a strong start playing the Kryptonian. The DCU version of Kara is heavily based on the version of her in the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comics, where Kara begins the story as an irreverent, insolent party girl. Alcock immediately nailed that characterization in her single scene in Superman, making us all laugh when she called her Boy Scout cousin a “bitch” and embraced Krypto’s misbehaved antics. While it may be too soon to tell if Alcock will make a worthy Supergirl, we’re optimistic about her solo film next year and her future in the DCU in general.

4) Sash Calle, The Flash (2023)

There was a lot wrong with the DCEU The Flash movie, and its portrayal of Kara Zor-El was one of them. While we enjoyed her taking down the Russians in that stunning fight sequence from the film, Sasha Calle’s darker, brooding take on Supergirl failed to make her endearing or memorable in any way, shape, or form. Kara’s characterization in The Flash was very much in line with Cavill’s grittier take on Superman, yet Cavill still found moments of performance in Zack Snyder’s DCEU where the audience could connect with his version of Kal-El. To be fair, though, Calle’s Kara wasn’t the lead of the film, and she had significantly less screen time to make an impact. Still, her version of Supergirl came across as a little one-note.

3) Helen Slater, Supergirl (1984)

After three successful Superman films starring Christopher Reeve, Helen Slater took up the mantle of Supergirl in a 1984 feature film. Unlike Superman (1978), Supergirl was both a critical and commercial flop. Even so, Slater did effortlessly channel Kara’s guilelessness and purity of heart, much like her onscreen cousin, played by Reeve. The film is weighed down by its lackluster script and cheesy effects, but Slater still does her best with what she’s given, imbuing Kara with an inherent grace and a sense of self-possession that was rare to see in female leading characters forty years ago.

2) Laura Vandervoort, Smallville

Laura Vandervoort’s version of Kara soared into the seventh season of Smallville in 2007 as a breath of fresh air. Confident and endlessly curious, not only did she make a compelling and entertaining contrast with Tom Welling’s more reserved take on Clark Kent, she also brought the character firmly into the 21st century. Whereas Slater’s Supergirl is naive and ethereal, Vandervoort was able to make Kara feel more human over the course of her journey on the show. She assumes her destiny more quickly than Clark, and still projects self-assuredness and strength, no matter how many hokey and objectifying situations the show’s writers put her in.

1) Melissa Benoist, Supergirl and The Arrowverse

Supergirl finally got to be the star of her own show in 2015, first on CBS, and then as part of the Arrowverse on the CW from 2016 to 2021. Melissa Benoist got to play a version of Kara that had grown up on Earth, and did an excellent job of balancing her human side, which harbors guilt and remorse, with the lofty ideals that make her a Kryptonian hero. There’s a reason the show lasted six seasons, and a large part of it was due to Benoist’s ability to walk the heroic tightrope between relatable and aspirational. Like the other series in the Arrowverse, Supergirl could be broad and campy; for example, there was a crossover musical episode with The Flash, but Benoist managed to ground her version of Kara whenever possible, without coming across as above the material.

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Every Version of Supergirl, Ranked