[0:00] Welcome back, Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Ary
[0:01] and this is all of the Easter eggs,
[0:02] references, and little things you might
[0:04] have missed in Supergirl. Now, we are
[0:05] going to break down all of the nods to
[0:07] the original comic that inspired this
[0:08] film and what all of this means for DC's
[0:11] universe at large. Supergirl is the
[0:13] second film in James Gun's DCU, and
[0:15] while it is not a direct sequel to last
[0:17] year's Superman, it does take place
[0:19] between the events of Superman and Man
[0:21] of Tomorrow. Supergirl was originally
[0:24] announced in 2023 when Gun unveiled the
[0:26] first slate for the DCU, Gods and
[0:28] Monsters. Then it was titled Supergirl
[0:30] Woman of Tomorrow, sharing the title
[0:32] with the amazing comic that it's based
[0:34] on, but later it was shortened to just
[0:36] Supergirl. But didn't we just say
[0:37] Supergirl? She was in the Flash. That's
[0:39] a different one, buddy. Following this
[0:41] soft reboot, House of the Dragon actress
[0:43] Millie Alco was cast as the Kryptonian
[0:45] as we saw in Superman.
[0:47] >> Why did you move the door?
[0:48] >> Now, as I said, this movie is an
[0:50] adaptation of the book Supergirl, Woman
[0:52] of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bill Eve.
[0:54] Woman of Tomorrow is a pretty recent
[0:56] addition to the Supergirl mythos coming
[0:58] out in 2021. But it has quickly become
[1:00] one of the defining stories for Cara
[1:03] Zorel. But before we get into all of the
[1:04] connections to that comic, let me
[1:06] explain a little bit of Cara's comic
[1:08] history and where we last saw her in the
[1:10] DCU. Supergirl first appeared way back
[1:12] in 1959 in Action Comics 252, and she
[1:15] was created by Auto Bender and
[1:16] Alpistino. That comic introduced us to a
[1:18] car that is pretty different from the
[1:20] one we see in this movie. Originally,
[1:22] Cara was very similar to her cousin,
[1:24] taking on a human alias as Linda Lee and
[1:26] then supergirling in secret. Then during
[1:28] DC's Crisis on Infinite Earth storyline,
[1:31] Cara was killed off. Now, at the time,
[1:33] people felt that Supergirl was
[1:34] essentially a female Superman, and not
[1:36] many writers took the chance to expand
[1:38] on the character. During this time, a
[1:40] shape- shifter named Matrix from a
[1:41] pocket universe arrived on Prime Earth.
[1:43] There, she took the form of Supergirl
[1:45] and briefly worked with Superman to stop
[1:47] Cryptonian criminals back in her
[1:48] universe. However, after a while, she
[1:50] became disillusional, believing that she
[1:52] was Clark, and she almost harmed the
[1:54] Kents. Because of this, she fled off
[1:55] into space, and once again, the DC
[1:57] universe was Supergirlless. That was
[1:59] until Jeff Lo's Superman Batman run in
[2:02] 2003 when Cara Zorel finally returned.
[2:04] But this time, she was her own
[2:06] character. This version of Cara has
[2:08] evolved over the years. But it's in
[2:10] Woman of Tomorrow that we really get to
[2:12] see how heavily her past is weighing on
[2:14] her. Despite a couple of retcons, her
[2:16] backstory has mostly remained the same.
[2:18] It's the exploration of how she's dealt
[2:20] with her backstory that has made her
[2:21] such an interesting character,
[2:23] especially in contrast with Superman.
[2:25] And not only do we see that in this
[2:27] movie, but even from the minute she
[2:28] first appeared in Superman.
[2:30] >> Thanks for watching him, [ __ ]
[2:32] >> Cara has a far more tragic experience of
[2:35] Krypton's destruction than Clark does.
[2:36] And the way that she's handling that
[2:38] trauma is a defining part of her
[2:40] character. Last we saw her in Superman,
[2:42] she was going off to planets with red
[2:43] suns to party. Cara is still in the
[2:46] middle of dealing with her grief, all
[2:47] the while trying to be a superhero.
[2:49] Despite how damaging her coping
[2:51] mechanisms may be, she continues to push
[2:53] through her own struggles to come to the
[2:55] aid of others, albeit reluctantly.
[2:57] >> Congratulations, you wore me down.
[2:59] >> The movie begins with the new logo for
[3:01] the DCU we've seen in every project so
[3:03] far. We open up inside of Cara Ship, and
[3:05] immediately the production design for
[3:06] this movie was off the charts. Although
[3:09] we don't see the interior of Cara ship
[3:11] and woman of tomorrow, the space is
[3:12] exactly how you would have imagined a
[3:14] young adults cluttered apartment would
[3:16] look like. I love the design of this
[3:18] ship. It looks not only functional, but
[3:20] lived in. We see Cara fix something
[3:22] that's in a repair hatch on the floor.
[3:23] Much like in the Millennium Falcon, this
[3:25] is her ship through and through, and
[3:27] it's clear she spends an awful lot of
[3:29] time here. After Krypto knocks over a
[3:31] couple of bottles, we see a leftover
[3:32] Daily Planet newspaper thrown onto the
[3:34] ground. The headline reads, "Superman
[3:37] saves town from nuclear reactor
[3:38] explosion." But down below, we see a
[3:40] much smaller article about Supergirl
[3:42] rescuing cats. Now, her saving some
[3:44] kittens could be a reference to her
[3:46] cousin doing the same thing back in the
[3:48] original Superman film. A scene that,
[3:49] oddly enough, ended with child abuse.
[3:52] >> This man swooped out in the sky and gave
[3:54] him I told him to stop telling lies.
[3:57] >> However, this is also showing how she's
[3:59] not really admired as much as Clark.
[4:01] Sure, she saved some cats, but he saved
[4:03] a whole town. It's no wonder that at
[4:05] this point in her life, she'd rather be
[4:07] anywhere but Earth, and we'll see her
[4:09] express that sentiment more later on.
[4:11] Krypto fittingly uses it as a pee peep
[4:13] pad, to which Cara says,
[4:14] >> "You managed to get most of it on the
[4:16] paper this time."
[4:18] >> Remember, Krypto was a troublemaker in
[4:19] the Superman movie, and Cara has not
[4:21] done anything to train him since then.
[4:23] Now, Krypto's creation in the DCU was
[4:25] based on James Gun's dog, Ozu, who he
[4:27] adopted while he was writing Superman.
[4:29] Ozu ended up destroying the laptop that
[4:31] Gun was writing the first draft on, and
[4:33] he was then inspired to add Crypto to
[4:35] the script. Also, not for nothing, James
[4:37] Gun told us that his dog Ozu freaks out
[4:39] whenever he sees Doug on screen. I'm
[4:41] famous. You kind of are. This newspaper
[4:43] also has a neat reference to comic
[4:45] artist John Rita Jr. right here, who
[4:47] became the pencellor for Superman in
[4:48] 2014 and worked on Superman year 1. The
[4:51] song playing during this scene is This
[4:53] Summer by Sleigh Bells, and the lyrics
[4:54] fit Cara's current lifestyle perfectly.
[4:57] It is about how you don't know when your
[4:59] life will end. So, you might as well
[5:00] just have fun, but to an extreme and
[5:02] almost numbing extent. And that's
[5:04] exactly what we see Cara doing
[5:06] throughout the beginning of this film.
[5:07] After she gets up, Cara watches a video
[5:09] message from her cousin on her space
[5:11] computer. Something I loved about this
[5:12] film is how it mixed familiar objects
[5:14] like computers or jukeboxes, but then
[5:16] added an alien twist. It's recognizable
[5:19] as a computer screen, yet it has a
[5:21] joystick, some red glowing buttons, and
[5:22] symbols on its keyboard. Next to the
[5:24] computer, we see a box of Milk Bones
[5:26] treats. Treat?
[5:27] >> Yes. And it's a nod to the collaboration
[5:29] ad that DC released.
[5:34] What you say?
[5:36] >> Her sink is also full of dishes, and
[5:37] there's what I presume to be a bowl of
[5:39] microwave noodles on her counter. All in
[5:41] all, it's a very perfect apartment for a
[5:43] 23-year-old. Clark says,
[5:44] >> "Okay, don't look too much."
[5:46] >> And later adds,
[5:47] >> I'm worried you're not going to find
[5:48] your people.
[5:48] >> Like he expressed in Superman, he has
[5:50] concerns with the amount of partying
[5:52] that Cara does in her life. He feels
[5:53] like Cara won't ever be able to find her
[5:55] place on Earth if she keeps going off to
[5:57] other planets. However, that's the core
[5:59] of the conflict between them. Cara won't
[6:01] ever find her place on Earth. It's
[6:03] completely alien to her. While Earth is
[6:05] all Clark knows, Cara doesn't feel at
[6:07] home here. Krypton still feels like her
[6:09] home. So, no matter how much
[6:10] supergirling Cara does on Earth, she
[6:12] will always feel alien. Cara then hangs
[6:14] up on Clark and goes to pilot her ship.
[6:16] We again see how lived in the ship is
[6:18] with duct tape slapped on the top of the
[6:20] seat and its edges framed. In the back
[6:22] of the cockpit, we also see a cute photo
[6:24] of Krypto taped on the wall. Now, when
[6:25] Cara sits down, Krypto hops up in her
[6:27] lap, just like he did to Lois and
[6:29] Superman.
[6:30] >> No, dog. Dog, I really need you.
[6:33] >> So, this shows us where he got the habit
[6:35] from. Cara is wearing these huge
[6:36] sunglasses, another indicator of her
[6:38] ongoing hangover from her birthday week
[6:40] celebration. She also has a blondie
[6:42] t-shirt, a nod to the song Call Me for
[6:44] the trailer of the film. And she's also
[6:45] wearing this trench coat. In both her
[6:47] last appearance in Superman and in the
[6:49] comic book Woman of Tomorrow, she wears
[6:50] a similar trench coat. So, she ventures
[6:52] off to a planet with a red sun called
[6:54] Holer, named after Britney Holer, one of
[6:56] the editors on the Woman of Tomorrow
[6:57] comic. She is actually the editor that
[6:59] Tom King created for convincing him to
[7:01] use Supergirl in this true grid
[7:02] allegory, but more on that later. And
[7:04] this is also not the only nod we'll see
[7:06] to the creators, as we'll touch on in
[7:08] just a sec. The exterior of her ship is
[7:09] also identical to the one from the
[7:11] comics. Now, we don't get to see much
[7:12] more of it in the books, but it has the
[7:14] same triangular frame and top wing. Cara
[7:16] chooses holes her to party on
[7:18] specifically because, like Clark
[7:19] explained in Superman,
[7:20] >> because of our metabolism, we can't get
[7:22] drunk on a planet with a yellow sun.
[7:24] >> Her Kryptonian biology does not allow
[7:26] her to metabolize alcohol normally on
[7:28] planets with yellow suns. So, in order
[7:30] to party like she wants to, she jets off
[7:32] to red sun planets. The bar she ends up
[7:34] at is the same one from the comic called
[7:36] the Whale Tower. there. She lives up to
[7:38] her title as the woman of steel and
[7:39] takes the drinks from this guy who's
[7:41] dozing off. Cara and Krypto then enjoy
[7:43] crowd surfing at a killer alien rave.
[7:46] The alien designs in this movie are so
[7:48] cool. This is our first official look at
[7:50] the universe part of the DCU. We visit
[7:52] five planets in this film. And in this
[7:54] rave shot alone, we can point out at
[7:56] least 10 different designs of creatures.
[7:58] Now, despite the shift in aesthetics
[7:59] from the comic, the film still carries
[8:01] the same unique spirit that Woman of
[8:03] Tomorrow was so loud for. Hard cut to
[8:05] the next day and Cara is feeling it.
[8:07] Girl, I've been there. Waking up on the
[8:09] messy floor of her spaceship from
[8:10] underneath a blanket, she says,
[8:12] >> "Oh, I need a yellow sun like now."
[8:14] >> Which is exactly what we theorize would
[8:16] be her hangover cure.
[8:17] >> What do you mean?
[8:18] >> Well, like how red suns depower her,
[8:20] yellow suns repower her. In the presence
[8:22] of a yellow sun, Kryptonians gain
[8:24] incredible powers and heal at an
[8:26] extraordinary rate. Cara plays fetch
[8:28] with Crypto in space, which we've seen
[8:29] Clark do with him in the comic All-Star
[8:31] Superman. And this is also how Krypto
[8:33] saved the day in Superman.
[8:34] >> Krypto,
[8:37] get the toy.
[8:38] >> So when Krypto returns the ball that
[8:39] Cara threw, he rams into her at full
[8:41] speed, mirroring their reunion from
[8:43] Superman.
[8:44] >> Okay, well this is why he has behavioral
[8:45] issues.
[8:46] >> This opening is so perfect because it
[8:48] already sets up how important Krypto is
[8:50] to her, how he's literally her only
[8:52] friend. Within the first 15 minutes of
[8:54] Superman, Clark has already spoken to
[8:56] Lois, Jimmy, Ma, Paw, the Superman
[8:58] robots, and the other Daily Planet
[8:59] staff. By 15 minutes into Supergirl,
[9:02] Cara has only spoken to Krypto. He
[9:04] really is the only person she has left.
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[10:31] to what I was saying. Back on Eively, we
[10:33] see the null house, which looks similar
[10:34] to its comic counterpart. This opening
[10:36] planet was also filmed in Scotland like
[10:38] a lot of other scenery we'll point out
[10:40] later on. The Brigen ship then docks in
[10:42] their yard as Crim and his gang descend
[10:43] upon the house. Now, we get our first
[10:45] look at Crim of the Yellow Hills, and he
[10:46] looks nothing like he does in the
[10:48] comics, and yet it still works. In the
[10:50] comic, Crim's design is still mostly
[10:52] human aside from his purple eyes. Here,
[10:54] however, the guy looks insane. His face
[10:57] is covered in dots, scars. He has golden
[10:59] eyes. He still has his orange hair, but
[11:01] it's braided down his back instead of
[11:03] cropped short. His sword and bow are
[11:05] swapped for a battle axe and a crossbow,
[11:07] and his leather pants are upgraded to a
[11:09] total steampunk pirate Viking makeover.
[11:11] His armor has a metal spine running down
[11:14] its back and a metal rib cage with what
[11:16] looks like teeth lining it. I like that.
[11:18] Even though he looks entirely different,
[11:20] he still has the same air of medieval
[11:22] mysticism that we saw in the comic. The
[11:24] great thing about Woman of Tomorrow is
[11:25] that it combines so many genres,
[11:27] medieval fantasy, space opera, sci-fi,
[11:29] western adventure, all into one story.
[11:31] So, this gives the creators liberty to
[11:33] make design choices like this. Crim is
[11:35] still medieval in design, just way more
[11:37] hardcore. Now, this whole interaction is
[11:39] entirely different from the source
[11:41] material. In the comic, Ruthie explains
[11:42] how Creme stayed with the NLES for
[11:44] shelter before betraying her father and
[11:46] attacking him. In the comics, her father
[11:48] was just an unarmed rock farmer, but
[11:49] here he is Elias Null, a known
[11:52] swordsmith. He is played by Ferdinand
[11:54] Kingsley, who previously portrayed
[11:55] another DC character, Hob Gadling in the
[11:57] Sandman. He shows Creme a blade that he
[11:59] crafted made of the strongest material,
[12:01] which I'm theorizing might be inthmetal.
[12:03] In the comics, in Metal is the second
[12:05] strongest metal in the universe, and
[12:06] it's what Hawk Girl's mace is made out
[12:08] of. Now, while it's not yet confirmed
[12:09] what the material of the mace is, we've
[12:12] seen Hawk Girl use it in Superman, so
[12:13] it's not unlikely that this sword could
[12:15] also be nth metal. He then asks for some
[12:18] of the family's pie, and you'll notice
[12:19] Crim is eating a lot through this film.
[12:21] It shows his savagery, how he always
[12:23] consumes other people's belongings and
[12:25] does nothing to create something new.
[12:27] After Ruthy's brother interrupts Crim
[12:29] threatening of the parents, the Brigen
[12:30] kills them all aside from Ruthie. Now,
[12:32] the way he kills Ruthy's father with the
[12:34] blade is the same as in the book, but
[12:36] the rest of the circumstances are
[12:37] different. In Woman of Tomorrow, Ruthie
[12:39] is one of seven children and her father
[12:41] is the only one to die. However,
[12:43] Gillespie Nguira decided to leave Ruthie
[12:45] as the lone survivor. Ruthie then buries
[12:47] her family and starts on her quest for
[12:49] vengeance.
[12:51] I'm vengeance. Which brings her to Whale
[12:54] Tower where Cara is once again
[12:56] celebrating her 23rd birthday. Cara is
[12:58] still in the same clothes from earlier,
[12:59] although now she's carrying her MP3
[13:01] player and has headphones around her
[13:03] neck. This, of course, felt very
[13:04] reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy
[13:06] Star-Lord. We find out that Cara is
[13:08] using this MP3 player to block out the
[13:10] overwhelming sounds of her super senses.
[13:12] And this is very similar to how
[13:14] Star-Lord used his Walkman to shut out
[13:16] his own pain and keep himself attached
[13:17] to his home. In both cases, these aliens
[13:20] use music to shut out their new home
[13:22] worlds and ground themselves in their
[13:23] past. While drinking copious amounts of
[13:25] alien alcohol, she promises Crypto
[13:27] >> 23 will be the best year yet.
[13:29] >> Before pondering whether or not this
[13:31] planet could be home, which is the
[13:33] recurring theme of this movie. Cara's
[13:35] whole arc is about trying to find a home
[13:36] and what home means to someone who's had
[13:39] theirs taken away. This has also been a
[13:40] common theme in the DCU in general.
[13:43] >> Krypto
[13:46] home.
[13:46] >> James Gunn has made it clear that he
[13:48] wants to do all of these characters in
[13:49] the cinematic universe right and bring
[13:52] them home to their best iterations. Cara
[13:54] then plugs her intergalactic MP3 player
[13:56] into the jukebox and starts playing
[13:58] Catch These Fists by Wetle Leg. The song
[14:00] is about, well, exactly what the title
[14:02] says, catch these fists. Which is what
[14:03] Cara is about to say to that one guy.
[14:05] >> It's not too late to not be a jerk.
[14:09] >> Cara's dance party is then interrupted
[14:10] by Ruthie, who announces that she needs
[14:12] help tracking down the killer of her
[14:14] family, and in return, they will get her
[14:15] father's finest blade. And I loved how
[14:17] they did the cliche music stop when
[14:19] somebody raises their voice, but it was
[14:21] just Krypto unplugging the jukebox. Now,
[14:23] this is also similar to Ruthie's actions
[14:24] in the comics, although she only sought
[14:26] the help of one mercenary at the bar.
[14:28] However, this is where she and Cara meet
[14:30] in the book. And like in the comic,
[14:32] Ruthie is immediately dismissed and an
[14:34] alien steals a sword from her. Cara then
[14:36] goes after the guy, which of course
[14:37] causes a fight. This whole scene is
[14:39] pulled from Cara's introduction in the
[14:41] Woman of Tomorrow comic. When she does
[14:43] get cut during the fight, she says,
[14:44] "Hey, I'm bleeding." Just like her
[14:46] reaction in the book, she easily whoops
[14:48] the guy's ass despite being on a red sun
[14:50] planet and then returns the sword to
[14:51] Ruthie. When Cara answers a call from
[14:53] Clark the next day, he says,
[14:54] >> "Wor you're not going to find your
[14:56] people." And then Cara replies,
[14:57] >> "Yeah, well that's the thing, Clark."
[14:59] >> Now, this is one of the major
[15:00] differences between the Super Cousins.
[15:02] Clark loves people. He is surrounded by
[15:03] them. He has his parents, Jimmy, Lois,
[15:06] and now the Justice Gang. But Cara just
[15:08] has crypto. Her dog has been with her
[15:10] since the moment she lost everything.
[15:12] Cara does not see the view of returning
[15:13] to what is in her view an alien planet
[15:15] like Earth when her home is there with
[15:17] her. And guys, to celebrate the DCU, the
[15:19] team and I had a blast designing these
[15:21] new parody shirts, like this absolutely
[15:23] kick-ass Lobo biker tea in the style of
[15:26] a biker vest. We also have Krypto as
[15:28] Snoopy destroying his own dog house.
[15:30] Supergirl as Rosie the Riveter saying,
[15:32] "Don't [ __ ] with my dog." And Cara
[15:34] reimagined as a Barbie redesign. This is
[15:36] along with some of our old favorites
[15:37] like GI Robot in the style of G.I. Joe,
[15:40] the bird blindness PSA, Give a Hoot
[15:41] About Bird Blindness, and Where's the
[15:43] Dog? as well as Peacemaker is Charlie
[15:45] Brown and the Peace Cycle as the Akira
[15:47] Cycle. Remember, store members at our $5
[15:49] tier get an additional 15% off at our
[15:51] merch store sitewide. And shopping our
[15:53] store really does help out our channel.
[15:55] Thank you for helping us and the links
[15:56] are below. Her call is cut short when
[15:58] just like in the comics, Ruthie decides
[15:59] to follow her to the ship and requests
[16:01] that she aid in the hunt for Creme. Cara
[16:03] says that Ruthie is on glue, which has a
[16:05] double meaning here. Cara is saying that
[16:06] Ruthie is acting a little zany on glue
[16:09] and also won't leave her alone because
[16:10] she's stuck on her. Now, while the two
[16:12] argue back and forth, Crim and his merry
[16:14] band of pirates come across Cara's ship.
[16:16] This gets Krypto's attention, and he
[16:17] chases after Crim, who has made himself
[16:19] at home inside the ship. He then shoots
[16:21] Krypto before hijacking Cara ship. I
[16:23] thought he was Kryptonian. Oh, this poor
[16:26] puppy. Well, he is Kryptonian, but
[16:27] remember this planet that Cara was on
[16:29] for her birthday has a red sun just like
[16:31] Krypton did. So, if she can get her, so
[16:34] can Krypto. Notice the weapon that Crim
[16:36] uses when he raises at a crypto. It
[16:37] opens into a crossbow and fires a steel
[16:39] arrow. Again, Crim is still medieval.
[16:42] He's just tweaked to fit the grungier
[16:43] tone of the film. He's also far more
[16:45] evil in this version. He's already made
[16:47] himself at home on the ship eating
[16:49] Cara's cereal when he shoots Krypto.
[16:50] This is opposed to comic Creme who shot
[16:53] Krypto when he was defending Cara. This
[16:55] Creme is ruthless. He has no morals and
[16:57] blindly wields his weapon. And we see
[16:59] more of his depravity later on. The
[17:01] three of them go to a healer who tells
[17:02] Cara that she has only 3 days to cure
[17:05] Krypto and that
[17:06] >> the Brickens carry the antidote on that
[17:07] person. Now, this is slightly different
[17:09] from the comic. In issue two of the
[17:10] book, after Cara gets crypto to a
[17:12] mender, she is informed that in order to
[17:14] treat Crypto, she needs the original
[17:15] poison on the arrow, as the poison was
[17:18] not actually that harmful to people.
[17:20] This change from a couple of weeks to 3
[17:21] days puts more of a time crunch on their
[17:23] journey and makes every choice Cara
[17:25] makes feel all the more dire. She tells
[17:28] Crypto, "You cannot give up on me."
[17:30] >> Cara already watched her first home
[17:32] slowly die. And so, she can't bear to go
[17:34] through that again if she loses Crypto.
[17:35] He's the only one left who understands
[17:37] her and Clark once expressed a similar
[17:39] sentiment in Action Comics number 500.
[17:41] In that issue, while touring the
[17:43] Superman pavilion at the World's Fair,
[17:44] he talks about how Crypto changed his
[17:46] life. He says, "I could share with him
[17:48] things I desperately needed to share,
[17:50] like the sound that bullets make when
[17:51] they bounce off of your skin. Before
[17:53] Crypto, Clark felt lonely, just like he
[17:55] is a cure for Cara's loneliness in this
[17:57] film." And by the way, I want to point
[17:58] out, I'm pretty sure this location where
[18:00] they park the ship is Glenova in
[18:02] Scotland. Now, when Cara goes to hunt
[18:04] down Creme, Ruthie once more tries to
[18:06] follow, arguing that Creme needs to be
[18:08] killed. And while Cara agrees, she tells
[18:10] Ruthie the same thing from the comic.
[18:12] Don't kill people. It's bad. Cara then
[18:14] waits at an intergalactic bus stop, just
[18:16] like her and Ruthie did on the cover of
[18:17] Woman of Tomorrow, issue 2. Cara takes
[18:19] out a pocket watch that we later find
[18:21] out was given to her by her father and
[18:22] marks out 3 days. Her still holding on
[18:25] to this watch symbolizes her inability
[18:27] to move on past Krypton. She is forever
[18:29] stuck in the time of that planet. And
[18:31] when she sees the photo of Krypto on the
[18:33] inside, we get a flashback to their
[18:34] first meeting. Back on Argo City, we see
[18:36] a Kryptonian funeral procession. Now,
[18:38] the white robes they're wearing are
[18:40] similar to something we've seen in the
[18:41] comics. In Adventures of Superman issue
[18:43] 500, Paul Kent had a vision of Clark in
[18:45] the afterlife where the Kryptonians were
[18:47] trying to take him away, and they were
[18:49] wearing similar white robes during their
[18:50] funeral march. And the Kryptonian in the
[18:52] casket is Cara's mother, Allora, who was
[18:54] among the first to die during Argo
[18:56] City's deterioration. During the
[18:58] procession, Krypto runs over to Cara and
[19:00] we get our first look at David Crumb
[19:02] Holtz as Cara's father, Zorel. You might
[19:04] recognize Crumb Holtz from The Santa
[19:06] Claus or 10 Things I Hate About You, but
[19:08] more on Zorel in a bit. So, it seems
[19:10] like they have altered Krypto's origin
[19:11] in this universe, which I don't mind. In
[19:13] the comics, Krypto was initially Clark's
[19:15] dog. It wasn't until more recent years
[19:17] that Cara was seen as his owner. But
[19:19] this change works much better for the
[19:21] story being told. Krypto came to Cara
[19:23] during a moment of immeasurable grief
[19:25] and loss. Her home was just destroyed.
[19:28] All the people she knew and loved are
[19:29] dead. And out of nowhere, this little
[19:31] ball of hope comes racing up to her.
[19:33] This is her new chance at a home, which
[19:35] she says as much.
[19:36] >> There is no home
[19:38] >> without you, buddy.
[19:39] >> Now is the first time since that fateful
[19:41] day that she has been completely and
[19:43] utterly alone. The Halffrey, aka the
[19:45] Wormhole Express, then stops to pick up
[19:47] Cara, and it looks pretty similar to its
[19:49] design in the comics. We also get a
[19:50] cameo from none other than Seth Rogan,
[19:52] who voices the little alien guy helping
[19:54] to operate the bus. Hey, Seth Ro. What
[19:56] up man?
[19:56] >> The alien patrons on the bus are just as
[19:58] diverse as they were at the rave. Aside
[20:00] from the color differences side by side,
[20:02] the film and comic go toe-to-toe with
[20:04] their odd creature designs. Ruthie, of
[20:06] course, ends up following Cara to the
[20:08] bus and gets into a scuffle with an
[20:09] alien, which Cara quickly sorts out by
[20:11] speaking the other aliens language. Cara
[20:13] is canonically multilingual in the
[20:15] comics, and she's also fluent in
[20:16] English, Kryptonian, and all of Earth's
[20:18] languages. I also want to point out
[20:20] something that disappointed me. The
[20:21] alien attacks Ruthie because she placed
[20:22] her bag at her feet. And I thought
[20:24] during the big fight scene, one of the
[20:26] pirates would have put a bag down at the
[20:27] aliens feet, prompting her to attack
[20:29] again. It just would have been funny.
[20:30] Now, the bus is then attacked by these
[20:32] Scalarian raiders, which is a departure
[20:34] from the woman of tomorrow book. So, in
[20:36] the comic, the bus is attacked by a
[20:37] metal eating carpane dragon. Supergirl
[20:40] comes to everyone's aid by taking some
[20:41] red kryptonite and turns into a phoenix
[20:43] to defeat the dragon. Here, instead,
[20:45] they have the bus raided by Scalarians.
[20:47] Now, the Scalarians are an all-female
[20:49] group of space pirates that first
[20:50] appeared in Super Boy and the Legion of
[20:52] Superheroes number 233. They attack
[20:54] unsuspecting outposts and labs to get
[20:56] their high-tech equipment, so it makes
[20:58] sense that they would attack the
[20:59] wormhole express. Despite not having a
[21:01] huge space dragon, this scene was a lot
[21:03] of fun. When Cara first confronts them,
[21:05] she pulls a Star-Lord.
[21:06] >> Oh, I'm sorry. I I didn't know how this
[21:09] machine worked.
[21:10] >> Before the fight really kicks into gear,
[21:12] the Sclorans use some type of
[21:13] teleportation device that makes this
[21:15] fight a blast to watch. This also isn't
[21:17] something that we would normally see in
[21:19] a Superman film or any other marquee
[21:21] hero movie. The DCU has really allowed
[21:23] their creatives to lean into their own
[21:25] styles and unique visual choices for
[21:27] their own films regardless of being part
[21:29] of a connected universe. It also
[21:30] reminded me a lot of the final fight
[21:32] with Ghost and Ant-Man and the Wasp and
[21:33] how eventually Cara used their own
[21:35] phasing abilities against them to win.
[21:37] So, this works in Cara's favor until
[21:39] they figure out her game and shoot her
[21:40] out of the airlock into space without a
[21:42] helmet. Yeah, but she's an alien, so
[21:44] what's the problem? Well, depending on
[21:46] the continuity, nothing. But here, Carr
[21:48] was still regaining her strength after
[21:49] being on a red sun planet. So, she's
[21:51] about as vulnerable as a human is to
[21:53] outer space conditions. But normally,
[21:55] Kryptonians are fine in space.
[21:57] >> Kell, we're Kryptonian.
[22:00] We don't need these.
[22:01] >> There's a couple iterations in the
[22:02] comics that have Superman hold his
[22:04] breath while he's in space or use some
[22:06] type of oxygenator. After drifting close
[22:08] enough to the yellow sun, Cara fully
[22:09] recharges and kicks some Sclorian ass.
[22:12] The fight scenes in this film were so
[22:13] well done. They are dynamic and quick
[22:15] that it feels like you're flying with
[22:17] Cara, especially if you see it in IMAX.
[22:19] So, when she rescues the bus from the
[22:20] Raiders, we hear a little hint of the
[22:22] original John Williams Superman theme
[22:24] from the 78 film.
[22:29] And we hear it again a bit later during
[22:31] one of Cara's hero moments. Now, with
[22:33] the bus back in working order, they head
[22:35] to a rest stop at Anmurf's asteroid just
[22:37] like they do in the comics. There's a
[22:39] lot of slashy advertisements plastered
[22:41] all over the rest stop. This one looking
[22:42] like an alien can of Coca-Cola. Now, in
[22:44] the comic, Anne Murfs is an actual
[22:46] asteroid, but here it's only asteroid in
[22:49] its name. When Ruthie and Cara enter the
[22:50] rest stop, Cara gets some alien popcorn
[22:53] from this slug-like creature. And while
[22:55] we do see them get some unfamiliar food
[22:57] at the rest stop in the comics, it's
[22:58] nowhere near as interesting as this. The
[23:01] design at the rest stop continues to
[23:02] follow the familiar yet alien aesthetics
[23:05] of the other location so far. There are
[23:07] shopping carts, but also space guns,
[23:08] magazines on the wall, but also alien
[23:10] pooping food. It's very Star Wars in its
[23:13] set design. In fact, this story reminds
[23:14] me a lot of the bodega on Coruscant from
[23:17] the show Andor. Now, Ruthie did see Cara
[23:19] fight the first [ __ ] who tried to
[23:20] take her father's sword, but this fight
[23:22] scene was the first time she's actually
[23:24] seen Cara use her powers to their
[23:26] fullest extent. Ruthie is in complete
[23:27] awe and asks,
[23:28] >> "Why couldn't you do that on my planet?"
[23:30] >> See, Cara originally went to Ruthiey's
[23:32] planet to keep the super aspect of her
[23:34] life on the down low so she can just be
[23:36] a normal 23-year-old girl. Cara doesn't
[23:38] care about being Supergirl right now. It
[23:40] seems like every time she tries, she's
[23:42] just compared to her cousin. But then
[23:43] again, when she's not Supergirl, Clark
[23:46] is disappointed in her.
[23:47] >> You know, I'm just worried that you're
[23:48] not going to find your stride here if
[23:50] you keep going off world all the time,
[23:51] Cara.
[23:52] >> Now, when Cara interrogates the
[23:53] Scarians, they tell her that Crim is on
[23:55] planet Bilus. This planet was created
[23:57] for the film and named for the
[23:58] incredibly talented artist of the Woman
[24:00] of Tomorrow comic, Bilkus Evely. They
[24:02] then reveal that Creme deals in taking
[24:04] young brides and Bilis is his base of
[24:06] operations. Bilcus also takes the place
[24:08] of Maple during this arc of the story.
[24:10] In issue three of the comic, Cara and
[24:12] Ruthie travel to the town of Maple,
[24:13] which is a quiet city full of blue
[24:15] people, but it's revealed that the
[24:17] planet used to contain blue and purple
[24:19] people, but the Blues considered the
[24:20] purples to be inferior and forced them
[24:22] to all live in a place called Purple
[24:24] Town. Long story short, the Barbondo
[24:26] Briggins then invaded and slaughtered
[24:27] all of the purples, which then led them
[24:29] to recruit Creme into their ranks. But
[24:31] since Creme is already the leader of the
[24:33] Briggins, they've opted for a different
[24:35] and really darker story on Bilus. While
[24:37] on their way to a bar on Bilus, Ruthie
[24:39] begins to ask questions about Cara after
[24:41] not even knowing her name earlier on the
[24:43] bus.
[24:43] >> Two others on your planet have powers
[24:45] like you.
[24:46] >> Something that I thought was interesting
[24:47] is that after the initial flashback,
[24:49] Cara never refers to Clark as Cal, which
[24:52] she frequently does in the comics.
[24:53] Although, I figure Clark probably
[24:54] insisted on being called Clark as his
[24:56] connection with Krypton isn't nearly as
[24:58] strong as Cara's. They also say that she
[25:00] is 10 years younger than her cousin,
[25:02] confirming that Clark is 33. This is
[25:04] also a departure from the comics kind of
[25:06] sort of person. See, Supergirl gets a
[25:08] little confusing sometimes, but in the
[25:10] comics, she was born 15 years before
[25:12] Clark was, give or take. Then she either
[25:14] stayed on Argo City or was sent off at
[25:16] the same time, but then got stuck in
[25:18] orbit. Regardless, neither are true for
[25:19] the DCU, where instead she was born
[25:21] after Clark was when she was born on
[25:23] Argo City. Ruthie then asked why she's
[25:25] Supergirl if her cousin gets to be
[25:27] Superman. Now, lorewise, there's already
[25:29] a superwoman. Several, actually. It's
[25:31] the alias used not only by Lois Lane
[25:33] when she gets powers, but by Lucy Lane
[25:35] and Lana Lane. When Cara and Ruthie
[25:37] enter a bar, Cara confronts this alien
[25:39] for information on Crim.
[25:40] >> Do you have any information on the
[25:41] Brigins?
[25:42] >> It's kind of a reverse encounter to the
[25:43] one Cara has at the bar in the comic.
[25:45] Here, she offers to arm wrestle for
[25:47] information or for her and Ruthie should
[25:49] she lose. Now, we have seen Cara arm
[25:50] wrestle in the comics before. Actually,
[25:52] even against the main man himself, Lobo,
[25:55] who we'll see here shortly. When another
[25:56] more grotesque alien takes the former's
[25:58] place, Cara easily breaks his arm. So,
[26:00] immediately, the ruffians within the bar
[26:02] hold her a laser point, which she says,
[26:04] >> "Okay, this does not look like this is
[26:07] going to end well
[26:09] >> for you guys."
[26:10] >> Which is pulled directly from her
[26:11] introduction in the Woman of Tomorrow
[26:13] comic. She asked them,
[26:14] >> "Anybody want to leave?"
[26:16] >> No. which reminded me of another hero's
[26:19] warning before a beatdown Captain
[26:20] America and the Winter Soldier.
[26:22] >> Before we get started, does anyone want
[26:23] to get out?
[26:24] >> So then she tells Ruthie to sit down in
[26:26] the corner. Despite Cara immediately
[26:28] gearing up to fight, she'll always make
[26:30] sure that those she's protecting are
[26:31] safe and out of harm's way. There's also
[26:33] a great line in My Adventures with
[26:34] Superman that describes exactly that.
[26:36] >> I like how Superman protects us, but I
[26:40] love how you fight for us.
[26:42] >> And she tells the band to keep playing.
[26:44] >> Keep playing.
[26:46] You know, it's like the Titanic,
[26:48] >> a reference to, of course, the sinking
[26:50] of the Titanic. On April 15th, 1912, as
[26:53] the Titanic sank during its maiden
[26:54] voyage, violinist Wallace Hartley led
[26:56] the band in plane nearer My God to Thee
[26:59] as the boat went under. It was meant to
[27:01] comfort passengers as lifeboats were
[27:03] loaded, so Cara could be saying it here,
[27:05] either sarcastically or as a way to
[27:07] comfort Ruthie as she unloads on all of
[27:09] these scoundrels. The lounge singer then
[27:11] switches from singing the girl from
[27:12] Epana to cheek to cheek which makes me
[27:14] wonder is the singer from Earth. Or are
[27:16] these just widely known songs? Cara does
[27:19] call English the common tongue when she
[27:20] talks to the barkeep. So maybe common
[27:22] tongue songs are known galaxywide or did
[27:25] earth culture slowly seep into the
[27:26] broader galaxy through taran green
[27:28] lanterns or other heroes? Or could it be
[27:30] that the girl from Epana was actually
[27:32] written by aliens and then brought to
[27:34] Earth? Let me know what you think in the
[27:35] comments. Now, during the fight, we
[27:36] mainly focus on Ruthie and her reaction
[27:38] to the violence going on around her.
[27:40] Very similar to how Spielberg focuses on
[27:42] Dakota Fanning during a similar scene in
[27:43] War of the World. So, this shows us that
[27:45] even though Ruthie seems prepared for
[27:47] this vengeful plot against Crim, she
[27:49] really is just a child. Like she says in
[27:51] the book, Supergirl's brawl against the
[27:53] bar patrons wakes up a sleeping alien
[27:55] who's been lurking in the background
[27:56] this whole time, Lobo. So, Mimoa looked
[27:59] incredible as a Zaryian bounty hunter.
[28:01] He looks like he was pulled right out of
[28:03] the comic with his classic chain wrapped
[28:05] arm, red eyes, and face markings. He
[28:07] even has a chained grenade around his
[28:09] neck, just like he did in Lobo Unbound.
[28:11] Now, it makes total sense for Lobo to be
[28:13] introduced in this bar, as that's where
[28:15] he's been introduced in several Superman
[28:16] comics over the years. It's also similar
[28:18] to Aragorn's introduction in Lord of the
[28:20] Rings, and it mirrors Supergirl's intro
[28:23] in the book. Now, look, Lobo is not in
[28:25] the Woman of Tomorrow comic, although he
[28:27] was originally supposed to be. That book
[28:28] began as me pitching a Lobo Supergirl
[28:32] book and it was my editor who were like,
[28:34] "No, take Lobo out and make Supergirl
[28:36] the Rooster Cogburn character." Like I
[28:38] said earlier, when Tom King pitched this
[28:40] True Grit in space idea, they suggested
[28:42] a slight change. Make Cara the Rooster
[28:44] Cogburn of the series and leave Lobo
[28:46] out. But man, am I glad they added him
[28:48] back in. Mimoa was built for this role,
[28:50] and I'm so happy that he gets to go from
[28:52] this,
[28:53] >> my man,
[28:54] >> to this.
[28:55] And ultimately, he still ends up
[28:57] mirroring a true grit character.
[28:58] However, he's more like Labou than
[29:00] Rooster Cogburn. So, when Cara
[29:02] recognizes the bounty hunter, she says
[29:04] >> he's an immortal with a god complex,
[29:06] >> which is an apt way to describe him.
[29:08] First appearing in 1983's Omega Men
[29:10] number three, Lobo is the last Cesarian,
[29:12] not because of any horrific disaster
[29:14] like the explosion of Krypton, but
[29:15] rather because he hunted down every last
[29:18] one of his own people. Lobo then tells
[29:19] the bartender that he's
[29:21] >> looking for Brigund goes by the name of
[29:23] Drum Baxton. And Drum Baxton is the
[29:25] second in command of the Briggins. We
[29:27] even hear him call Drama a Bastitch, one
[29:29] of his classic insults from the comics.
[29:31] >> These bastitches are fakes.
[29:33] >> He then asks another question, this time
[29:35] in an alien dialect. Now, in the comics,
[29:38] Lobo is also multilingual. Being that
[29:40] he's the universe's best bounty hunter,
[29:42] he has to be able to speak in any given
[29:44] language. He's even stated that he can
[29:46] speak 17,897
[29:48] different languages from across the
[29:49] universe. Now, when Ruthie overhears
[29:51] that Lobo is a skilled hunter, she
[29:53] immediately wants his help, which Cara
[29:54] shoots down. This is a little ironic
[29:57] considering that in the comics, when
[29:58] Cara lost Howal Jordan in space, she
[30:00] actually hired Lobo for help. They're
[30:02] actually a blast together, and Cara got
[30:04] all lobboed out with a biker jacket and
[30:06] a choker. Lobo leaves after Cara annoys
[30:09] him.
[30:09] >> You're hurting my head.
[30:10] >> And the bartenders lie to Car and
[30:12] Ruthie, telling them that they know
[30:13] someone who will get them to Crim. Now,
[30:14] while waiting for this mysterious
[30:16] person, Cara and Ruthie have another
[30:18] heartto-he heart. this time about Cara
[30:20] and Clark. Cara calls her cousin a nerd
[30:22] in theme with her usual nicknames for
[30:24] him,
[30:24] >> [ __ ]
[30:25] >> She also says
[30:26] >> he sees the good in everyone.
[30:27] >> And this is similar to what Lois said
[30:29] about Clark.
[30:30] >> You trust everyone and think everyone
[30:33] you've ever met is like beautiful.
[30:35] >> This sentiment is brought up several
[30:37] times throughout the comic. In issue
[30:38] two, Cara says that she sees everything
[30:41] in a very solemn way. Clark tends to
[30:43] look at the good in the situation that
[30:44] there is always a way, but Cara feels
[30:46] burdened by the weight of truth. In her
[30:48] 23 years, Cara has seen horrors beyond
[30:50] anyone's imagination, and she can't
[30:52] sugarcoat life, at least not to Ruthie.
[30:54] When Ruthie asks about Krypton's
[30:56] destruction, Cara says,
[30:57] >> "Krypton didn't die in a day. The gods
[30:59] are not that kind."
[31:00] >> Which is a direct line from Woman of
[31:01] Tomorrow, but also very interesting.
[31:03] Again, this depends on the continuity,
[31:04] but Krypton was created as a
[31:06] monotheistic culture with Ralph being
[31:08] the sole god of Krypton. So, it's
[31:10] interesting that Car would say gods
[31:12] plural. This leads right into a
[31:13] flashback of Argo City's creation and
[31:15] its eventual decay. We see the planet
[31:18] Krypton on the day of its destruction.
[31:19] Planet has red trees which are pulled
[31:21] right from the silver age of Krypton
[31:23] Scarlet Jungle. Allora and Zorel, Cara's
[31:25] parents, discuss the impending doom of
[31:27] their planet, mentioning how the core is
[31:29] going to explode due to overconumption.
[31:31] Now, this is the cause for destruction
[31:32] in most of the comics as well as the
[31:34] films. But there is another reason for
[31:36] Krypton's explosion that could tie right
[31:37] into Man of Tomorrow, but we'll talk
[31:39] about that in a bit. Zorel tells that
[31:41] the council didn't listen to him despite
[31:43] his and Jorel's warnings. Exactly like
[31:45] in the 1978 Superman film.
[31:47] >> This planet will explode within 30 days.
[31:50] >> Jorel, be reasonable.
[31:52] >> Zorel, like in the comics, was able to
[31:54] create Argo City by bubbling some of the
[31:56] atmosphere on an asteroid. His brother
[31:58] Zorel and Lara didn't join them in the
[32:00] bubble with Allora saying perhaps the
[32:02] funniest line in the whole movie. When
[32:04] discussing Call, she says, "That sweet
[32:06] boy your brother called a conqueror of
[32:07] worlds." Which is of course a reference
[32:09] to the # superherum controversy from the
[32:12] last film. Dude, you got a secret herum?
[32:15] >> Another major change from the comic is
[32:16] that Cara is born 8 years after Argo
[32:18] City's creation. In Woman of Tomorrow,
[32:20] she experiences some of the worst trauma
[32:22] of her life during the day of the
[32:24] explosion. The beginning of it happened
[32:26] while she was in school, killing all of
[32:27] her peers around her. This change,
[32:29] however, adds even more depth to Cara's
[32:31] grief over Krypton. Argo City really is
[32:34] all she's ever known. There was no
[32:36] before Argo City for her. It was just
[32:38] that and then nothing. We see the weeks
[32:40] building up to Allora's death with the
[32:41] radiation from the kryptonite poisoning
[32:43] soil seeping into her veins. However,
[32:46] this time the kryptonite wasn't
[32:47] irradiated by a yellow sun, but rather
[32:49] it's just a rock within Krypton. The
[32:51] planet turning against the people is
[32:53] exactly what happens in the comics.
[32:54] Regardless of how much work Zorel or
[32:56] even Cara puts into saving those they
[32:58] love in Argo City, its own environment
[33:00] was always going to kill its people. The
[33:03] kryptonite poisoning also looks
[33:04] identical to how it did in Superman
[33:06] after Clark was captured by Lex. With
[33:08] everyone dying around them, Zorel
[33:10] decides the only thing he can do to save
[33:12] his daughter, who is his last hope, is
[33:13] to build a rocket and send her off the
[33:15] planet. He finds his brother schematics
[33:17] for the rocket ship to build her an ark
[33:19] just like her cousins. Cesoriel tries to
[33:21] get her to accept the idea of a new home
[33:23] on Earth. Again, bringing up the theme
[33:25] of finding a home and trying to replace
[33:27] the one you've lost. Cara vehemly argues
[33:29] against it and says such a heartbreaking
[33:31] line. I'm only one tiny life. And right
[33:34] there gets to the heart of Cara's grief
[33:36] and anger. She has survivors guilt like
[33:39] no one else. Sure, Clark was also sent
[33:41] off Krypton to survive, but he never had
[33:43] to witness those around him die off. He
[33:45] wasn't the one person picked to escape
[33:48] total destruction. But Zorel assures Car
[33:50] that she is not just one life. She is
[33:52] his life and her mother's life and all
[33:54] of those that came before them. And
[33:56] during this, Cara's mother delivers her
[33:58] final words. You don't have to be nice,
[34:00] but be good. Just like in the comic, the
[34:02] silver Kryptonian suit that Cara is
[34:04] wearing could also be a reference to the
[34:06] Kryptonian suits in Superman 78, who
[34:08] wore a similar garb. As Cara is launched
[34:10] away into space, we get a final view of
[34:12] Krypton from within Argo City, and the
[34:14] building looks identical to the ones
[34:16] that Evely depicted in the comic book
[34:17] run. Back in the present day, Cara and
[34:19] Ruthie are put in peril again when the
[34:21] Barkeepers reveal the sham. Cara is
[34:23] drugged, adequately nerfing her powers
[34:25] against the swarm of incoming Briggins,
[34:27] but also she's still able to hold her
[34:28] own since this is a Yellow Sun planet.
[34:30] The Barkeepers had planned on trading
[34:32] both Ruthie and Cara for their own
[34:34] daughter that Crim has stolen. And this
[34:36] plot is all very similar to another
[34:38] femaleled superhero film, Black Widow.
[34:40] That film also features girls being
[34:42] taken away by creepy men that are
[34:43] eventually rescued by badass women who
[34:45] are working through their trauma. When
[34:47] Crim and Cara meet face to face, she
[34:49] headbutts him so hard that some of his
[34:51] facial piercings get embedded into
[34:53] Cara's face. She then grabs Ruthie and
[34:55] jumps out of the building, another
[34:57] similarity to their time on Maple. While
[34:59] there, Cara and Ruthie get shot at while
[35:01] sleeping, and Cara saves the two of them
[35:02] by jumping out of a window. Now, the
[35:04] fight then spills out into the town,
[35:06] causing Lobo Baby to get involved. He's
[35:08] after his own bounty, Drum Baxton, and
[35:10] not there to help out Supergirl.
[35:11] >> Aren't you the dicks from that dive bar?
[35:13] >> Funny. That's what I've been calling
[35:14] you.
[35:15] >> Touche.
[35:16] >> He uses his claw hook while riding his
[35:17] spacehog. And it it just looks like the
[35:19] comic book come to life. So, while Cara
[35:21] is busy with the other Briggins, Ruthie
[35:23] closes in on Crim, who is busy chasing
[35:25] after an escaped bride. Supergirl stops
[35:27] Ruthie from striking Crim, but isn't
[35:29] able to save the escaped girl, nor her
[35:31] family. Not only does it prove how
[35:33] depraved of a villain Creme is, but it
[35:35] also reminds the audience and Cara that
[35:37] there are actual stakes in this film. As
[35:39] much as Cara is on this trip for Crypto,
[35:41] there are real lives that can easily be
[35:43] lost as collateral damage. Ruthie and
[35:45] Cara then have a shouting match with one
[35:47] another. Ruthie is angry with Cara for
[35:49] not letting her take out Crim, but Cara
[35:51] is not willing to let her cross that
[35:52] line. They're a mirror for one another
[35:54] in this story. Both of them are
[35:56] grieving. They've just lost their
[35:57] worlds. But they are at different stages
[35:59] in the grieving cycle. Ruthie feels as
[36:01] though if she avenges her family, she
[36:03] will feel right again. While Cara is
[36:05] already nearing acceptance. She knows
[36:07] that she can't change what happened, but
[36:08] she can hold on to it as long as she
[36:10] can, despite how unhealthy that might be
[36:12] for her. Crim and the Brian ship, the
[36:14] Bonnie Prince Charlie, then disappear in
[36:15] a blast of white energy. Now, in the
[36:17] comics, the ship had more of a classic
[36:19] pirate feel to match the Brigins, but
[36:21] here it's more steampunk industrial in
[36:23] its design. The way they escape is very
[36:25] similar to the Morru globe that Crim
[36:27] uses in the comics in order to teleport
[36:29] Cara and Ruthie away with, which would
[36:31] make sense. Crim sent them to Baron with
[36:33] the Morru Globe, and that's exactly
[36:34] where they're about to wind up. After
[36:36] they escape, Cara immediately flies up
[36:38] into space and screams her heart out.
[36:40] Now, this is ripped straight from the
[36:42] comics. During their time on Maple, Cara
[36:44] witnesses a brutal massacre that the
[36:46] Briggins left in their wake. She then
[36:47] shoots off into the sun where she
[36:49] finally allows herself to scream and let
[36:51] go of all of the trauma she's picked up
[36:53] on this journey. Here she does the same
[36:55] but in space.
[36:56] >> No one can hear you scream.
[36:58] >> And this is a perfect metaphor for
[36:59] Cara's life. She has spent her entire
[37:01] life in agony, mourning her home, but
[37:04] never makes any big deal about it. She
[37:05] just buries the pain deep down on red
[37:08] sun planets. She slams back down onto
[37:10] the planet and then turns back to one of
[37:11] the patrons from the bar earlier,
[37:12] calling him Squidward, a reference to
[37:14] the visually similar character from
[37:16] Spongebob Squarepants. And it's also a
[37:17] joke that Tony Stark pulled off in
[37:19] Infinity War.
[37:20] >> Means get lost, Squidward.
[37:21] >> Then she threatens to turn him into a
[37:22] hand puppet, which I don't think I need
[37:24] to explain the logistics of. Nah, we're
[37:26] good. Great. So Squidward says that he
[37:28] can take Cara to Crim, but she has to
[37:30] wear a bag over her head. She obliges
[37:32] given that she has X-ray vision, and
[37:34] it's identical to the way that Clark's
[37:35] vision was depicted in Superman. Cara
[37:37] gets duped again and Squidward drops her
[37:39] off on Baron. Now, this planet is from
[37:41] the Woman of Tomorrow comic. Cara
[37:43] explained that it was originally created
[37:44] as a sort of prison for her cousin. This
[37:46] planet is orbited by a kryptonite green
[37:48] sun, which drains the powers of
[37:50] Kryptonians and slowly kills them.
[37:52] Superman was only able to last 45
[37:54] minutes until the Justice League came to
[37:56] rescue him, which Cara easily beats that
[37:58] record. Though unnamed, this planet may
[38:00] have first appeared in Superman 155,
[38:02] where a similar green sun planet
[38:04] depowered the man of steel. Now, while
[38:06] fading in and out of consciousness, Cara
[38:08] remembers her arrival on Earth. When
[38:09] Cara landed, her pod crashed near the
[38:11] Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica. Now,
[38:13] while Cara's arrival on Earth, taking
[38:15] place after Clark is certain, where her
[38:17] pod lands has always differed in the
[38:19] comics. Originally, it was far out of
[38:21] Metropolis and then changed to Gotham
[38:23] City and then finally Siberia following
[38:25] the events of Flashoint. After Clark
[38:27] greets her, she asks
[38:29] >> to which he replies,
[38:31] >> "I don't speak Kryptonian. I I didn't
[38:33] never shoot." I love this whole
[38:35] interaction. Depending on the
[38:36] continuity, Clark either doesn't learn
[38:38] or understand Kryptonian until a bit
[38:40] further into his Superman career like in
[38:42] Burns Man of Steel miniseries. And when
[38:44] he does know it, he speaks with an
[38:46] American accent. Well, and look, before
[38:48] I continue calling it Kryptonian,
[38:49] Conlanganger, David J. Peterson, and
[38:51] Jesse Peterson created a new version, S
[38:53] and Krypton, for the DCU. Peterson is
[38:56] also credited with creating the spoken
[38:58] Dothraki and Valyrian languages for Game
[39:00] of Thrones. So, the level of familiarity
[39:02] between Clark and Cara also differs here
[39:04] than from comic canon. In her first
[39:06] appearance, Cara wore the S symbol so
[39:08] Clark would recognize her as family.
[39:10] Then, later down the line, after her
[39:12] first reboot, she expected Clark to
[39:14] become a baby and she became hostile
[39:15] when Superman confronted her. Something
[39:17] we really enjoyed about this movie was
[39:19] how human the dialogue feels. Even
[39:21] though these two are meeting under wild
[39:23] circumstances, Clark has a very human
[39:25] reaction to not being able to
[39:26] communicate with his cousin. I wasn't
[39:28] raised there. So, I wasn't raised there.
[39:30] Why am I talking louder?
[39:31] >> And when he tries to help her out of the
[39:32] pod, Krypto lunges at Clark.
[39:34] >> Uh, let me help you.
[39:36] >> Sora,
[39:37] >> so it seems like their beef goes way
[39:39] back. Another note I loved about this
[39:41] scene is despite Clark knowing that Cara
[39:43] can't understand him. He continues to
[39:44] make sure that she is comfortable. It's
[39:47] similar to his actions in the movie, how
[39:48] he would take a moment to reassure each
[39:50] person that he saved.
[39:52] >> Deep, slow breaths, ma'am. You're going
[39:54] to be fine. Clark tries to connect with
[39:56] her by rambling about things he likes,
[39:58] like bowling, which is probably a
[39:59] reference to this scene from Superman 3.
[40:01] >> Here you go, Ricky. You give it your
[40:03] best shot.
[40:07] >> He also warns her about her powers
[40:08] kicking in, which is another nod to the
[40:10] comics. In Supergirl 2011, when Cara
[40:13] first came to Earth, all of her powers
[40:15] immediately kicked in, causing her to
[40:16] freak out and nearly destroy the Great
[40:18] Wall of China. Clark then sets her up in
[40:20] an apartment in Metropolis with the
[40:21] Daily Planet building visible from
[40:23] outside her window. She asks, "How can
[40:25] this become home?" Again, restating the
[40:27] thesis of this film. Outside, she can
[40:30] hear all of the hustle and bustle of
[40:31] Metropolis because of her superhering
[40:33] kicking in. Now, we have seen this in
[40:35] other Superman iterations where Clark
[40:36] first gets his superhering.
[40:38] >> I can hear everyone and Jimmy, Jimmy,
[40:40] Jimmy. They have problems.
[40:43] >> Cara puts on her headphones to block out
[40:45] the noise and the song Care by Honu
[40:47] plays diagetically. Care is about hoping
[40:49] that someday I'll be fine. Right now,
[40:51] everything is too much for Cara.
[40:53] ignoring the literal noise outside. Her
[40:55] home planet is gone. Her friends and
[40:57] family are gone. Everything she once
[40:58] knew is erased, but somehow she'll be
[41:01] fine. Back on Baron, Ruthie again
[41:03] follows after Cara and drags her into a
[41:05] cave to shield her from the poisonous
[41:07] sun. In the comic, their time on Baron
[41:09] really gave Ruthie time to shine during
[41:11] their journey. Because Cara was out of
[41:13] commission, Ruthie had to fend off all
[41:14] of the dinosaurs and monsters that
[41:16] attacked the two during the day.
[41:17] Unfortunately, there are no giant
[41:19] dinosaurs in this film, which
[41:20] screenwriter Anna Nogira said was the
[41:22] hardest part to cut from the script.
[41:24] Ruthie gives Cara her super suit, trying
[41:26] to remind her to stay strong and to
[41:28] fight, but Cara doesn't feel super right
[41:30] now and really starts to worry about
[41:32] Krypto. It's Ruthiey's moment to snap
[41:34] Cara out of it, and she tells her, "Hey,
[41:36] don't freak out." Which is what Cara
[41:37] said to her earlier when they first
[41:39] embarked on their adventure. Ruthie
[41:40] continues to soothe Cara, telling her,
[41:42] "You're not always nice, but you're
[41:43] kind." which is similar to her mother's
[41:45] dying wishes for her to be good. She
[41:48] didn't always have to be nice, but she
[41:49] had to be good and kind and choose to do
[41:52] the right thing. Although she's not
[41:53] fighting any pterodactyls, Ruthie still
[41:55] has a moment here to show off her own
[41:57] talents both physically and later
[41:59] emotionally. Now, when Cara asks for
[42:00] water, unlike in the comics, Ruthie does
[42:02] go to fetch some. However, this proves
[42:04] to be a mistake when she gets captured
[42:06] by one of the Briggins. They bring her
[42:07] onto the ship where we meet up with
[42:09] Lobo. He and Ruthie discuss revenge and
[42:11] its ethics with Lobo encouraging
[42:13] Ruthiey's quest for vengeance. It's
[42:14] almost like Lobo and Cara are the devil
[42:16] and angel on her shoulder trying to see
[42:18] what path she'll choose to take.
[42:20] Meanwhile, Cara is still woozily fading
[42:22] in and out, and the yellow sun begins to
[42:24] rise. She remembers the words of her
[42:26] father, her mother, and her cousin when
[42:28] he first showed her the supersuit. Now,
[42:29] like we talked about in our ending
[42:31] explained video, when James Gun was
[42:32] designing the super suit for Superman,
[42:34] he reasoned that the trunks needed to
[42:36] look ridiculous so people would know he
[42:38] was there to help. Otherwise, they would
[42:40] be afraid of this almighty god alien
[42:42] from space. So, when Supergirl finally
[42:44] regains her strength, she practically
[42:46] becomes the son, flying over the Bonnie
[42:48] Prince Charlie, much like her cousin,
[42:50] and she's finally embraced wearing the
[42:51] suit and becoming the symbol of hope.
[42:53] So, Cara then kicks some brigant ass
[42:55] before she's taken down by Creme's
[42:56] kryptonite arrows, which is slightly
[42:58] different from the comic. There, they
[43:00] had enough kryptonite to embed into
[43:02] chains to hold Cara down, as well as
[43:03] enough for one kryptonite bullet.
[43:05] However, this opens up a lot of
[43:07] opportunities for the DCU. Last we heard
[43:09] in Superman, there was no more
[43:10] kryptonite left on the planet. But if
[43:12] Creme is able to obtain some and it was
[43:14] naturally occurring on Krypton, that
[43:16] means that there is some left in the
[43:17] galaxy somewhere. This could have a big
[43:19] effect in Man of Tomorrow if when Lex
[43:21] and Superman go up against Brainiac. If
[43:23] Lex Luthther's in space, that means he
[43:25] would potentially have access to more
[43:26] kryptonite, which we talked about in our
[43:28] Ending Explained video. Now, in the
[43:29] comic, when Cara is overpowered by the
[43:31] Briggins, her horse/formermer lover
[43:34] What? Yeah. So, Comet the Horse was once
[43:36] a centaur named Beeron, who ended up
[43:38] falling in love with the sorceress
[43:39] Cersei, who we saw in Creature
[43:41] Commandos. A very, very long story
[43:43] short, he was turned completely into a
[43:44] horse, which Supergirl had as a pet for
[43:46] a while. Then, he was turned into a
[43:48] human and very briefly had a romance
[43:49] with Supergirl. Look, it was the ' 60s,
[43:51] man. Anyways, in Woman of Tomorrow,
[43:53] Comet comes to Supergirl's aid, but here
[43:55] it is Lobo. He rides his spacehog around
[43:57] the ship as Cara whips a chain around,
[43:59] knocking down a bunch of Briggins to the
[44:01] ground. This also gives us our second
[44:03] winner of the film and I have to say the
[44:05] action in this movie was pretty great.
[44:06] Woman of Tomorrow isn't by itself a very
[44:09] actionheavy story. So we were surprised
[44:11] that every fight had its own memorable
[44:13] unique moments. Now during the big final
[44:15] battles, several of the smaller tanks
[44:16] get thrown around. Cara and a couple of
[44:18] Briggins get thrown onto one with Creme
[44:20] and Ruthie on another. Now when the tank
[44:21] Cara is on gets knocked into the water,
[44:23] we see her heat vision work full force
[44:26] blasting a geyser of water out of the
[44:28] lake. I really enjoyed how much Cara
[44:30] differentiated between using her powers
[44:31] throughout this film. Clark used a lot
[44:33] of punching in Superman, but Cara mainly
[44:35] alternated between using heat vision and
[44:37] brute force by flying at people. It's
[44:39] interesting to see that even though they
[44:41] have practically the same power set,
[44:42] they opt to use them differently. Cara
[44:44] then flies up toward the sun to heal as
[44:46] Creme and the other Briggins begin to
[44:48] close in on Ruthie. Cara is quickly able
[44:50] to rescue the girls trapped in the
[44:51] Bonnie Prince Charlie before flying back
[44:53] to Ruthiey's side. Now, this entire
[44:55] fight is set to Kelty Gay in the Kid
[44:56] Motel's cover of The Middle. The song is
[44:58] all about giving yourself a chance to
[45:00] find your purpose. It might take some
[45:02] time, but in the end, everything will be
[45:04] all right. All right. All right. And
[45:06] this scene was just so cool. It felt
[45:08] very cathartic. The song is very mellow,
[45:11] but it's played over an explosive action
[45:13] scene. Cara is straight up murdering
[45:14] these child traffickers as a soft piano
[45:17] tune plays over the fight. It's complete
[45:19] tonal dissonance, and yet, I think it
[45:20] works because that's who Supergirl is.
[45:23] She's all rough and hardcore around the
[45:25] edges, but she's a symbol of hope all
[45:26] the same. Everything will be all right
[45:28] because she's a hero and she's here to
[45:30] fight for you. Now, as for the rest of
[45:32] the ending, Ruthiey's choice, and what's
[45:33] next for the franchise? We covered all
[45:35] of that in our ending explained video,
[45:36] which is up right now on the channel.
[45:38] So, guys, those are our thoughts. Are
[45:40] you excited for more of the super
[45:41] family? What was your favorite part of
[45:42] the movie? Do you think the critics are
[45:44] wrong? Big shout out to Lee Mazio, who
[45:45] wrote this video. You can let us know
[45:47] what you think down in the comments
[45:48] below or in our free to join Discord
[45:49] server. And if it's your first time
[45:50] here, please subscribe. Smash that bell
[45:52] for alerts for Screen Crush. I'm Ryan
[45:54] Ary.