Bold takeaway: DC’s latest Superman retcon sparks big questions about Krypton’s culture and Supergirl’s future, and the conversation is far from over.
James Gunn’s Superman marked a pivotal moment for DC, delivering box-office momentum and a revived tone for the DCU while shaking up Kryptonian lore. One particular twist left fans buzzing for months: Superman (David Corenswet) learns that his Kryptonian parents sent him to Earth not to inspire hope alone, but to conquer and govern—casting Krypton’s legacy as potentially oppressive rather than benevolent. This provocative shift helps Superman forge his own heroic path, yet its effects may extend beyond one film.
The movie also reveals that Kal-El isn’t the sole Kryptonian on Earth. In the closing moments, Superman meets his cousin, Supergirl, played by Milly Alcock. She arrives to retrieve her dog, Krypto, whom Superman has been watching. With Kryptonians no longer clearly aligned as purely benevolent, a major mystery arises: what does Supergirl’s presence signify for her own trajectory—and does Superman’s upbringing imply that Krypton as a whole shares those earlier families’ beliefs?
Distinct upbringings shape Superman and Supergirl in fundamental ways
The short answer is that Superman and Supergirl are different, but that simplification misses the deeper nuance. Even within the same culture, and certainly within the same family, people rarely share identical ideologies. The divergence between their upbringings is rooted in their individual experiences and is well established in the comics.
Superman, born Kal-El, arrived on Earth as a toddler. He has no memories of Krypton or his biological parents, and thus no intrinsic cultural memory of Krypton’s society, beliefs, or norms. Everything he thinks he knows about Krypton has been learned secondhand, making his understanding largely theoretical. Supergirl, by contrast, is older. She was a child when Krypton was destroyed and grew up immersed in Kryptonian culture, giving her a more intimate grasp of its traditions and values.
Despite that difference, it’s not automatic that Supergirl would share Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van’s supremacist views. The specifics of how Krypton’s destruction affected survivors’ beliefs remain unclear. Not all Kryptonians perished; Argo, for instance, separated from the main planet and survived as a distinct community. A survivor culture could easily cultivate its own subculture and ideologies, potentially diverging from what other Kryptonians believed prior to collapse. Kara’s exposure to a life defined by loss and survival could deeply influence how she sees her own Kryptonian identity.
Two notable hints suggest that Jor-El and Zor-El may have diverging worldviews
There are hints in the comics that Krypton’s ideology wasn’t monolithic. Tom King’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a source material for the upcoming film, portrays Krypton’s destruction as a drawn-out catastrophe, with Argo breaking away and its leaders—like Zor-El—making difficult choices to preserve lives. Zor-El, a renowned scientist, manages to shield thousands of Argo inhabitants for a time, though radiation ultimately overwhelms the protection efforts. Kara witnesses the deaths of many she loves, and her father ultimately constructs a ship to send her to safety using tools and plans once shared with Jor-El, accompanied by a simple instruction: to be good.
Two lessons leap out from that interpretation. First, Zor-El’s view of his brother as “frivolous” hints at ideological differences within Krypton’s elite, suggesting that not every Kryptonian shared the same supremacist mindset. It’s plausible that a core faction wanted conquest, while others contemplated more humane approaches. Second, Zor-El’s directive to Kara to be good indicates a more measured, morally grounded aim rather than an outright endorsement of domination. These threads imply that Jor-El and Zor-El may have differed, even within the same family, and that Krypton’s pre-catastrophe ideology wasn’t a single, neat blueprint.
What Supergirl will be like remains to be seen
As for how Superman’s parents’ controversial message might influence Supergirl, the door is left open. The filmmakers have indicated that Kara’s journey will address broader themes, though early glimpses suggest her struggle stems more from personal trauma than from Krypton’s verdict on humanity. We’ve already seen glimpses of Kara’s instability and recklessness, but those traits may reflect a young woman bearing immense loss and upheaval: a home and world annihilated, a mother’s death, a city’s destruction, and a long, solitary flight into the unknown. Her emotional burden—alongside Jor-El’s message—could be secondary to the fatigue and grief she carries from years of survival.
In other words, Kara has a heavy emotional load, and a single prodding message from Krypton’s past may not be the main trigger for her current state. The parental last words—plus a reminder to be good—might offer guidance she can lean on as she navigates a world that’s both dangerous and overwhelming.
Share your take
How do you think Supergirl’s worldview will align or clash with Superman’s—especially given the contrasting upbringings and the possibility of multiple Kryptonian subcultures? Do you buy the idea that Krypton’s pre-catastrophe rulers differed in their beliefs? Leave a comment and join the discussion in theComicBook Forum.
