Yesterday we had the new Masters Of The Universe trailer. At the same time we got the new Supergirl trailer, set to come out roughly the same time in theaters. Both are about having to save someone, requiring superhuman powers. Both take place off Earth even though it starts there. Both were a target of concern by the fanbase, partly because of Hollywood’s history with certain types of characters and an inability to do a proper adaptation these days due to egos, self-interest, and a reluctance to have heroes being heroic.
However, while the He-Man trailer made me less uneasy but still concerned about the end product, this really hasn’t helped. The big difference is that in the other marketing for Masters Of The Universe, including the first trailer, some inklings of potential was there. The new trailer simply leaned into that for the first time and showed fans (or at least me) a better idea of what I wanted to see as far as intent. For Supergirl, on the other hand, we’ve had every piece of marketing be a cause for concern, including the fact that the story that inspired it was the not-so-heroic Supergirl: World Of Tomorrow by Tom “I love to psychologically break decades old characters because I have issues” King. The tone always seemed closer to James Gunn’s typical concepts of the found family of oddballs brought together by tragedy and bad attitudes, even though he’s not the director. Then there’s the backstage stuff.
The other connection to He-Man’s second movie and Kara’s is that the tone has shifted. The new MOTU trailer leaned more to the dramatic side, and so does this one, focusing more on Kara’s core wound and dramatic action. Again, there’s a difference. Masters Of The Universe didn’t start out trashing another character, it didn’t turn Cringer into a lion instead of a tiger due to someone else’s animal preference, and it hasn’t had the issues Supergirl has had.
On its own, it’s actually not so bad. As Geeks & Gamers contributor Alex Gherzo notes it gives us a more promising look at the movie.
This trailer works a lot better than the last one did. Supergirl doesn’t come off as an obnoxious, frivolous punk but a lost soul who’s had everything she ever loved torn away from her. While Superman was rocketed away from Krypton as a baby, Kara was old enough to know her parents and her friends; Superman only knows Earth, while Kara is aware of everything she lost, and it’s cut a hole in her heart that she believes she’ll never fill. Superman refers to Earth as his home because it is, but it’ll never be Kara’s, and humans will never be “her people” because her people are gone.
I’ve written in the recent past this has only been Supergirl’s response to her situation since the New 52. Being more protective is more inline with how she’s responded in the past, as well as having trouble fitting in. This also makes Kara more of an “immigrant” analog than Superman, which I’ve also noted. Until the New 52 made her angry and Tom King made her a drunk, this has not been Kara’s response to losing her home planet (twice in some tellings) as a teenager while Kal-El only gets to remember Krypton when they decided the toddler took in everything and Kryptonians have super-memory or something.
Well, except for Krypto, and that’s why the superdog is so prominent in the new Supergirl trailer (aside from James Gunn’s affinity for him). Krypto is the only friend she has left, the one thing she still cares about because she found him on Krypton. This is where those comparisons to John Wick from the Entertainment Weekly article come in: as Wick’s dog was the last thing he had to remind him of his wife, so Krypto is the last remnant of Krypton, aside from the cousin she never knew before she came to Earth. He means something to the story, and when Krem of the Yellow Hills poisons him, the disaffected girl who sneers at heroism suddenly has something to fight for.
That link will be a reference later. It’s still the wrong Krypto. Whatever my complaints might have been for League Of Super-Pets, they at least got that right, saving the breed swap for Ace. This Krypto is based on James Gunn’s dog and he “gave” her to Supergirl for the sake of this movie. However, Krypto is supposed to be Superman’s dog and much smarter than in James Gunn’s Superman By James Gunn or the recent Krypto shorts (the more accurate Krypto The Superdog is airing on MeTV Toons as of this writing), while Supergirl ended up with Streaky the Supercat in recent years. Frankly it fits her proper personality better, as in not this version. She’s still going to other worlds to get drunk, she still doesn’t care about Earth rather than embracing her new home and not wanting it to share the fate of her old one because she doesn’t want to lose another home.
The John Wick comparison might be fair. Wick was out to avenge his dog while Kara is trying to save hers, which JesterBell noted in her video is a more selfish motivation than just helping someone in need. Both have a point. Even Gherzo noted that Krem’s story from Woman Of Tomorrow now ends up in the background to show the bad guys are really really evil because they killed her family and poisoned the dog.
The new Supergirl trailer suggests a character arc for Kara as well, one in which she grows to care for others; she implores Ruthye to let go of her thirst for vengeance with the usual “it won’t bring them back/make it better/insert moral lesson the audience hopes you’ll ignore here” line. It also seems like her outfit will trace her arc, similarly to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where her beaten-up coat and rags will give way to her supersuit as she grows into her hero role. (That being said, let’s not lean too far into that; Krem hurt a dog and must suffer.)
That would be fine if that was the promotion from the get-go, but it hasn’t. Despite not being directed by James Gunn despite his celebrating casting Milly Alcock, other trailers and interviews still made it sound more like Guardians Of The Galaxy, with JesterBell comparing this Kara to Starlord. Her teaser cameo in James Gunn’s Superman By James Gunn painted her in the worst light possible without making her evil. The first trailer opens with Krypto peeing on a picture of Superman and Kara praising him for getting it mostly on the newspaper THIS time. That link from the G&G quote earlier also links to another article noting that there have been eight test screenings with three different endings, and now more of Corenswet’s Superman appearing in the movie via reshoots are rumored. They’ve also gone through three composers with mere months to go before the movie is supposed to hit theaters.
Speaking of Alcock, she just fell for the Hollywood trick of blaming fans for the work they know is going to get roasted by calling it sexist. Milly, nobody has complained about your casting or even that there’s a Supergirl movie. I defend the 1980s Supergirl movie and I really like the character. The problems are with the writers and director, not the actors unless the actors are really bad. Or blames the fans of the comics for not going or not enjoying the movie. They’re tricking you into defending their crap adaptation because you enjoyed playing the role and aren’t aware of the comic character or her fanbase. You’re being played for a sucker by your creators, and you’re just making things worse for the movie when it comes out. Fans love the Madame Web actresses who admit the movie was terrible and doesn’t blame the wrong people for its failure. We’re actually sorry you didn’t get to play the real Kara Zor-El the same way David and Henry never got to be proper versions of Superman.
Jason Momoa is looking better as Lobo than he did as Aquaman, but that’s because it’s the character he really wants to play and also resembles more unless you count 90s Aquaman. He just needed a hook hand to complete that look, but he seems more in tune with the Main Man than the Aquaman. Under this tone the “things look bad…for you” line comes off less try hard and more like the action movie quip it’s intended to be. These are the best complements I can give outside of the suit finally showing up…but why is Kara wearing a Supergirl costume if she doesn’t want to be a superhero? Any old Kryptonian outfit would do. At least in the recent comics she still does superhero stuff by choice. In Woman Of Tomorrow she just decided to blow off the Superman family to get drunk on her birthday, not something she does regularly. I couldn’t even tell you why she comes to Earth in the movies if she refuses to acknowledge them as “her people”.
Hollywood still doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, but while the new Masters Of The Universe trailer gave me signs of a better movie, this really has too high a hill to jump without Kryptonian yellow sun powers. This feels more like a tone shift than that movie, as if they need to convince an audience that this is what they want from a Supergirl movie. There are beliefs that Supergirl needs to perform well in light of responses to Creature Commandos, James Gunn’s Superman By James Gunn, and especially Peacemaker, all three of which follow the Gunn Of The Galaxy formula and have either been ignored, lampooned, or outright trashed respectively. Any movie can surprise you, but with so much working against Supergirl even without Gunn’s direct involvement, this might not work to DC Studio’s benefit. With new owners coming soon whether the Skydance purchase of Warner Brothers goes through or not, this not looking good for the latest shared universe attempt.
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