Every Live-Action Version Of Supergirl, Ranked
Supergirl is finally here, and the new DC Universe movie is only the latest of several fantastic iterations of the comic book character that has been seen on screen through the years. Milly Alcock’s version of the DC heroine joins a fantastic legacy of great stars taking on the iconic role of Kara Zor-El, all of whom have been strong. Kara has been around for a long time. Supergirl’s first comic appearance in 1959’s Action Comics #252 was a stellar event, and began the character’s tremendous legacy in the medium. As a result, Supergirl has been around in comic books for longer than many other familiar heroes, including Spider-Man, Batgirl, and many others, emphasizing Kara’s cultural importance. Kara has generally always been Superman’s cousin, but much else about her story has been changed through the years. The comic on which Supergirl is based, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, is a fairly recent book that has since become incredibly influential on how the character is understood. Less a female version of Superman, this contemporary Supergirl carries great, tragic pain. This has always been in the background of Kara’s story. From the beginning, she has experienced more of Krypton than her cousin Kal-El, which has enabled her to feel the loss of that world and its people with much greater strength. Still, it is important to consider Supergirl’s full comics and screen legacy when looking at the diverse iterations seen.
5
Laura Vandervoort
Laura Vandervoort holds up an item as Kara on Smallville
Smallville’s second iteration of Supergirl, following a fakeout version played by Adrianne Palicki, was Laura Vandervoort’s Kara Zor-El, who played a major role on The CW’s series. Vandervoort certainly looked the part, and often dressed in Supergirl’s iconic colors on the show. Kara was a good addition to the series in the seventh season, but by that point, the pre-Superman premise had begun to run out of gas. Often considered the worst season of Smallville, the writing was largely affected by the 2007-2008 WGA strikes, and much of the season’s storylines felt half-baked. Yes, Kara was a decent inclusion in the show, but the character’s relationship to Clark, especially being established prior to him becoming Superman, deviated from the comics in ways that weren’t always successful. While still a decent Supergirl, Smallville’s iteration is the weakest so far.
4
Helen Slater
Helen Slater looks out in Supergirl
Helen Slater only had a limited amount of time on screen as Supergirl. She starred in Supergirl and made a brief CGI appearance in The Flash that more directly tied her to the existing canon of Christopher Reeve’s Superman world. Still, considering the limited amount of tape, Slater did an admirable job with substandard material. A perfect choice to play Kara, Slater’s version of the character was let down by a weak script. What could have been a major leap for female-led superhero movies was instead a huge box office bomb, earning only $14.3 million and garnering almost entirely negative reviews. Still, despite appearing in a weak story, it is hard to see this iteration of Supergirl as anything other than a success, at least for the time. Imbued with the hero’s colorful optimism, Slater brought a beautifully earnest sweetness to the role, that would later go on to inform much of a later entry on this list.
3
Sasha Calle
Sasha Calle flies on the poster for The Flash
While The Flash was initially promised by insiders to be among the greatest comic book movies of all time, audiences did not agree with this assessment and doubled down, resulting in one of the biggest box office failures that DC has yet seen. Unfortunately, this was a radical overreaction, as there is much to love in the movie, not least being Sasha Calle’s instantly loved DC performance. Drawing from the “Flashpoint” comic books, The Flash presented an unusual version of the familiar Supergirl that feels much closer to Milly Alcock’s angsty hero than any of the others on this list. The counterpoint to Henry Cavill’s dark and brooding Superman, this Supergirl, after being imprisoned, had little faith in humanity. Calle did a fantastic job in this role, presenting a unique vision of what Supergirl could be. Her performance is one of the strongest components of the movie, and constructs a believable character that is unique and alien. If the DCEU had not shut down, Calle’s Supergirl could have eventually risen even higher on this list.
2
Melissa Benoist
Melissa Benoist as SupergirlMovieStillsDB
Many would rank Melissa Benoist as the greatest Supergirl yet seen onscreen, and this makes sense. She has certainly played the character the most, in 126 episodes of her own eponymous series, as well as in many different events that occurred in the Arrowverse. Plus, she really embodied the classic ideal of the character. Benoist looks just like the Supergirl from the comics, and imbues her version of Kara with enormous relatability. That begins with her balancing her workplace life, which feels like something out of The Devil Wears Prada, with an exciting superhero career. Still, Benoist’s Supergirl does not do much to further the character’s legacy. Throughout, she feels less like a hero in her own right and more like a female copy of Superman, with similar beliefs in the good of people, balancing terrific powers with a human level of vulnerability. While the Arrowverse did an incredible job with its heroes, it did feel constrained by its television settings and budgets. As a result, Benoist’s fantastic performance felt smaller than many of the other big-screen iterations. Still, she remains an important part of Supergirl’s legacy and ranks as the second-best version of the character yet seen.
1
Milly Alcock
The newest Supergirl is the best one, and that is for two distinct reasons. The first is Milly Alcock’s fantastic performance. While introduced in a humorous scene at the ending of Superman, the new film has done a tremendous job in recontextualizing her character and imbuing even the funnier elements with tragic pain.
Alcock carries this perfectly. She brings a hardened bitterness and a casual angst to her performance throughout the film, driven by a lonely longing that manifests in a deep connection to Krypto. Seeing this influence her relationship with Ruthye is part of what makes Alcock’s performance work so well. This leads into the second reason why Alcock’s Supergirl is the best one: because the character is simply far more interesting than she has ever been before. Rather than simply contending with Superman’s long shadow, this iteration of Kara is given godlike powers, but frames them against the greater cosmos. The all-powerful Supergirl is presented on a galactic scale, highlighting the isolation and deep loneliness that the character experiences. Contending with a deep need for revenge, Supergirl tells the best story yet seen with the beloved character. This story needed a strong performer to sell it, and House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock was the perfect choice. Her future in the DC Universe is bright and exciting.
Release Date
June 26, 2026
Runtime
108 minutes
Director
Craig Gillespie
Writers
Ana Nogueira
Producers
James Gunn, Lars P. Winther, Nigel Gostelow, Peter Safran
Diterbitkan : 2026-06-28 18:30:00
sumber : screenrant.com
