Superman: Man of Tomorrow is an American animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. It is the first film set in the second incarnation of the DC Animated Movie Universe and the thirty-ninth film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and was released on Digital on August 23, 2020 and on Blu-ray, DVD and set to be released on 4K Ultra HD on September 8, 2020.
Premise:
The film chronicles the early life of Clark Kent, before he became known as Superman.
Right off the bat, I have to say that I adore this new art style for these direct-to-video DC Comics animated films. At this point, I was growing sick of them rehashing the same animation style from Young Justice for roughly a dozen films at that point. In that regard, I found it refreshing to see a new art style being used here to kickstart this new animated continuity.
As for the narrative, they played things a little too safe for my taste and didn't change much from the traditional Superman origin story. That's fine for the most part, but on paper it comes off really boring at times.
Hear me out though. While I enjoyed the battles against Lobo and Martian Manhunter early on, I couldn't help but feel like everything in between was dragging along at a snail's pace. I wanted to get engaged with Lois Lane's budding career as a reporter while Clark Kent was coming up as the mere intern at the Daily Planet, but the film would have this stuff playing out as it normally should. Then things would be going on and on until I ultimately found myself not even caring for the majority of the plot until the third and final act.
Man of Tomorrow's Lois Lane.
It's a darn shame too as Ma and Pa Kent are very likable characters during Clark's tenure at home while he comes to grips of his Kryptonian origins. I wanted to like Lois Lane too, but she seemed to lose her hardened edge that she had when she debuts in the film to confront and expose Lex Luthor. She went from bad ass to borderline fangirling over Superman at one point. I get that she saw the guy naked after his battle with Lobo, but c'mon girl, get a grip. Call me biased to Dana Delany's Lois Lane from Superman: The Animated Series, but that Lois Lane, along with the one in the Justice League: WAR continuity (voiced by Rebecca Romijn), are tough acts to follow. Maybe she'll find her "voice" - even though I didn't have a problem with Alexandra Daddario's portrayal like most early reviews and reactions I saw online after the film streamed for free during DC Fandom - in time as this was her first canonical appearance in this new continuity. Lois Lane, much like Superman/Clark Kent, are younger and not as seasoned as their established counterparts. They still have time to grow into their iconic roles and personality traits that we know and love. I know that some people will find it being a knock against this film for portraying a less experienced Superman than we are used to, but after seeing the character broken down physically and mentally from the horrors done to him and the rest of the Justice League in Apokalips War, we deserved a more lighthearted narrative for the Man of Steel to remind us why we root for this character. Superman/Clark Kent, at his core, is just a good ol' Southern boy who wants to do good by his Ma and Pa. He wants to return the kindness and compassion that his parents instilled into him to those around the world, especially after coming to terms that he has the power to do so unlike anyone else.
If that was supposed to be Mercy Graves, then WTF is wrong with her goddamn face?
Zachary Quinto's Lex Luthor didn't get to shine until the film's last act, where Superman is forced to ask him for help in dealing with the threat of Parasite after he absorbed most of his powers. Luthor reveals that he has enlisted Lobo as an informant of sorts, who provides the information that Kryptonians like Kal-El are vulnerable to kryptonite. Naturally, Luthor uses this information to weaponize the kryptonite ring that Lobo used on Superman in their first encounter into a powerful energy rifle. Luthor's few scenes in this film were good, but much like a lot of characters in this film, left a lot to be desired. There was only a split second where I doubted that maybe Luthor would have a change of heart in this continuity and actually be Superman's ally, but that went out of the window the second that Lobo revealed what Superman's weakness was - firmly establishing him as the rat that Lois Lane exposed him as in the early moments of the film. I mean, damn, this film didn't give us any lee way to think otherwise about Lex Luthor. Even Rise of the Supermen and Justice League: Apokalips War gave Lex Luthor some semblance of humanity and had him opt to do the greater good for the sake of saving the planet rather than his own skin.
I could almost literally hear Superman shouting, "BIIIIIRRRRDDDDMANNN!!" when he would fly up to soak up the rays from the sun.
I couldn't help but laugh that this film acted like Superman instantly heals himself by standing in front of the sun's rays as if he's Birdman from the old Hanna-Barbara cartoons. Where the fuck did that come from? If that's a new age/modern take on his powers then that's news to me. I am familiar with the effect that solar radiation has onto his body and his unique Kryptonian cells and biology, but I didn't think the effect on his body was instantaneous like shown in this film.
Parasite sporting a design that I definitely wasn't used to seeing.
I'm sure someone will chime in but was Parasite always able to absorb energy as well in the comics and other mediums? That threw me for a goddamn loop for the first portion of their battle. I ended up reading up on the villain after this viewing and found out that he's always had that ability in the comics, just that it wasn't never exploited in Superman: The Animated Series or the rest of the DC Animated Universe to my knowledge. He didn't use that ability or the ability to transform into a more monstrous state after absorbing a wealth of life-energy. I know the biggest critique against the Justice League: WAR era of DC Animated films was the extreme violence, but we can't shy away without mentioning how gruesome Parasite's victims looked after he was done feeding off of their life-energy. Not a single one of his victims survived. Instead, they were rendered as lifeless husks. That was on the same vein of nightmare fuel as The Joker's toxin/laughing gas victims in Batman: The Animated Series. (Laughs) I'm just sayin'.
I doubt this is the first nor last time that we will see Lobo in this continuity.
I was surprised at the inclusion of Martian Manhunter and Lobo in this film, especially to say that this is the first film in this new movie universe. They aren't wasting any time whatsoever at establishing that everything is all connected and that's a GOOD thing. There's no reason to keep all of these heroes segregated to their own corners of the DC Universe when they are all moving pieces in it that can easily all operate at the same time. In that regard, I thought it was great idea to establish that Batman was already active and established while Superman was in the infancy of his heroism and exposing himself to humanity - in more ways than one. Lobo and Martian Manhunter's inclusion added to something I thought that the Supergirl TV series did well and portrayed the struggle of being an alien hiding on Earth well. Martian Manhunter dealt with the same thing Kal-El did but only saw the worst of humanity. He was fortunate to say hidden with his shape-shifting powers since he wasn't born with a similar appearance to humans like Kal-El. Lobo's arrival made humans perceive aliens as invaders seeking out nothing more to harm mankind, when there's good-natured aliens like Superman who wish to protect mankind against any and all threats to their well-being.
That contrasting opinion/public reception played into the film's climax, where Superman came face-to-face with the film's primary antagonist, Parasite - who was transformed into a Godzilla-sized monstrosity thanks to how much life-energy and raw energy as a whole that he has siphoned off his victims and throughout Metropolis. Despite all of the powers at Superman's disposal, brute strength couldn't defeat this foe. Instead, Superman allowed this creature to absorb his powers once more and appealed to his humanity, the man that he once was to see the error in his ways. Parasite absorbed Superman's sense of justice and righteousness along with the obligation he felt to do good for those around him. That was more than enough to force Parasite to sacrifice himself to save everyone from being wiped out from the potential overloading reactor by absorbing the raw energy into himself. The energy ended up being too much and reduced his body to dust to be scattered to the wind. I went into this thinking that Superman was going to have this back and forth slobber knocker with this foe after coming up with a means to prevent Parasite from stealing his powers, but instead, I found myself a little underwhelmed that this was a problem that wasn't solved by a Superman, but merely one resolved by a good man. I guess that's the lesson/moral of the story that this film is trying to teach its viewers. You don't need to be a Superman, you merely need to use the tools at your disposal to be a good man. That can save just as many lives, if not more.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then.
For those anxious to see how this "reboot" of the DC Animated Movie universe is going to begin, it's a no-brainer to check this out. For everyone else, I honestly can't suggest going out of your way to check this out, especially when it was available FREE legally as part of DC Fandom last weekend. This isn't a very exciting movie, especially after the high stakes and action-heavy narrative of Apokalips War that preceded it, but to be honest, that's to be expected for anything that would follow-up that film to start this animated movie universe over anew. This film does plant the seeds for things to come as Batman already exists in this continuity and has been active for quite some time. Then Lobo left Superman and Martian Manhunter both with the information that they aren't the last of their kind. That was merely something he stated to sweeten his bounties on their alien races, so that leaves the door open for more Kryptonians (Supergirl, General Zod, etc.) and more Martians (Miss Martian?) to join this continuity down the road. Superman finds himself left with a twisted ally in the form of Lobo with his own brand of humor.
Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis in Superman: Man of Tomorrow, available later in summer 2020 on Digital, 4K, Blu-ray & DVD.
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Superman: Man of Tomorrow is the 41st film in the popular series of DC Universe Movies.
Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Darren Criss (Glee, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace) and Emmy nominee Zachary Quinto (Star Trek franchise, Heroes) lead a star-studded cast as the voices of Superman/Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, respectively. The cast also includes Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas, Baywatch, All My Children) as Lois Lane, Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Parasite/Rudy Jones, Ryan Hurst (The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Remember the Titans) as Lobo, Ike Amadi (Mass Effect 3, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge) as Martian Manhunter, Neil Flynn (The Middle, Scrubs) as Jonathan Kent, Bellamy Young (Scandal, Prodigal Son) as Martha Kent, Cristina Milizia (DC Super Hero Girls) as Maya, Petey & Kaylie, Eugene Byrd (Bones, LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures) as Ron Troupe, April Stewart (South Park) as Mrs. Ross, and Piotr Michael (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) as Perry White, as well as Cissy Jones (Firewatch) and David Chen (Gotham).
Chris Palmer (Voltron: Legendary Defender) is the director of Superman: Man of Tomorrow, utilizing a script by Tim Sheridan (The Death of Superman). Supervising Producer is Butch Lukic.
This is the first film to start the new continuity for completely rebooting the DC animated film continuity following Justice League Dark: Apokalips War. The biggest stand out for me is the complete shift in style in terms of animation for this film. If this is what they want to go with then that's completely fine with me. It definitely sticks out and distinguishes itself completely from everything before it from WB Animation, so it's appropriate to set the tone for this reboot. My biggest knock against the old animation style was that it looked too much like the style for Young Justice and made me think that those shows and the films were in the same continuity when they weren't in the least.
This seems like it's going to be a "proper" reintroduction to the Man of Steel that we need right now, despite the fact that I think that DC Comics should focus on their lesser known heroes right now over the Trinity. Then again, if you're going to restart your comics universe, you better start it off with Superman to get ball rolling properly.
Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.
En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins eleven years later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.
Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector. Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.
Plot (FULL Spoilers)
"The Adventures of Supergirl"
Kara finds an unknown young man lying unconscious in the pod and takes him to DEO. She prepares for a date with James just as the commercial spacecraft, the Venture, is launched into space. It suffers engine failure and descends to Earth, but Kara saves the craft with help from Superman. They find the main target to have been Lena Luthor, the new CEO of Luthor Corp after her brother, Lex, was convicted. In a ceremony where she renames the company L Corp, she is attacked again by John Corben, the assassin. Alex engages him while Kara and Clark stop a building from collapsing. Corben reveals he is working for Lex before he is shot by Lena. Kara chooses to be a reporter for CatCo, a decision supported by Cat. Kara and James decide to keep their relationship friendly. Winn is formally hired to work with the DEO. Meanwhile, J'onn reveals to Alex that he was the one who found the Kryptonite and decided to keep it against the wishes of Clark, who wanted to destroy it. At Project Cadmus, an unnamed woman revives Corben and begins turning him into a metahuman called Metallo.
"Children of Krypton"
Kara and Clark continue operating together in National City before he decides to return toMetropolis. However, they encounter Corben, who challenges them by the kryptonite he possesses. The DEO deduces that there is a mole who smuggled the kryptonite out. In another encounter with Corben, another Metallo goes on rampage in Metropolis without opposition. Alex finds the mole, who is killed by the Cadmus leader, who intends to destroy aliens. Winn manages to build an anti-kryptonite suit for Kara and Clark, who manage to defeat the Metallos by the help of Alex and Hank, respectively. Kara promises the Cadmus leader to find her. Hank entrusts the remaining kryptonite to Clark, who returns to Metropolis. Meanwhile, Cat introduces Kara to the latter's new boss,Snapper, who does not like her and refuses to give her an assignment. Cat advises her to solve the problem herself, deciding to leave CatCo for other adventures, giving her place to James. Cat manages to prove her value to Snapper, who agrees to teach her. In the DEO, the alien man regains consciousness and attacks Kara.
The Verdict:
Originally, I was just going to cover the premiere of this season but I went ahead and added my thoughts on the second episode for this season as well.
"The Adventures of Supergirl"
This episode served as killing two birds with one stone - it served as the premiere of the show on the CW Network while simultaneously kicking off the new season. Right off the bat they addressed the biggest criticism concerning the show in the first season and its lack of Superman despite the several name drops and references. Now we finally get to see the Man of Steel in the flesh so to speak. Even though I read the casting news for the months leading up to this, I have to admit that I was still ultimately underwhelmed by how Superman looks in this show. Then again, we weren't given much in terms of physique when it came to Supergirl so I can't be too surprised. Compare to Henry Cavill, I guess we're all a bit spoiled to how Superman is "supposed" to look like so I wouldn't be too surprised if fans don't cut Tyler Hoechlin any slack about his lack of a Superman-worthy physique.
I will admit that they did manage to capture Superman's presence to the public. They made it a big deal for him to be apart of this show's universe and rightfully so - it IS a big deal, especially after an entire season of teases and minor mentions. Everyone was starstruck and in such awe of him and his reputation while Clark Kent was getting the opposite reaction - save from Cat Grant, who was surprisingly caught up in a schoolgirl-like crush over him. I'm guessing her fixation over Clark is the polar opposite of what drew Lois Lane to him. Cat fell in love with Clark Kent while Lois fell in love with Superman. I guess we'll find out over the course of the next few episodes since Clark is expected to stick around for a bit this season.
Cat's still my favorite character on this show if I'm perfectly honest...
As usual, the true star of this episode - much like the bulk of Season One - was Cat Grant in all of her brutally honest glory. She puts Kara on blast throughout this episode, pointing how she's become complacent with her position in CatCo and life in general. In a said truth of reality, that's the problem with a lot of these comicbook-based shows. They get stuck in their own repetitive nature of a fairy tale-like narrative but are often afraid to "take the dive" to try something new and different. Sure, the path may be difficult along the way but even if it's a flop or a bust at least the teams behind these shows like this can look back confidently and say that they weren't afraid to take the plunge and do something outside of the box instead of sticking with what is easy or is the safer option for drawing in ratings.
In terms of action sequences in this premiere, I have to admit that they look a lot better compared to the low quality stuff that we saw last season, but they have a long way to go to blow me away with the action with anything in these shows based in the Arrowverse in general.
I have to ask, what is up with this show's obsession with almost every new female minor character that is introduced is in a position of power? Lana Lang was made the interim head of the DEO last season after J'onn was demoted, the new mystery lady appointed as the figurehead of Cadmus, that woman who ended up being a White Martian in Manhunter's focused episode, and now Lena Luthor too. I'm all for equal rights and building/establishing powerful women in narratives but it seems a bit excessive in this show as the writers are going a bit out of their way to keep doing that.
Project Cadmus finally making their presence known was a pleasant surprise after staying in the shadows for the bulk of Season One, but I fear the weak narrative writing for this show will drag it down in the long run. Not even the mysterious Kryptonian has my interest perked enough to care about what he brings to the table. The rift between Superman and Martian Manhunter made me roll my eyes more than actually care about it from a narrative standpoint when most fans should know that if Superman really wanted to be petty he could just keep a book of matches laying around when the subject of Manhunter's weakness comes up.
Seriously... Just ask Batman.
"Children of Krypton"
This episode continued the Project Cadmus plot that was teased at the end of the season premiere but we are treated to the first fruit of their labors as Corben is transformed into Metallo. This version of Metallo wasn't really memorable but it wasn't bad for this show's first attempt at the character. Seriously, it could be a lot worse as I think we can look no farther than Smallville and The Lois and Clark: New Adventures of Superman versions of the character. Yeah, I went there...
They didn't butcher Metallo like they did Livewire in the first season, so I can't complain. Let me get into what I'm really upset about on this episode...
Cat Grant is fucking leaving. Reportedly, this has to do with the show not filming locally where Calista Flockhart lives so travel is an issue but she's set to still make sporadic appearances throughout the season. She's just not listed as a series regular from here on out. From a storyline perspective, they are writing her off as being "burnt out" and taking a leave of absence while James takes over her position at CatCo while Kara takes on her new reporter job. Boy, seeing the arguably the "best" character on this show being written off doesn't give me much high hopes for this season. The Project Cadmus plot is intriguing enough as it makes me wish that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice went that route in terms of being opposed to powered-people like Kryptonians, especially with their propaganda video.
Snapper Carr seems like a piss poor replacement from this first appearance and comes off as a poor man's J. Jonah Jameson to add onto Kara's moping around like The Flash's Barry Allen, if these CW shows don't have enough of that with their young adolescent protagonists. At least Cat went out with a bang with her sassy attitude and brutally honest life lessons for Kara/Supergirl. We'll definitely miss you, Cat.
This episode has more awkward looking action sequences, somehow managing to top how poor the premiere's sequences looked. Can someone explain to me how Alex was punching Metallo in that exo-frame armor when it wasn't covering her hands? She should have shattered her fist to dust if she was hitting him as hard as Supergirl was. (Sighs) At least we got a Superman and Martian Manhunter team-up in this episode along with another look at the Fortress of Solitude, so I won't complain too much in that department.
I will complain about how stupid they made the whole "shipment/supply" of kryptonite issue in this episode. How the fuck does Superman know that's all of the world's supply of kryptonite? Like LexCorp or Cadmus might have their own supply somewhere. Jesus H. Christ, Superman is stupid when it comes to this whole kryptonite thing in this universe. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having an insurance policy if his ass gets brainwashed or something. The last thing the world needs is some rampaging rogue alien going around doing what he pleases - we had enough of that last season in this show.
How the writing on this show makes me feel at times...
I should look up the side effects and see if long-term exposure to kryptonite makes Superman stupid - kinda like the Orb of Confusion from Spongebob...
Watch it or Don't Bother?
From the ratings numbers, it seems like that a LOT of people tuned in - old and new viewers - just to see Superman in this premiere. If that's all you want to see then go nuts. But if you're looking for anything more than that, you might not be getting what you were looking for, especially when there's a lot of MUCH better shows to be watching than this. As the season continues on, I see those rating numbers going further and further down the hole unless this show really pulls something out of left field. With both Cat and Superman not sticking around for the duration of the season, I think those new viewers who turned in for Superman will quickly give up the ghost to watch something else in this time slot on Monday Nights.
Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 12-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.
En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and becomeSuperman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins more than a decade later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.[2]
Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector.[3] Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.
Episode List
Episode 1 - "Pilot"
A young girl named Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth by her mother Alura to protect her cousin, Kal-El, as their planet, Krypton, destructs. The planet's explosion forces her ship off course and into the Phantom Zone for 24 years, before landing on Earth. Kal-El, now an adult and going by the name Superman, puts Kara in the care of the Danvers. Twelve years later, Kara reveals herself to the world when her adoptive sister's plane is sabotaged. Her sister, Alex, works at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, under the leadership of Hank Henshaw, investigating alien activity. Kara learns that there are hundreds of aliens on the planet in hiding, most whom came from a prison that crashed on Earth, and that her mother was the one responsible for imprisoning them. Her actions attract the attention of Vartox (Owain Yeoman), and she is able to defeat him. New art director James Olsen reveals he was sent to look after her and presents Kara with a new cape. Vartox's superior is revealed to be Astra In-Ze, Alura's identical twin sister, who wants to conquer Earth.
Episode 2 - "Stronger Together"
In an effort to put a positive image on Supergirl in the wake of a serious mishap, Kara asks Winn and James to help her perfect her skills, while Hank and Alex put Kara through extensive physical training. Kara learns that an alien (Justice Leak) of the Hellgrammite species who escaped from Fort Rozz is on Earth searching for chlorine-based food. The DEO prepares an ambush for the Hellgrammite, but it escapes, kidnaps Alex, and takes her to Astra. Astra uses Alex as a trap for Kara. As Kara and Astra fight, Hank injures Astra with a Kryptonite knife and Alex kills the Hellgrammite. Learning that Kara has become more powerful than she had imagined and that humanity has a means of weakening Kryptonians, Astra muses that her "plans" may need to be postponed. Cat pressures James to get her an interview with Supergirl. James has reservations about being used as a go-between to his superpowered friends, while Kara is worried about being recognized. In the end, Kara agrees to the interview and prevents James from getting fired. It is also revealed that Hank might have a secret of his own when his eyes begin to glow red.
Cat Grant is out of town and Kara, James, and Winn struggle to take care of CatCo, Cat's son Carter, and a bomber targeting Maxwell Lord's company. The DEO, claiming to be the FBI, goes to Lord and attempts to convince him to postpone the bullet train's opening, but to no avail. On the opening night of Lord's new bullet train, Supergirl and the DEO must deal with two bomb threats simultaneously, one at the airport and one on the train. James and the DEO go to the airport, where Hank Henshaw secretly uses his hidden strength to deactivate the bomb. Supergirl goes to the train, on which Carter and the bomber are both riding. As Supergirl confronts the bomber, he claims that he is doing it for his daughter. The bomber requests Supergirl save the people on the train after he starts the timer. At DEO headquarters, Alex finds a fail-safe in the "dud" bomb, causing Supergirl to realize that Lord was the one behind the bomber's actions. Lord concedes that the threats could have been used to test Supergirl's skills.
Episode 5 - "Livewire"
After fighting an alien escapee, Kara meets Alex at the apartment to greet their mother, Eliza Danvers, for Thanksgiving, inviting Winn due to his lack of plans. CatCo's shock jock, Leslie Willis (Brit Morgan) is demoted by Cat to traffic reporting after a controversial bashing of Supergirl. During a severe thunderstorm, Supergirl tries to save Leslie, but lightning strikes them both, imbuing Leslie with electromagnetic powers. Leslie takes the name "Livewire" and tries to take revenge on Cat, but eventually Supergirl stops her and she is imprisoned at DEO. After Alex tells Eliza in a fit of rage at the dinner table that she's actually DEO, Eliza reveals to her daughters that, years ago, their father, Dr. Jeremiah Danvers, offered himself up to work for Hank Henshaw in exchange for Kara's safety and then died mysteriously, leading the girls to become suspicious of Henshaw.
Episode 6 - "Red Faced"
Anger issues surface for multiple characters, including Kara. Cat's mother, Katherine Grant, arrives. Lucy's father, Sam Lane (Glenn Morshower), arrives. The military's rogue combat android Red Tornado (Iddo Goldberg) challenges Kara. She and Alex eventually defeat both the robot and its creator T.O. Morrow (also portrayed by Goldberg), but the fight leaves the former weakened. It is discovered that Hank Henshaw was the last to see Jeremiah Danvers alive. At the end of the episode, Kara drops some glass and, when she picks it up, she starts bleeding.
Episode 7 - "Human for a Day"
The fight with Red Tornado leaves Kara helpless without her powers. During an earthquake, she attempts to help James and Winn, while the events allow the alien prisonerJemm (Charles Halford) to break out of his DEO cell and face off against Alex and Hank, who is later revealed to be a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz. Hank explains to Alex that her father saved him from the real Henshaw, who tried to kill him and that he made him a promise to watch over his daughter. Kara is later attacked by Astra and her assistants.
Episode 8 - "Hostile Takeover"
Kara's battle against Astra is muddied when Astra explains how Alura captured her, but Kara refuses to believe her story until she discovers the truth that her mother was trying to keep from her. It is also revealed that Astra used her fight against Supergirl as part of a plan to take over Lord Technologies, led by her husband Non (Chris Vance) and his army of Kryptonians, prompting Alex and Hank to stop them. The Kryptonians are employing kryptonite-shielding armor to protect themselves from the substance, but Hank still manages to take out one after he revealed to him his true identity. Meanwhile Kara, James, Winn, and Lucy help Cat track down a hacker responsible for releasing Cat's e-mails, leading them to a CatCo executive who wants to oust Cat from the company. Cat reveals to Kara that she has a son that she has not seen in 24 years and later tells Kara that she knows that she is Supergirl. Kara then races over to Lord Technologies to face off against Non.
Episode 9 - "Blood Bonds"
Non defeats Supergirl and leaves with Hank/J'onn. Lord sends the DEO away from his facility, vowing to defend it himself, and returns to a secret experiment he is conducting. Non offers to trade Hank for Astra, but General Lane (placed in charge of the DEO during the emergency though Hank left Alex as acting director) refuses, tortures Astra for Non's location, and walks into a trap placed by Non. Kara is distraught over both this defeat and the fact that Cat will fire her unless she is convinced that Kara is not Supergirl. Kara goes to the DEO and talks with Astra who tells her that Alura believed her (correct) claim that Krypton was doomed, but sentenced her for her illegal methods while promising to work for her cause. Alex and Supergirl make the trade over Lane's objections and Astra orders Non to withdraw despite his numerical advantage. Later, J'onn uses his shape-shifting power to present Cat with Kara and Supergirl simultaneously, casting doubt on her initial deduction of their identities.
Episode 10 - "Childish Things"
When Winn learns that his father the Toyman (Henry Czerny) has escaped, Kara wants to help him find his father, but he's concerned it is his cross to bear. Alex convinces a reluctant Hank to use his powers to infiltrate Lord Technologies and find out what Maxwell is hiding. Cat hires Lucy as her general counsel, but James is unenthusiastic. Maxwell uses a hidden camera to spy on Kara and Alex, discovering that the two are sisters and learning Kara's secret identity. Also, Kara learns Winn is in love with her after he kisses her and runs off. Kara feels guilty for possibly ruining their friendship and tells Alex, who already knew how he felt.
Episode 11 - "Strange Visitor From Another Planet"
Kara saves an anti-alien senator named Miranda Crane (Tawny Cypress) after a mysterious creature attacks only to discover that Hank knows of the creature and wants vengeance against it for killing his family and race back on Mars. The deception takes on a new twist when the alien poses as Senator Crane in order to bait Hank into revealing the DEO's Green Martian and Kara has to intervene before Hank goes through with his vengeance. Meanwhile, Kara helps Cat meet with her son Adam who later asks Kara out for a date. An identical Supergirl suddenly shows up in National City and is already the lead story on television after she tosses a dangling car off a bridge.
Episode 12 - "Bizarro"
Kara comes face-to-face with a doppelgänger of herself (Hope Lauren) who was brought to life by Maxwell through a combination of genetics from her DNA and a comatose victim. The double is mentally programmed to destroy Supergirl. Kara, on the other hand, believes that Maxwell is the one the DEO should go after when he reveals he knows her secret by sending Bizarro out to kill her while she is Kara. Alex and Hank come up with a plan to keep Maxwell from exposing Kara while countering Bizarro with a synthetic blue kryptonite. Meanwhile, Kara starts to get to know Adam, but is not sure whether to take the next step. A mysterious plant attacks Kara.
Episode 13 - "For the Girl Who Has Everything"
A mysterious plant known as the Black Mercy places Kara in a dreamlike state that has her imagining she is back on Krypton. The plant is part of a plot by Non, who is using Earth's technology to launch Myriad, which he and Astra are planning to use to wipe out humanity. Alex, Hank, Winn, Maxwell, and James race against time to save Kara, with Alex entering Kara's mind to pull Kara out and bring her back to reality. When Kara comes back, she seeks revenge on Non and stops him, but Astra, who wanted Kara unharmed and is upset with Non, is killed by Alex before she could kill Hank, who fought her off as the Martian Manhunter. Hank tells Kara that he killed Astra instead of Alex, who starts to feel guilty over whether she should tell Kara the truth. Non vows revenge on Kara in the wake of Astra's death.
Episode 14 - "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"
Kara, Alex, and J'onn track down an armored alien known as the Master Jailer (Jeff Branson), whom they discover was a prison guard at Fort Rozz. He has become a vigilante who kills the alien fugitives, including those convicted of non-violent crimes such as a professor sentenced for drug smuggling. Kara confronts the Master Jailer, but he takes her prisoner and plans to execute her for not joining him. Alex pinpoints his location and Kara is able to save the professor and defeat the Jailer. Cat assigns James and Lucy to investigate Maxwell Lord's disappearance. Tensions between James and Lucy develop after he reveals his knowledge of the DEO, prompting James to urge Kara to release Maxwell. Kara finds competition in Cat's new "first assistant" Siobhan Smythe (Italia Ricci), who vows to become the next Cat Grant. As Kara and Non pay their final respects to Astra, Non warns her that she will be next. Kara attempts to seek out the truth about Myriad and realizes she cannot forgive J'onn for killing her aunt.
Episode 15 - "Solitude"
A hacker steals information from a cheating website and asks Cat to release it. When Cat refuses, the hacker disrupts the city's infrastructure by interfering with its computer system. The hacker is revealed to be Indigo (Laura Vandervoort), who was in Fort Rozz and enabled Kara to escape the Phantom Zone. Her true plan is to destroy National City with a nuclear missile, but her attempt is foiled by Supergirl. Meanwhile, Kara is still mad at Hank and refuses to return to the DEO. Upon realizing they are stronger together, she eventually does, only to be told by Alex that it was she who killed her aunt.
Episode 16 - "Falling"
Supergirl inadvertently comes into contact with Red Kryptonite which destroys her inhibitions. It turns out that Maxwell created it in the hopes of stopping Non's next attack. Instead, it gradually turns Supergirl evil. The DEO is able to subdue her, but at the price of Hank revealing himself as the Martian Manhunter.
Episode 17 - "Manhunter"
While Kara is trying to win back National City's trust, Marine Colonel James Harper (Eddie McClintock) begins an investigation into the J'onn affair with Lucy, having re-enlisted into the Army at her previous rank of Major, as his legal assistant. After learning that Hank and Alex are on their way to Project Cadmus, Kara tells Lucy that she is Supergirl and convinces her to help rescue Hank and Alex. Hank learns that Jeremiah is still alive, so he and Alex go on the run to find him, but not before manipulating Harper into resigning from the Marines and appointing Lucy as the acting director of the DEO. Meanwhile, Siobhan tries to get revenge on Kara for getting her fired, but gets caught and discovers that she has the power to sonic scream.
Episode 18 - "Worlds Finest"
Siobhan discovers that the women in her family are cursed with the spirit of a banshee, which can only be quieted by killing whomever wronged them. Deciding to kill Kara, Siobhan frees Livewire from captivity at the DEO and suggests they team up. Siobhan—now calling herself Silver Banshee—and Livewire kidnap Cat and wreak havoc on National City Park. With the help of The Flash (Grant Gustin), a superhero from an alternate universe (see Arrowverse), Kara is able to subdue them and win back National City's trust. Later on, Kara discovers that everyone in National City has fallen under some kind of spell, revealed by Non to be the result of Myriad.
Episode 19 - "Myriad"
The Myriad effect has taken over National City and even Superman is under control, leaving Kara, Cat, and Maxwell as the only ones immune. Now, Kara must find a way to stop Non, but Maxwell is looking at destroying the Kryptonians with a bomb at the risk of killing humans. Cat objects and prompts Kara to find an alternative. The effect brings fugitives Alex and J'onn back before Alex can tell Eliza the truth about Jeremiah and Henshaw. When Indigo senses the two returning, she defeats J'onn, but takes Alex and places her under mind control as Non's payback for Astra's death.
Episode 20 - "Better Angels"
Kara fights with Alex, who is controlled by Non. When Alex is about to kill Kara with the same sword used to kill Astra, their mother pleads with her to stop, breaking Non's control over Alex. The team learns that hope is the key to stopping Myriad. Supergirl inspires the citizens of National City, waking them from the Myriad trance. However, Non is convinced by Indigo to kill all the humans on Earth by increasing Myriad's frequency. Back at the DEO, Max warns Kara that she might not survive a solo fight with Non and Indigo; J'onn later insists on helping her. Kara and J'onn confront Non and Indigo at Fort Rozz, which is powering Myriad. Kara defeats Non in a heat vision battle and J'onn rips Indigo's body apart. As Indigo dies, she gloats that Myriad cannot be shut down. Kara flies Fort Rozz into space, rendering Myriad harmless; Alex rescues her using Kara's pod. Afterward, J'onn is reinstated as the Director of the DEO and Cat gives Kara a promotion. While Kara celebrates at her house, another pod similar to the one in which Kara came to Earth crashes near National City. Kara opens the pod and is shocked by what is inside it.
The Verdict
Boy, did this show go through some ups and downs over the course of it’s premiere season. At it’s core, it’s just like the other shows from the CW based in the “Arrowverse”, even though ironically it doesn’t take place in that same universe. I’m sure that is going to change after the change from CBS to the CW for Season 2, but geez that made things awkward for this first season.
That being said, if there’s anything this show does right despite anything negative I will bring up in this review it’s that this show embodies and symbolizes what it means to be a figure of hope like Supergirl better than Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman have done to date. There are many moments throughout the course of this season where it wasn’t Kara’s awesome array of powers didn’t save the day, but it was her compassion, heart, and courageousness that won the day. The show focuses on the importance of her as a symbolic figure more than that focusing on just the powers or just the fact that she’s Superman’s cousin. In that aspect, Supergirl truly shines on her own in this show.
Speaking of negatives, can we talk about how bad the villains in this show looked in costume and how they were mishandled in the narrative?
One of my all-time favorite Superman: The Animated Series villains, Livewire was made into a random shock jock who was obsessed with Cat Grant while Silver Banshee was just disgruntled former Catco employee with issues. They completely wasted Red Tornado, then made Reactron and even Maxima (played by former WWE Diva Eve Torres) throwaway villains, despite their significance to Superman's lore. If I could slap the writers of this show, I would give them several backhands. The obsession with this seasons' main antagonist(s) being from Krypton screamed Superman II so much that it seemed like a minor inconvenience...
As much as I have frowned upon this show throughout this first season on social media yet continue to watch it just to see where it goes, I have to admit there are a few noteworthy episodes that made me glad I stuck around watching it.
Episode 7 - "Human for a Day" - One could point out of the importance that this show went out of its way to establish that Supergirl shares the same "new power" that was revealed in the comics continuity as what New 52 Superman has dubbed as the after-effects of using the Super Flare, but the biggest takeaway from this episode is the importance of Supergirl as a symbol - with or without her powers. What Kara is willing to do to drive that point home, even without her powers, is one of the best moments of this entire season.
Episode 11 - "Strange Visitor from Another Planet" - This entire episode was dedicated to exploring Manhunter's backstory and making the villain of the week feature one of his adversaries, notably a White Martian.
Kara and Barry were awesome together on this episode.
Episode 18 - "Worlds Finest" - This was the best episode all season, not because of the villains featured (Livewire again and the debuting Silver Banshee) - both villains they fucked up on a colossal scale in terms of origins and costume designs, but because of The Flash guest-starring on this episode. This episode was shown on the CBS network completely out of order as it was supposed to take place during Barry's disappearance from his own continuity alongside the airing of Season Two of his own series' parallel dimensions plot. I could've cared less about the actual superhero team-up of this episode but I couldn't get enough of how well Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) play off each other. It got to the point of me asking myself why they didn't do this team-up sooner? It's definitely one of the best moments all season and I hope we get more team-ups like this now that Supergirl has officially moved to the CW Network.
The Absence of Superman
For those expecting to see Superman in this show, this is the best you get. I'm not even kidding.
Right off the bat, this is the biggest critique that weighs this show down and holds it back in a sense. For a show that references and mentions Superman so much, it's mind-boggling that he would be absent from the bulk of the show and limited to communicating to Kara via instant messaging, text messages, or through Jimmy Olsen. The first few "cameos" I let them slide on but as it became an ongoing thing where Superman wasn't going to ever show up for real, I shook my head at why would they omit something so important to Kara's growth as a hero. I'm sure the feminists will argue that Superman would have brought this show down if she could call on her cousin for help in every situation, but he's her family and that was needed as she struggled to cope with this new duality of being a super-powered heroine and attempting to fit in her "normal" life.
The lack of Superman ends up being the ultimate cop out as it's painfully obvious that CBS were too cheap to pay for the Superman license to go along with having a Supergirl narrative. Given how the DC Extended Universe is going right now, I'm pretty sure that that's a pretty pricey license to try to get a hold of anyway. They probably ran into the same situation as Gotham on the Fox Network, where you have a Batman-themed TV show without having Batman in it.
Fortunately, Superman will make his official debut in Season Two on the CW Network, played by Tyler Hoechlin. That is, if fans will be willing to give this show another go after it's move to the new network.
Not really crazy about this ordinary looking dude playing Supes after we've been all
spoiled by Henry Cavill looking like he stepped off a comic book panel...
The Importance of Martian Manhunter
Spoiler Alert: Hank Henshaw is Martian Manhunter in this series.
Since they couldn't get Superman as a series regular, the writers went and did the next best thing - Martian Manhunter. J'onn isn't revealed until roughly a few episodes into the series, but his inclusion was huge for this show. He marks one of the few key pivotal members of the Justice League as part of this universe, but it's more important that Kara has someone to lean onto as support as another orphaned alien on this planet that isn't her home. Manhunter acts as the one person that Kara can identify with in terms of being a "gifted" individual in world that is strange to them, yet under their unique circumstances, has become their home that they must protect.
For those wondering... Kara's going to have even more people to identify with in the next season as Mon-El was the one in the pod that she found at the end of the Season One finale, which was confirmed a few months ago at Comic-Con.
My only complaint about Manhunter was that he looked like CGI-model ripped right out of Injustice: Gods Among Us and just conveniently placed into this show.
WTF is this shit?
Seriously... LOOK AT THIS SHIT.
I'm not even going to sugar-coat it... the action sequences in this show were fucking awful. You're going to hear me say it again in my review of Legends of Tomorrow Season 1, but Jesus Christ, don't make these superhero TV dramas when your fight sequences look worse and more campy than Batman '66 and the original seasons of Power Rangers combined. Plus, you can tell they were trying too hard to sprinkle a little of Snyder's Man of Steel action sequences into this show subtly between the lines.
I'm begging for DC to find someone better to do the fight choreography for these TV shows. Even Power Rangers has better fight scenes than this in their newer seasons, so I know there has to be a way to get something better visually here.
Cat Grant Steals the Show... Literally
When this show first aired... or rather when the pilot leaked online on various outlets, I thought Cat Grant's character was going to be a mock J. Jonah Jameson as a lot of these DC Comics-based superhero TV dramas tend to borrow a lot of themes from Spider-Man to hit home with the teen viewing audience that they are made for, but over the course of this season, she really grew on me as the best character in this show. The fanboys and fangirls will say that Melissa Benoist makes the show, but it's more Calista Flockhart's performance as Cat Grant on how she's turned into a firm believer of Supergirl after being one of her hardest critics when she first made her debut.
Throughout the season, Cat Grant ironically plays the part of the audience watching this show. She starts off as Supergirl's biggest critic in terms of who she is and what she stands for, but by the end of the season, she is Supergirl's biggest supporter, even when she doesn't have faith in herself. It's hard to support this show, even for the most hardcore of fans when it has so many negatives going for it than positives, such as it's primetime television slot during the height of Monday nights' sports - football, basketball, and WWE, how it clearly has a lower budget than most of the other CW-produced DC Comics-based shows, and some mediocre writing that fails to hook in new viewers.
If it wasn't for Cat Grant's character growth throughout this season, I seriously doubt I would have gone out of my way to bother watching this show for the complete season.
Watch It or Don't Bother
If you're not crazy about the other CW-based DC Comics superhero TV dramas, then don't bother with this. You're not missing out on anything groundbreaking. If you're willing to endure through the entire season, there's some minor rewards in terms of the reveal of Martian Manhunter and the crossover team-up with Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash from his own series, but even those standout points are asking a lot from the casual viewer to invest into watching this season in its entirety.
Supergirl tries it's best to put it's best foot forward to pay homage to this iconic heroine being the first female DC Comics character to star in her own solo superhero TV drama, but ultimately ends up falling short a few steps from truly making a lasting impact. Hopefully, fans will be willing to come back for the next season to give it another chance after the creators have time to digest what they did well and how to improve for the better.
