How Will Superman's Controversial Krypton Twist Affect Supergirl?

The new Superman movie is officially a hit, and it seems the future of the new DC Cinematic Universe is very much in motion. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s also been a while since a superhero film franchise relaunch felt like it was actually going to stick. Not only will the story of the new DCU continue in Peacemaker Season 2 on August 21, but also with Lanterns sometime in early 2026.

And yet, the most direct sequel to the new Superman is the 2026 film Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock in the title role. We met this version of Kara Zor-El during the coda of the new Superman and learned that, yes, as Superman’s cousin, she is a party girl and the actual owner of Krypto the Superdog. However, one big change to the Superman mythos actually creates a confusing bit of continuity for the upcoming Supergirl movie. In short, just how limited is Clark’s knowledge of Kryptonian culture? And to what extent does Supergirl share in his ignorance?

Warning! Spoilers for Superman ahead.

Without a doubt, the most controversial and jarring aspect of the new Superman is the fact that the movie asserts that Kal-El’s (David Corenswet) parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan), were cruel monsters who hoped that Superman would dominate the people of Earth, and also impregnate as many human women as possible. Yes, comic book dot-connectors will tell you there are a few precedents for villainous or amoral versions of Jor-El in the pages of DC, but let’s face it, Flashpoint: Beyond and aspects of Mister Oz in the New 52 hardly represent the vast majority of depictions of Jor-El. For most moviegoers, and even most Superman fans, this was a gutsy and provocative departure from what we have come to expect from Superman’s biological parents. Evil Kryptonians? Sure, but not as the default.

But, putting aside the pros and cons of how this did (or didn’t) help the narrative of the film, the immediate impact it has on the DCU as a whole is to create a lot of confusion over what is and isn’t known about Krypton. Human linguists on Earth were able to translate the message from Superman’s parents, which indicates there’s a sizable number of people on Earth who research the planet Krypton in say, the same way, real archaeologists research Ancient Rome. Kryptonite isn’t discovered in the film, but rather, a known commodity that is eventually re-created when the time is needed. You get it. Superman asserts that in this version of the new DCU, people know stuff about superheroes, and not everything is a total mystery. This notion is vaguely contradicted by Superman’s shock about the truth of his parents’ message, but that’s just the tip of the confusing Kryptonian iceberg.

Supergirl’s Confusing New Origins

At the end of the film, the existence of Supergirl is only a surprise to the audience, but not to Superman himself. Turns out, he’s been dog-sitting for Kara the entire time, meaning she’s arrived on Earth sometime before the events of the movie. And here’s where things get complicated. Kara Zor-El, like her cousin, Kal-El, is from the planet Krypton. Which is apparently a place that Superman knew little about, partly because of corrupted messages that concealed nefarious instructions. Because Supe arrived on Earth as a baby, his total ignorance of Krypton and its culture is valid. But what about Supergirl? If we’re going with her usual origin story — and it seems like that’s the direction Gunn is taking things — Supergirl arrives on Earth as a young woman, because she survived the destruction of Krypton in a place called Argo City. In most origin stories, Supergirl lives on Argo City for a while (though many of the Kryptonians who live there eventually perish) before she ends up on Earth.

You can already see the problem here. Are we led to believe that Superman has never asked Supergirl if her dad, Zor-El, had any opinions about his dad, Jor-El, since they were (checks notes) literal brothers? And, even if Supergirl didn’t know her parents in this current continuity, we will now have to assume that the Kryptonians she lived with in Argo City were nicer and less obsessed with having her rule over Earth or other planets? In other words, the existence of Supergirl sets up an uncomfortable question that the film Superman probably never wanted us to ask: Were Jor-El and Lara outliers for being horrible, or were they part of mainstream Krypton society? In many, many depictions, the Els were people who believed in science and were ignored by a more arrogant mainstream culture. Will that now be inverted, and the mainstream culture of Krypton will be depicted as kind? Or, are ALL Kryptonians horrible and just Kara and Kal special?

If the new Supergirl movie doesn’t address the disposition of any of the Kryptonians who lived with Kara in Argo City, one aspect of the new DCU canon will remain vague, and perhaps, more than a little underdeveloped. The flip side of this is that if Supergirl does tackle this, it risks making the twist in Superman feel either unrealistic or needlessly confusing. Because if Kara did know that the majority of Kryptonians looked down on the people of Earth, how could Kal not have suspected that of his parents?

No matter which direction the DCU goes with unpacking the Kryptonian mythos, this continuity will almost certainly get messier before it gets clearer, and no amount of super-hypnosis can make us forget.

Superman is in theaters now. Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026.