Supergirl Repeats The Worst Trend In Female-Led Superhero Movies

This article contains spoilers for Supergirl.

The release of DC Studios’ Supergirl has reignited the flurry of online chatter that always follows a female-led superhero project, much of it being unearned negativity. While reviews of the film are mixed, it is hardly the disaster that some corners of the internet are making it out to be.

That being said, there is still one glaring problem with the film: its villain. Portrayed by Matthias Schoenaerts, Krem of the Yellow Hills is a space Viking of sorts who finds himself fighting against our hero, Supergirl/Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), after he poisons her beloved pet, Krypto the Superdog. This conflict also leads to Kara forming a bond with the young Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), whose parents and brother were murdered by Krem in front of her.

Some reviewers have pointed to Krem being a weak villain as his biggest flaw in this adaptation of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but there is another aspect of his character that damages the film. In the comic, Krem is leader of the Brigands, intergalactic raiders responsible for genocide and other atrocities. However, Supergirl adapts Krem as a human trafficker who kidnaps young girls to be “brides” for the all-male Brigand race. This change fundamentally alters the message of the movie by adding themes absent from the original story, and it’s not for the better.

Multiple superhero projects starring female heroes have taken a similar approach, adding themes of exploitation and sexual violence. Though these problems exist in real-life, this trend can be disheartening for female audiences, many of whom have experienced these traumas for themselves. Allowing female heroes to tell stories without this added weight is an overdue need in the superhero genre.

Supergirl And Black Widow Deal With Similar Themes

Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow crying in the MCU Black Widow movie — Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow crying in the MCU Black Widow movie

Supergirl adding this new element to the plot poses a concerning observation: didn’t Black Widow also focus on a female hero taking down a human trafficker? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Natasha Romanov is forced to confront and overcome her past trauma to take down the man who is responsible for the suffering that has reverberated throughout her life.

A key difference between Black Widow and Supergirl is that the brainwashing and kidnapping that Natasha and other Widows are forced to endure is a pre-existing part of their story. That is a film about the victims taking down their abuser and saving other victims. Regardless of its quality, that traumatic subject matter is an intrinsic part of Black Widow’s characterization.

However, the point remains that her solo film, one that was long past due after her scene-stealing turns throughout the MCU, did not have to mine her trauma—it chose to. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that Natasha’s abuse was mishandled; Avengers: Age of Ultron features a scene where she likens herself to a monster because she was forcibly sterilized. Not only does this force a theme of sexual violence into a film in which it is otherwise absent, but it implies that Black Widow is somehow of less value as a woman who cannot have children.

Likewise, Supergirl chose to alter Krem’s storyline to include multiple female children, victims who we see onscreen, who were kidnapped for the sole purpose of bearing children against their will. Writer Ana Nogueira may have had valid reasons, which she does not owe it to anyone to share publicly, to add this narrative, but the result is still damaging by continuing to restrict the kinds of stories in which women can be the hero and by perpetuating media trends of depicting violence against them.

This Trend In Female Superhero Adaptations Extends Beyond Movies

David Tennant as Kilgrave manipulating Krysten Ritter Jessica in Jessica Jones. — Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones and David Tennant as Kilgrave in Jessica Jones

Several other superhero adaptations have also dealt with trauma inflicted upon women. Captain Marvel saw the title character brainwashed and made to be a soldier for the Kree Empire. Though not a depiction of sexual violence against a woman, it is still a case of exploitation and a loss of agency.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, one of the most traumatic superhero viewing experiences is Marvel’s Jessica Jones. In that series, the titular character is abused by Kilgrave, who uses his mind-control powers to sexually assault her and hold her captive for eight months. Jessica’s trauma is the focal point of the story, with it exploring how the violations she endured broke her down as a person. It is a story that is very much about sexual exploitation, particularly focusing on the female experience.

Though Jessica Jones maintains this trend of superhero media depicting violence against women, it is worth noting that the show is intended for a mature audience, with the intent of telling a raw story of victimhood. Supergirl proposes dealing with this subject matter, but it does not engage with the horror of Krem’s actions in a way that is any more meaningful than if he were a murderer, posing the question of whether a tentpole summer film was the ground on which this battle was meant to be fought.

Why Supergirl Did Not Need To Change Krem’s Motivations

Milly Alcock as Supergirl looking angry in Supergirl.

A mother should be able to take her daughter to see a female superhero without having to watch children being subjected to sex trafficking. While bringing a real issue that many people, not just women or girls, face to the big screen isn’t necessarily a bad thing, female representation is so often linked to trauma that it becomes exhausting. The cages of teenage girls being kept by the Brigands to carry their children—without their consent—is an inherently horrific image.

Supergirl had the chance to be an empowering story of overcoming your inner demons, found sisterhood, and choosing a better way. In part, the DCU film hits this mark, but it falls short due to the added sexual nature of Krem’s motivations and the choice to have Kara kill him instead of banishing him to the Phantom Zone for 300 years. A friend of mine noted that Krem being a human trafficker served to make him more hatable; the issue with this is, murdering people and poisoning dogs are already hatable enough actions. Audiences would still cheer for Kara taking down a murderer without having the horrible thought of what would have happened to Ruthye on that ship if she failed.

Moreover, what kind of statement does it make that female heroes so frequently have to face threats built on exploitation and trauma? Alcock’s Supergirl performance exceeded the movie surrounding her. A version of the story where she overcame her grief and helped Ruthye do the same without the heavy implications of the Brigands kidnapping girls to be their “brides” could have been the debut film she deserved. There is space for stories of that nature, but the Woman of Tomorrow comic told nearly the same story without added sexual violence. It simply was not needed for this film to work.

One question that lingers after watching Supergirl is: do you think the writers would have made the same change to Krem if the hero of this story was Superman?