Supergirl’s 10 Biggest Changes From The Woman Of Tomorrow Comic

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Supergirl (2026)The new DC Universe continues to expand with the release of Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock as the titular Girl of Steel. Set after the events of 2025’s Superman, the new Supergirl movie is heavily inspired by Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s critically acclaimed Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic, so much so that the movie originally had the same title as the book. However, there are some key changes between the original comic miniseries and this new DCU movie.

Adapting key elements from Woman of Tomorrow, the new Supergirl movie opens on a drunken and struggling Kara Zor-El who eventually joins forces with the young girl Ruthye Marye Knoll to hunt down Krem of the Yellow Hills, leader of the Brigands who killed Ruthye’s family and lethally poisoned Kara’s dog. As such, many of the comics’ biggest moments and themes are adapted for this brand-new DCU movie.

That being said, Supergirl is by no means a perfect recreation of King and Evely’s Woman of Tomorrow. While some new characters are added to the story, some are missing completely, along with some key events. Furthermore, the movie also changes some of the comics’ biggest moments, generating a fair amount of debate online. Keeping that in mind, here are the 10 biggest and most notable changes the DCU’s new Supergirl movie makes to Woman of Tomorrow.

Ruthye Marye Knoll’s Family & Sword

In the opening scenes of Supergirl, 13-year-old Ruthye Marye Knoll’s entire family (father, mother, and brother) is murdered by Krem of the Yellow Hills and his Brigands. Ruthye’s father Elias was a gifted swordsmith who forged blades of immense strength, hence Krem’s arrival, wanting one of his swords for himself.

However, Woman of Tomorrow established that it was only Ruthye’s father who’d been killed by Krem, while her mother and multiple brothers had survived. Likewise, Ruthye’s entire family was simple rock farmers, and the sword Krem used to kill Ruthye’s father was his own, which he then left in the man’s chest and was taken by Ruthye as her instrument of vengeance.

Krypto’s Poisoning

While a drunken Kara Zor-El initially refuses to help Ruthye get her revenge in 2026’s Supergirl, Krem ends up stealing her ship and poisoning Krypto the Super Dog. This forces Supergirl to reevaluate, as she now needs the antidote to save Krypto’s life within three days.

The original Woman of Tomorrow miniseries opens the same way. However, Supergirl and Ruthye’s journey takes much longer compared to the new DCU movie. Also, Krypto was secretly given an antidote and recovered quickly, though Supergirl kept this truth from Ruthye, and she hoped their time together would allow Kara to sway the girl against revenge and killing Krem. As such, the Supergirl movie plays the danger of Krypto’s poisoning straighter as a genuine problem.

Krem Of The Yellow Hills

Image Created by Angela Davis

There’s a lot about Krem that was changed for 2026’s Supergirl. Visually, the comics Krem and DCU version couldn’t be more different, with the live-action Krem looking more Mad Max-inspired, while the comics Krem is more normal-looking with a full head of red hair and a beard.

Additionally, Krem has no inherent powers in the comics, while the DCU version is said to have the strength of 1,000 men. Likewise, Krem was not introduced on the page as the leader of the Brigands, having killed Ruthye’s father as a corrupt “kingsagent” who traveled the planet seeking those disloyal to the king (or simply anyone Krem didn’t like in the case of Ruthye’s father). It was only after Krem escaped in Kara’s ship and began committing atrocities across the cosmos that he eventually became one of Barbond’s Brigands while Supergirl and Ruthye were pursuing him.

No Red Kryptonite Dragon Fight

In Supergirl, Kara and Ruthye travel off-world in a space bus known as a haulferry, as Kara was without her powers on Ruthye’s world with its red sun. It’s only when they get near a yellow sun that Supergirl gets her powers back during an attack from Sklarian Raiders.

While Woman of Tomorrow also saw Kara and Ruthye boarding a haulferry, the space bus was in danger from a cosmic metal-eating dragon. Still without her powers, Supergirl ingested a red kryptonite pill. While normal people experience psychedelic hallucinations about transforming into other things while on red kryptonite, those transformations become real for Kryptonians. As such, Kara briefly receives flaming wings and fire powers to take on the dragon as an homage to the Earth-Angel Supergirl of the 90s, a major set piece that was likely too costly and complicated amid everything else happening in the new DCU movie.

Maypole Was Missing

The new Supergirl movie fully omits Kara and Ruthye’s experience in Woman of Tomorrow, where the duo visits the alien city of Maypole in their search for Krem. Inhabited by a blue-skinned alien race, Supergirl eventually discovers that the Blues orchestrated the complete genocide of the Purples, a race they saw as inferior. This was done by paying the Brigands to spare their lives while pointing them to the Purples, an idea that came from Krem while he was imprisoned in Maypole. This was how Krem originally joined the Brigands in the original comics.

Woman of Tomorrow Never Featured Lobo (Or Superman)

Woman of Tomorrow writer Tom King confirmed that the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo was part of an early draft of the original comic. As such, it’s pretty fun to see Jason Momoa in his new DC role after years of playing Aquaman in the previous DCEU. Additionally, David Corenswet’s Superman is featured in a handful of scenes, despite only being referenced in the original Woman of Tomorrow comic.

The Brigands’ Brides

While Supergirl does not feature Maypole from the original Woman of Tomorrow storyline, it’s effectively replaced with an equally tragic and horrific arc for the Brigands in the new Supergirl movie, with the reveal that the all-male group of space pirates traffic and abuse young girls across the galaxy, forcibly taking them as their brides. Naturally, this has generated some significant debate and controversy online regarding the new Supergirl movie and its changes.

Supergirl’s Kryptonite Planet Had Alien Dinosaurs

While the new Supergirl movie does feature the deadly world of Barenton with its kryptonite sun, there is a major omission of all the alien dinosaurs Ruthye protects Kara from while waiting for the green sun to set on the page. Likewise, Barenton didn’t have a second yellow sun as it does in the new DCU movie, nor were the Brigands featured on this remote world.

In the comic, Barenton was a planet specifically created to trap Superman, who barely lasted 45 minutes before he was saved by the Justice League. Conversely, Kara survived 10 hours after she and Ruthye were sent to the world via magic wielded by Krem in Woman of Tomorrow.

Comet The Super-Horse Is Missing

In the back half of the Woman of Tomorrow comic, Kara reunites with Comet the Super-Horse, a man who’d been cursed to become a horse and Kara’s companion who, at one point in the comics, fell in love with Supergirl. Helping Kara evade Krem and the magical weapons at his disposal and to fight the Brigands, Comet ends up giving his life to save Kara by the final issue.

However, the inclusion of Comet likely would have made the plot too complicated and bizarre for mainstream audiences, much as comic fans likely would have loved an appearance. Screenwriter Ana Nogueira has confirmed as much regarding Comet’s absence in various interviews.

Krem’s Death

Perhaps the biggest change between Woman of Tomorrow and the new Supergirl movie is the ultimate fate of Krem. The entire story of Woman of Tomorrow is narrated by an older Ruthye, who wrote a book about her adventures with Kara. While the book claims Supergirl stabbed Krem with his own sword, this was simply to allow Supergirl to take the brunt of the Brigands’ potential wrath.

In truth, Krem was locked away in the Phantom Zone for 300 years, eventually becoming rehabilitated and seeking redemption following his release. Despite begging for Ruthye’s forgiveness, the elderly Knolll knocked Krem out with her cane. While some believe Ruthye’s strike was lethal based on the debatable ambiguities of the final page, Tom King has confirmed that Krem’s life was spared, showing that Kara was successful in swaying Ruthye away from murderous vengeance.

However, Kara actually does stab and kill Krem in Supergirl’s ending, seemingly to maintain Ruthye’s innocence. However, this has generated some disappointment, with many feeling such a significant change ignores much of the nuance and core themes of the original comic.

Supergirl is now playing in theaters from DC Studios.

Release Date

June 26, 2026

Runtime

108 minutes

Director

Craig Gillespie

Writers

Ana Nogueira

Producers

James Gunn, Lars P. Winther, Nigel Gostelow, Peter Safran