I had an off-the-cuff chance to rewatch Supergirl 2026. This comes after the evident, shill praise and expected, anti-shill sentiment, neither of which are proper positions from which to judge a movie.
In my estimation, Supergirl still has way too many anti-superhero tropes and for the most part, holds a cliched but (I suppose) viable structure, with the Jor-El/Lara, bad-guy gimmick from Superman 2025 returning as a major slap to the face. Even with these criticisms lodged, I do favor the ending. I mean, I get it! (Warning: what now ensues enters SPOILER turf.)
To me, Supergirl's final moments mirror that of The Death of Robin Hood, where our titular legend inspires Little John's daughter (who has no real idea of what her father or Robin did) to lead a good life, based on what may be a sugarcoated account. In Supergirl's case, Cara tells the vengeful Ruthye not to kill the sadistic Krem, that living a good life is the wisest path of revenge, and for all intent, the young lady embraces this advice. However, is it enough to compensate for or justify Krem's reign of terror, which includes his slaughtering of Ruthye's family?
When Ruthye isn't looking (and to Lobo's sneering satisfaction), Kara kills Krem. (It's rather like the Wade/Francis/Colossus deal at the end of Deadpool.) Krem sure as hell deserves the comeuppance, much like Zod in Man of Steel. The villainous Kryptonian would have continued to kill Earthlings if Superman hadn't done him in. The same can be said of Krem.
I gotta be honest. I've long cringed at the claim that the best revenge is a happy-go-lucky life. Sure, punishing (even killing) a cretin won't stop the pain that he/she inflicted, but letting a fiend go unscathed sure won't do it, either. Letting a bad person off the hook would just leave others susceptible to that person's penchant for persistent harm. On this basis, I applaud Kara's decision to kill Krem. In retrospect, that moment (and perhaps only that moment) stands as the movie's redeeming feature.
Okay, condemn me. Sue me. Whatever! I don't care. (Maybe I even deserve the derision.) I'm just grateful that Kara made this significant stance in her last-ditch, character development. It's odd that neither side of the critical coin has acknowledged this atoning turn...except, that is, little ol' observant me.😜
