What Happens To Kara Zor-Ell? 'Supergirl's Ending, Explained
Supergirl (2026) has finally landed in theaters. Led by Milly Alcock, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with a young girl looking for revenge after Krypto gets poisoned by the same bad guy. Together, they set off on an epic interstellar journey that changes both of them.
But how does Supergirl end? And what is Craig Gillespie’s film based on? Let’s break it all down while giving you a little bit more background on the kind of Kara we’re meeting in DC’s latest film and the events that led her to reluctantly set off on this journey. Also, strap in for a comparison to the ending of the Supergirl: Women of Tomorrow comic.
What Is ‘Supergirl’ About?
Supergirl focuses on Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin, and is set after the events of Superman (2025). With her impending birthday on the horizon, Kara goes bar hopping on planets with red suns because they allow her to drink her days away and forget the pain of losing her family, planet, people, and culture. And she does all of this with her beloved dog Krypto by her side.
Things get interesting for Kara when Ruthye appears at a bar she’s in. Krem, a space mercenary of an all-male alien race, killed Ruthye’s entire family, and she offers her family sword if any of the people in the bar help her get revenge. Someone takes Ruthye’s sword. And after Kara drunkenly gets the sword back, Ruthye decides that Kara is the one who could help her.
As a whole, the movie really takes off when Ruthye tries to convince Kara to help her, and Krem tries to steal Kara’s ship. Krypto senses something is wrong, goes to defend the ship, and is shot by Krem with poison before they steal Kara’s ship. This forces Kara to join forces with Ruthye to find Krem, get the cure for Krypto, and get revenge.
How Does ‘Supergirl’ End?
Supergirl ends with revenge being served. Empowered by the yellow sun, Kara embraces her role as Supergirl and lays waste to Krem and his cohorts. They repeatedly try to stop her, injecting her with poison infused with Kryptonite. But she persists, using the memory of her family to bring down their ship and free the “brides” Krem and his cohorts kidnapped to create more of their male-only race.
Krem and his cohorts try again to kill Supergirl and Ruthye, but Supergirl takes them down in an epic fight scene. Even the young women who were kidnapped help out in the fight. And when the moment comes, when Ruthye is set to kill Krem and get her revenge, Supergirl stops her and tells her that “your life will be your revenge.”
Ruthye listens to Supergirl and walks away. But Supergirl doesn’t let Krem do the same. She kills him, knowing that’s the only way to stop an evil like him. Afterward, she reunites with Ruthye, and they go and save Krypto with the antidote. Even though Ruthye is set to stay with her aunt, Kara invites her for one more adventure with her and Krypto, and they fly away.
Just when you think the movie is over, Kara enters an apartment and scrounges around with Krypto. Turns out, it’s Clark’s apartment, and he enters through the window in full Superman gear. The conversation that follows is a little stilted, with her checking in on him and him admitting he could’ve used her help.
That’s when Kara surprises Clark by saying she’s going to be staying. The adventure she had clearly changed her outlook on Earth, but also about getting to know Clark more. They share a happy look… before Krypto gets into something in the kitchen and Clark panics, yelling about chocolate, and going to stop Krypto.
What Is ‘Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow’ About?
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a 2021 comic book series written by Tom King, with art by Bilquis Evely, and color by Matheus Lopes. It contains eight issues, and it tells a darker and more grounded story about Kara Zor-El, a Kryptonian who can “no longer find any meaning or purpose in her life.”
Like most iterations of our beloved Supergirl, she’s a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protect a baby cousin who ended up not needing her. To make things worse, everywhere she goes, people only see her through the lens of her cousin, his heroics, and his fame. Things take a turn for Kara when she helps Ruthye hunt down her father’s murderer.
How Does ‘Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow’ End?
The ending of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is different from the movie. In the movie, Supergirl kills Krem, she goes on a last adventure with Ruthye, and then Supergirl returns to Earth. In the comic, the story plays out primarily from Ruthye’s POV from a book she wrote about her adventure with Supergirl.
Supergirl doesn’t kill Krem in the comic. However, Ruthye writes that Supergirl killed him. That makes it so his cohorts don’t come looking for Krem, but also don’t come after Ruthye. What actually happens is that Krem is sent to the Phantom Zone to pay for his crimes, and he spends 300 years there.
At the end of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Supergirl, who still looks young and just has shorter hair, visits an aged Ruthye with Krypto. Together, they go to the Phantom Zone as Supergirl recaps how Krem fought for the first 100 years, started evaluating his life in the second 100 years, and then worked hard to make up for what he did in the last 100 years.
Supergirl and Ruthye reunite with Krem and free him from the Phantom Zone. His sentence is over, and he thanks Supergirl for giving him a chance and saving him. He recognizes Ruthye and asks for her forgiveness. Ruthye instead smacks him with her cane and walks away. Supergirl walks away with Krypto in the opposite direction, and Krem lies on the ground cradling his head.
