Supergirl

“Supergirl Lives” & The Power of Kevin Smith

KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne unleashes his appreciation for “Supergirl Lives” director Kevin Smith.

Published

7 years ago

January 23, 2017

My “origin story” as a fan of director Kevin Smith began over twenty years ago when I watched the movie Mallrats. I admit now, I mostly watched because I wanted to see the Stan Lee appearance and I knew there were comic book references. I appreciated the movie, but I appreciated it even more once I saw Chasing Amy and Dogma and went back and saw Clerks and saw how all of the pieces of Smith’s “View Askewniverse” came together.

Kevin Smith At Comic-Con in 2001, I purposely asked Mr. Smith a question at his panel because I heard a rumor that those who did would get to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back early, during the week of the Con. It was true. Seeing that film – the ULTIMATE View Askew movie – in a room full of other fans was quite an awesome experience. Jay and Silent Bob became one of my go-to movies to watch when I want fun times, something that I still do to this day. I bought the soundtrack. And, even though the movie was largely out of theaters by the time my birthday came along that year, I dragged a group of friends 50 miles to the University of Maryland to watch the film at a screening there with me that December.

What I appreciated (and appreciate) the most about Kevin Smith’s work is that he gets the mindset of the comic book and sci-fi fan, because he is one. He will debate the independent contractors on the guest star. He will have characters questioning the sexual urges of Archie Andrews, which really has me wanting to see him directing Riverdale someday. He knows Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo. He made Daredevil and Green Arrow cool again years before they got their respective TV series. And he put Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher into one of his movies before it was cool to do so.

While I did see Smith again at a 10th anniversary screening of Mallrats, and I did ask a probably stupid question at that panel that I’ve long since forgotten, I’d never really met the guy. Imagine my surprise late last year, during the annual Warner Bros. Television set press tour, when we were invited to watch Smith directing a scene from tonight’s Supergirl episode “Supergirl Lives.”

All the stories you read about the actors praising him as a director? They’re true. He treated us, visiting members of the press, like we were special guest stars in our own right. He invited us to see the process. Crew were applauded. Cast was applauded. Heck, we were applauded. Rather than having an ego as a well-received director helming an episode of Supergirl, you could tell he was having the time of his life. Part of me wished I had a time machine, to tell my younger self that I’d someday be seeing Mr. Smith directing, and that he’d treat myself and others like welcome guests.

“I can’t say enough amazing things about Kevin Smith,” Melissa Benoist told us soon after we watched her, Ian Gomez, and Mehcad Brooks shooting a scene for the episode. “I’ve been a fan for ages. I was really anticipating working with him and so excited about it, and he just exceeded all of my expectations. He’s so supportive and encouraging. The atmosphere on set… We work crazy long hours, and the energy that he brings is only positive. You guys saw how many rounds of applause there were. That’s like a daily occurrence, all day, and I don’t know how you keep that up. He’s wonderful. He’s [unintelligible] about this genre. He knows it so well, so knowledgeable about it. I just truly look up to him,” she said.

Tonight’s episode of Supergirl is Smith’s third venture into Greg Berlanti’s DC Comics world on The CW, with a Supergirl encore coming later this year. Hopefully there are many more to come in the future. But for this longtime fan, the experience of seeing the man directing was a treat, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

“Supergirl Lives” airs tonight (January 23) at 8PM (ET/PT) on The CW. Come join the discussion of the episode on our Supergirl forum!

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Smallville

New Supergirl Featurette Includes Laura Vandervoort, Melissa Benoist & More

Supergirl actresses Laura Vandervoort, Melissa Benoist, Sasha Calle, and Helen Slater are included in a retrospective featurette on The Flash Blu-ray.

Published

9 months ago

August 25, 2023

Craig Byrne

One of the rare good elements from the recent Flash movie was the inclusion of Sasha Calle as Supergirl, and now, we can revisit her and a few old Supergirl favorites, as Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl TV series from The CW & CBS), and Helen Slater (movies’ original Supergirl) are all included on a featurette on The Flash movie home release. These are all new interviews with the actresses, and in some cases, these are their first interviews about the character in years. The title of the featurette is “Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton.”

Although a Twitter/X report from “Sennaverse” on Twitter notes that the documentary can be found on the MAX streaming service, we have had no luck finding it there so far. The featurette is included, however, with purchase of The Flash movie on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD. The set is due for release on Tuesday, August 29. You can purchase that here and support KryptonSite if you wish!

We’re looking forward to seeing these new interviews and spotlight on the Woman of Tomorrow!

Supergirl

New Superman & Supergirl Movies Announced

James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced new Supergirl and Superman movie projects.

Published

1 year ago

January 31, 2023

Craig Byrne

New DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced two new movies that will make Super-fans take notice. One is a new Superman film titled Superman: Legacy and it will be out in 2025; the other is based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book series.

Scheduled for July 11, 2025, Superman: Legacy will be written by James Gunn and the hope is that he will also direct it. “t’s not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned,” Peter Safran said during the announcement.

“With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs. bad guy. There are really good—almost saintly—people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of gray which allow us to tell complex stories,” Gunn added.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is based on the comic book miniseries by Tom King. “In our story, we have Superman who was sent to Earth and raised by incredibly loving parents. Kara was on Krypton. She was on a piece of Krypton that drifted away from the planet and she lived there for the first fourteen years of her life in a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die. So, she’s a much harsher and more f*cked up Supergirl than you’ve been used to thus far,” Gunn promises.

No word yet on if the movie projects will affect TV, but they have expressed a desire to fully tie in the TV and the movies. See DC Studios’ TV plans here.

Comics

Nicole Maines Is Introducing Dreamer To Superman: Son of Kal-El

Supergirl actress Nicole Maines is introducing Dreamer in a Superman: Son of Kal-El comic book she is writing

Published

2 years ago

April 14, 2022

Craig Byrne

The Supergirl character of Nia Nal a.k.a. “Dreamer” has appeared in a DC Pride comic before, but now she is coming to the DC Universe proper with a special upcoming issue of the acclaimed Superman: Son of Kal-El comic book with a particularly special co-writer: Nicole Maines herself!

Maines will be co-writing Superman: Son of Kal-El #13 with series writer Tom Taylor. The issue hits comic book stores on July 12, 2022.

“I’m so excited to work with Nicole Maines to bring Dreamer from the screen to the pages of Superman: Son of Kal-El and to the DC Comics Universe,” said Tom Taylor. “I want to thank all the people at DC who have championed Dreamer and who recognize the importance of this powerful trans superhero in this time.”

“Jon Kent and Nia Nal are two characters that have a lot in common, both as superheroes with the weight of the world on their shoulders, and as young people with impossibly big shoes to fill,” Nicole Maines added. “Weaving their stories together for Superman: Son of Kal-El with Tom was a complete pleasure, and there is only a little pun intended when I say that Superman and Dreamer make for a brilliant new Dream-Team.”

Here’s a teaser for the issue:

It’s the dramatic DC Universe debut of Dreamer! When every hero on Earth is threatened by Henry Bendix’s machinations, it’s a race against time for Dreamer to warn Superman before it happens! But will this mysterious new ally’s premonition become a nightmare for Jonathan Kent?

Superman: Son of Kal-El #13 will be available at local comic shops on July 12, 2022.