Supergirl creators finally address the controversial ending — and fans are divided

If you were hoping for a faithful adaptation of Tom King's 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow', the new Supergirl film has thrown a wrench in that expectation—especially in the way it wraps things up. Fans have not exactly been quiet about it, and frankly, I can see why.

Here's your official warning: if you've yet to see the film and want to avoid spoilers about how it all ends, this is the point to bail out.

The Story in the Comic: Mercy Over Revenge

The Woman of Tomorrow comic makes a big deal about breaking cycles of violence. In the original, Ruthye faces off with Krem and has the chance to finish him off. Supergirl persuades her not to take the path of revenge. Instead, Krem is packed off to rot in the Phantom Zone. Simple enough: no killing, just a cosmic prison sentence.

What the Film Does Instead

The film keeps the build-up mostly intact. Milly Alcock's Supergirl tampers down Ruthye's urge to kill (Eve Ridley plays Ruthye, if you’re keeping score), so far, so expected. But then, instead of hauling Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) away, Supergirl calmly kills him herself, all while Jason Momoa’s Lobo stands by looking thoroughly entertained. No Phantom Zone, just an off-switch.

How That Came to Be

Director Craig Gillespie shed some light on this choice in a recent chat with Collider. Apparently, James Gunn—now the big boss of the DC films—was all-in on this ending from the start. Gillespie said:

'It was amazing because that was something James [Gunn] felt very strongly about, and it was in the script. There were conversations leading up to that day of, like, "Do we shoot a backup version?" And every time, it would come back, like, "Nope. Just go with that."'

So, no alternate takes, no plan B, just Gunn's 'go for it' stamped on the script.

The Writer's Perspective—And a Surprising Misread

Ana Nogueira, who wrote the film, told Variety that this polarising conclusion was part of her pitch from the very beginning. Her thinking was: you need a villain nasty enough that the audience won’t shed a tear, but you also want to protect Ruthye’s innocence—so Supergirl takes the burden of the kill herself. The idea was apparently to show Kara doing something the comic deliberately avoided.

Odd curveball though: Nogueira seems to have misread the comic’s ending. She talks about Ruthye killing Krem ‘in the far, far future’, which actually isn’t the case. In King’s version, Ruthye simply clocks Krem on the head and lets him live—no actual killing involved. So the script’s darker streak is strictly the film-makers’ own spin.

The Big List: Who Does What in the Climax

• Ruthye (Eve Ridley): Talked out of taking revenge into her own hands
• Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts): Executed by Supergirl in cold blood
• Supergirl (Milly Alcock): Takes justice into her own hands, breaks DC tradition from the comic
• Lobo (Jason Momoa): Present at the execution, seems delighted by the outcome

Comparisons and the Fan Divide

As you’d guess, loads of fans are drawing direct lines to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, where Superman also resorted to killing his nemesis (General Zod, in that case). For some, this is a shock to the system—heroes killing is a sticky point in DC lore.

Fans are split: does this major swerve make the film gutsy, misguided, or just another case of the studio giving us the unexpected for its own sake?