Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman. All icons of the DC Universe and probably the first names you think of when listing DC characters.
If you were to continue, where would you go next? The Joker? The Flash? Harley Quinn? Aquaman? Green Lantern perhaps?
How long would it take you to reach Supergirl? I’d wager longer than it should.
Supergirl is a globally recognised character, yet she often feels somewhat underrated. Odd really, when you consider the character has been in print since the late 1950s and is a key member of the Superman family.
First appearing in the pages of Action Comics #252 in 1959, Supergirl was introduced as a female counterpart to her cousin Superman. Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El, has the same powers as Superman, wears a similar costume, and fights the good fight, making her instantly recognisable, but she doesn’t always seem to stand level pegging with her cuz.
So, why does Supergirl feel underrated? It surely can’t have anything to do with exposure, because Supergirl has appeared in a wealth of material outside of the comics.
In terms of movies, Supergirl has been the star of two big screen outings, one in 1984 and one in 2026; featured as a supporting character in 2023’s The Flash; and cameoed in 2025’s Superman. Meanwhile, prominent roles in animated films have included Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
On television, Supergirl has appeared in shows including Smallville, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, DC Super Hero Girls, and My Adventures with Superman. And then most notably, Supergirl was part of the Arrowverse, where she starred in her own show which ran for six seasons.
So, plenty of exposure, which in itself brings a level of fame. But could Supergirl feel underrated because she suffers a bit of an identity crisis, which sometimes makes it difficult to get a bead on her?
In the ‘84 movie Helen Slater played Kara Zor-El, who on Earth took on the guise of the super-heroic Supergirl and her alter-ego, Linda Lee. However, in TV’s Supergirl, Melissa Benoist played Kara Zor-El and Supergirl, but her civilian identity was Kara Danvers.
Meanwhile in the comics, Supergirl has gone by the name of Linda Danvers, Linda Lee Danvers, and Linda Lang. There are also variations of Supergirl, including Power Girl, (an alternative universe version of Supergirl), and Matrix (a man-made life form who looked like Supergirl but was really synthetic protoplasm).
Incidentally, Matrix was later merged with Linda Danvers, but a different Linda Danvers to one that existed in an earlier era of the comics, and well, it all gets a bit confusing. And this is before other, alternate versions of the character are tossed into the mix, such as Ariella Kent (Supergirl of the 853rd century), Overgirl (an evil Supergirl from Earth-10), or Power Woman (from Earth-22).
To be fair, there are alternate versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, so this sort of thing is not exclusive to one character, but has an identity crisis had more of an impact on Supergirl? If you ask someone to tell you Superman’s secret identity, or name the person under the Caped Crusader’s cape and cowl, are you going to receive any other answers than Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne?
Maybe too much tinkering with the Supergirl mythology has caused a little disconnect. Or maybe it’s a simple case that Superman casts a long and wide shadow, and Supergirl struggles to escape it.
Could Supergirl be recognisable because she wears the iconic ‘S’, but underrated and maybe under appreciated because Superman gets in the way too often? It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd when the world’s most famous superhero is taking all your press.
So, if Superman could stand back a bit and give Supergirl some space, and if Supergirl could just stick with the same name/identity, then maybe she’ll be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Either way, she’s still pretty damn cool.
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