What is your opinion of the Supergirl Superman?

[Last Son]

I like him. I don't think he's the best or the worst Superman or anything like that, but he could be great if he was given more appearances, or even his own show. And if he does appear again, he should have either the Rebirth suit or the classic suit. Trunks wouldn't be out of place in Supergirl since it's more light hearted compared to the DCEU.

[Jim Kelly]

I liked their version of Superman in season 2, but I wish they would stop combing through Superman comics for stories to give Supergirl. There's enough Supergirl comics to provide Kara's own stories.

It seems like the prime time of Superman happened in that period around ten years ago on the show, when Jimmy was younger, when Cat Grant was trying to date Clark and Kara had just arrived on Earth or was about to. That must be when he did all his major feats--which is why it's not good to give Supergirl all his villains and adventures. It erases his legacy and his rogues gallery from the Supergirl TV universe. Jimmy should be calling out that Superman already battled this villain and here's what happened or this is a lot like an experience Clark had.

Wasn't Lois Lane supposed to show up last season? Or maybe WB vetoed that. I think the reason we didn't see Supes in season 3 was because they thought JUSTICE LEAGUE would be a run away hit, and they would be making more Superman movies. I would tell them the best way to promote Superman (and Supergirl at the same time) is to let him appear on the TV show.

[Osiris-Rex]

In season 2 we saw a legion flight ring in his fortress. That raised hopes that he was a legionnaire. At least in his earlier days. Season 3 dashed those hopes. She is the only inspiration for the fractured fairytales legion introduced in season 3. Also he is nowhere to be seen at any point in season 3. The people running this series have an obvious contempt (if not outright hatred) for the Superman character.

If they didn't love Superman they wouldn't have put him on the show. Blame Warner Bros. movies for him not being on the show 3rd season. The TV people had to beg just to get him on second season.
Which they probably were allowed because at the time the movie version of Superman was busy being dead after Doomsday killed him off <---- There are the people that hate Superman, not the TV people.
And it was mentioned that Superman was in Madagascar at the time Supergirl was fighting the Worldkillers, so it's not like the TV people forgot Superman existed. Unlike the movie people, who have yet to
announce a Man of Steel 2 movie.

[Sacred Knight]

He seemed pretty cool to me. Outside of the S, his costume is a monstrosity but I thought he played the part well.

[superduperman]

If they didn't love Superman they wouldn't have put him on the show. Blame Warner Bros. movies for him not being on the show 3rd season. The TV people had to beg just to get him on second season.
Which they probably were allowed because at the time the movie version of Superman was busy being dead after Doomsday killed him off <---- There are the people that hate Superman, not the TV people.
And it was mentioned that Superman was in Madagascar at the time Supergirl was fighting the Worldkillers, so it's not like the TV people forgot Superman existed. Unlike the movie people, who have yet to
announce a Man of Steel 2 movie.

WB's rules regarding the use of movie characters has never been consistent. Technically, the JL cartoon shouldn't have been allowed to use Batman because there was a movie in the works at the time. Yet how many Batman cartoons were on the air during that time? I think in the case of Superman there is at least a little bit of fear that he'll overshadow her. In a way, they did their jobs too well in that regard with his first appearance. I was one of the ones asking for him to get his own show almost immediately after it aired. I think a lot of this is where the whole "she's more noble than he is" thing might have come from. As a kind of reminder that "Hey, guys, chill out, it's still her show!" But now they've written themselves into a corner where they have to have an explanation as to where he is every time she's in serious trouble. "Oh, he was putting out a fire in Madagascar" or something.

[Powerboy]

This is basically what I have a problem with. Having her beat him physically doesn't bother me so much (I'm sure they can come up with some sort of in-universe explanation like female Kryptonians process sunlight more efficiently than males or something) so much as he outright says "Yeah. you're a better person than me." And where was he when Reign was beating the crap out of her? Off world? He's not there when she needs him and when he is there, they undermine him to make her look good. Again, it's her show and I get that. BUT they don't need to make him look bad to make her look good. My initial suggestion for the show would be to have her take over for him after he disappears in space or something and she rescues him later on. It would make more sense that way. He seems like a decent guy but they have to keep nerfing him to make her look good.

I don't even have a problem with him *saying* she's a better person than he is. He can be humble. The problem is that, in that reality, she *is* a better person than he is, more self-sacrificing.

In my opinion, in that reality, gender aside, she fulfills the role of Superman and he sort of fulfills the role of Supergirl. I know that's a weird thing to say and it's not 100% true in every way. Obviously, being a super woman, there's going to be differences than if it was a man. Plus it starts out being sort of the classic story. He arrives first. She's in his shadow. But then at some point they start presenting her as if, in that reality, she's the Superman (again, gender aside and irrelevant).

It's a Holmes/ Watson thing or Holmes/ Scotland Yard for that matter. Doyle really wasn't a detective let alone a brilliant one so the only way he could make Holmes look good was to write him as the smartest Doyle himself could be then dumb down everybody else. Supergirl/ Superman is the Watson treatment.

Incidentally and off subject, to defend Supergirl a bit, way back in the first episode, I kind of disliked that discussion between Kara and Grant, the whole thing about why it should be Supergirl instead of Superwoman. As Grant said, "I'm a girl..." Bzzzzz. WRONG. You're a woman. Why isn't Superman Superboy? Because males grow up and become men. Girls grow up and become- girls. A subtle sexism they could have corrected while attacking racism, sexual orientation bigotry and all the other bigotries they've attacked. Anyway, soapbox over.

[Jim Kelly]

It seems bogus to me that they don't have Superman because he would overshadow Supergirl. If a character is popular and is going to help the ratings, they are going to use him. Would you really get rid of Fonzie just because he takes the spotlight away from Richie?

They introduced Mon-El and gave him a lot of play--to the detriment of other characters, including Supergirl--but they were hot to use a male super-hero on a show that should feature a female super-hero.

I believe it's only because WB took back their permission to use the Man of Steel for the 3rd season. Still I don't know why they didn't give Tyler Hoechlin the Cyborg Superman part (or else Dean Cain)--that would have been superb.

[stargazer01]

I thought he was decent and somewhat charismatic in the season 2 premier, but then the writers turned him into a joke.

He went from greatest hero in the universe to Kara's sidekick. I really hope he doesn't return in season 3 because they writers only use him to prop up Supergirl. That's when you know you have a poor imagination as a writer.

[The World]

Like most modern adaptations of Supes he's bumbling and oafish. A poor mans Superman. When you prioritize"humanity" over competency you get a deluge of these sorts of things.

[Powerboy]

It seems bogus to me that they don't have Superman because he would overshadow Supergirl. If a character is popular and is going to help the ratings, they are going to use him. Would you really get rid of Fonzie just because he takes the spotlight away from Richie?

They introduced Mon-El and gave him a lot of play--to the detriment of other characters, including Supergirl--but they were hot to use a male super-hero on a show that should feature a female super-hero.

I believe it's only because WB took back their permission to use the Man of Steel for the 3rd season. Still I don't know why they didn't give Tyler Hoechlin the Cyborg Superman part (or else Dean Cain)--that would have been superb.

I think they went for Mon-El because he's really there to be a love interest for Supergirl. She already has a cast that fulfills various roles for her. Maybe they think Superman's constant presence would overshadow her or they'd have to keep playing him down to make her look good and maybe they've caught on that doing that got seriously mixed reactions.

I'm not sure Fonzie is a good comparison. People might not accept Superman as a regular supporting character as opposed to the main character. Also, Richie and Fonzie were very different people forming a friendship. Supergirl and Superman might get to be a bit too much of the same thing.

[Clark_Kent]

If they didn't love Superman they wouldn't have put him on the show. Blame Warner Bros. movies for him not being on the show 3rd season. The TV people had to beg just to get him on second season.
Which they probably were allowed because at the time the movie version of Superman was busy being dead after Doomsday killed him off <---- There are the people that hate Superman, not the TV people.
And it was mentioned that Superman was in Madagascar at the time Supergirl was fighting the Worldkillers, so it's not like the TV people forgot Superman existed. Unlike the movie people, who have yet to
announce a Man of Steel 2 movie.

Let's all be super clear here lol They didn't put him on the show because they "love the character", they put him on the show because they knew it would boost ratings on a new network (CW picked them up after CBS cancelled them). So let's call it what it was: a modern version of the old "sweeps week", where shows pull out all the stops to get the viewers. If the writers could have somehow gotten permission for Batman to appear, I guarantee this thread would be asking "what did you think of Batman on Supergirl?" instead.

Anyway, as for the OP...he was ok, I guess? Hoechlin doesn't look much like Superman, and their costume budget must have been about $150. The 'S' was cool. They brought back the Reeve interpretation of the character, which needs to just die imo. It worked for Reeve, but the 70's were a different time. Clark using words like "Golly Mr. White!" and "Gee-whiz!" were outdated even in 1978, but at least Clark would have grown up in an era where those words were used. So while everyone says he's old fashioned, there's at least basis for it. Superman today would have been a child of the 80's...there's no basis whatsoever for golly gee, and everyone would call him out on being a fake, if not an outright simpleton.

I understand why he doesn't factor in more during these world ending events, I mean their budget only goes so far (look no further than the ridiculous speed at which J'onn constantly ditches his Martian form during emergencies so he can give some dialogue exposition; seriously, why even have this character?). So I'm fine with his abscence on stuff like that, even though they seriously should make some sort of explanation as to why Kara doesn't call him for stuff like Crisis on Earth X. But my biggest grievance is DC, as a company, has a Trinity. 3 characters that are without question more important than all their other characters when it comes to intellectual property...you simply DO NOT let them job to anyone. You just don't. You damage your own property by using them as a punching bag to prop up another character. Superman flat out says "You're Earth's champion now."

Imagine if Batman showed up on Arrow and got beat in a fight and said "Ollie, you're a better man than I am. You are Gotham's protector now!".....Batman fans would LOSE. THEIR. MINDS. And rightfully so, because it would be incredibly damaging to the Batman IP. Maybe Diana can show up on the Batwoman show next year and lose too, why not right?

Anyway. The writers have no respect for the characters they get to use (why is Jimmy a superhero now? Why does Kara have blue heat vision?), and DC should have said no to using Superman. Honestly, about the only thing the show has done right is in the way they have handled Alex's coming out, and how they have dealt with her sexuality. It's been not only tasteful, but very non-sterotypical. Oh, and Benoist herself as Kara, she's fantastic.

But it's all subjective. For those of you where Hoechlin works as Superman, I'm happy for you guys. He just didn't work for me.

[superduperman]

Let's all be super clear here lol They didn't put him on the show because they "love the character", they put him on the show because they knew it would boost ratings on a new network (CW picked them up after CBS cancelled them). So let's call it what it was: a modern version of the old "sweeps week", where shows pull out all the stops to get the viewers. If the writers could have somehow gotten permission for Batman to appear, I guarantee this thread would be asking "what did you think of Batman on Supergirl?" instead.

Anyway, as for the OP...he was ok, I guess? Hoechlin doesn't look much like Superman, and their costume budget must have been about $150. The 'S' was cool. They brought back the Reeve interpretation of the character, which needs to just die imo. It worked for Reeve, but the 70's were a different time. Clark using words like "Golly Mr. White!" and "Gee-whiz!" were outdated even in 1978, but at least Clark would have grown up in an era where those words were used. So while everyone says he's old fashioned, there's at least basis for it. Superman today would have been a child of the 80's...there's no basis whatsoever for golly gee, and everyone would call him out on being a fake, if not an outright simpleton.

I understand why he doesn't factor in more during these world ending events, I mean their budget only goes so far (look no further than the ridiculous speed at which J'onn constantly ditches his Martian form during emergencies so he can give some dialogue exposition; seriously, why even have this character?). So I'm fine with his abscence on stuff like that, even though they seriously should make some sort of explanation as to why Kara doesn't call him for stuff like Crisis on Earth X. But my biggest grievance is DC, as a company, has a Trinity. 3 characters that are without question more important than all their other characters when it comes to intellectual property...you simply DO NOT let them job to anyone. You just don't. You damage your own property by using them as a punching bag to prop up another character. Superman flat out says "You're Earth's champion now."

Imagine if Batman showed up on Arrow and got beat in a fight and said "Ollie, you're a better man than I am. You are Gotham's protector now!".....Batman fans would LOSE. THEIR. MINDS. And rightfully so, because it would be incredibly damaging to the Batman IP. Maybe Diana can show up on the Batwoman show next year and lose too, why not right?

Anyway. The writers have no respect for the characters they get to use (why is Jimmy a superhero now? Why does Kara have blue heat vision?), and DC should have said no to using Superman. Honestly, about the only thing the show has done right is in the way they have handled Alex's coming out, and how they have dealt with her sexuality. It's been not only tasteful, but very non-sterotypical. Oh, and Benoist herself as Kara, she's fantastic.

But it's all subjective. For those of you where Hoechlin works as Superman, I'm happy for you guys. He just didn't work for me.

I think the one thing everyone can agree on is that the suit is objectively terrible!

Someone on another thread a while back made the point that the biggest difference between Marvel and DC is that Marvel doesn't have a trinity that everyone else has to revolve around. You could pick maybe three characters in the Marvel universe that are more well known or more popular than others (Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America) but for the most part, the entire universe doesn't revolve around them. When DC rebooted back in the mid-eighties, everyone else had to have their histories retconned to accommodate the trinity. So the Legion lost their Superboy, even though they were selling just fine, and Titans lost Donna's history. DC's two biggest books had to make sacrifices for their adult counterparts. They had a book with Superman in it that was selling just fine, it just happened to be one with him as a teenager. And Donna's history still hasn't been sorted out to this day.

This is the biggest problem with having a universe revolve around a few people. Everyone expects those people to be put on a pedestal in all versions. So Wolverine ends up kicking Lobo's ass in a crossover even though he's a Superman level villain.

[Powerboy]

I think the one thing everyone can agree on is that the suit is objectively terrible!

I think most of us agree on that. Hoechlin also doesn't really match any sort of classic image of Superman. Opinions may vary but he isn't exactly good looking (not that that's an absolute requirement). I totally get why people love the Reeve imitation because it was welcome in contrast to the MoS/ BvS version.

Personally, I wish they had gone with something more vibrant and brighter for the Supergirl costume instead of one that feels like it's vaguely imitating the MoS movie suit. It's blue and red but manages to be as depressingly dark blue and red as possible with what I can't think of any word to describe it but leathery.

[Jon Clark]

This thread made me think of one of my favorite 90's anime shows (to make fun of), Rurouni Kenshin. It's obvious that Himura Kenshin is the show's protagonist, and even though it's up to him to win the most pivotal battles on the show, he's clearly not the best. It's his old master, Hiko Seijuro. Kenshin can't beat his old master in a straight-up battle. I don't think any of this really detracts from Kenshin's role as a hero, or his likability as a character. Perhaps Supergirl could've gone this route, where the hero is the hero, and not necessarily the very best.

On the flip side, though, I guess the argument could be made that a lot of people wouldn't like Supergirl if she weren't the best. Unlike Kenshin and his master, who had conflicting ideologies, Kara and Kal-El's is pretty similar. If Superman was clearly better, maybe that'd make too many viewers wonder why isn't the show following the "real" hero? Perhaps that's just the problem with making TV shows centered around sidekicks. People don't feel the payoff unless the sidekick surpasses the mentor.

But why does either of them have to be "the best". Show Superman lift object X and Supergirl just as easily lift object Y and never tell us which object was heavier. Same with speed- both are faster than anyone else but we don't have to be told which is fastest.

[Jim Kelly]

When you take into consideration all the actors that played Superman over the years. I think Tyler Hoechlin is right in that ballpark. Actually, there's a webpage that has a composite using all the actors and the face comes out a lot like Brandon Routh's.

The TV show doesn't have the technical wizardry to do an impressive Superman, but I thought Hoechlin evoked the character. Which is a pretty tough challenge, as SUPERGIRL seems to exist in this amalgam of every evocation of the Superman family that has ever existed. And it was refreshing to see the Man of Steel on SUPERGIRL, behaving more like the classic image of the character than what had been offered in the movies at the time.

SUPERGIRL won me over by giving that hopeful tone to the series. And having Superman make the occasional appearance would do a lot to advance that narrative. I feel like something was lost in season 3 and the inspirational spark was gone.