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Supergirl's Original Mission - Possible spoilers
Might be an interesting topic to explore in an episode somewhere along the line, depending on producer inclination and show success.
What does everyone else think?
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- Brad2
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- Woodclaw
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- AuGoose
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AuGoose wrote: Keep in mind that for there to be an episode about Kal, they might actually have to admit he even exists... The amount they dodge around him in the pilot is almost embarrassing.
First let me deal with the above comment: as I've noted elsewhere, I think the limited acknowledgement of Superman in the pilot was probably down to marketing. WB's licensing and branding team likely subscribe to the popular idea that you don't want to confuse the mass audience by giving them two parallel versions of the same 'property' at the same time. Superman appears in silhouette only in the pilot, and gets one (two?) name-checks as "Superman" or "Kal-El" -- the rest of the time he's simply "your cousin". This likely isn't a deliberate creative decision by Berlanti et al. but a very restrictive licensing contract that forbids the character from being shown clearly (you'll note we never see his S shield, and even the James Olsen's prize-winning photos is blurred to heck!) The SG team probably had to haggle and arm-wrestle just to get one or two mentions of the name "Superman" into the script.
As for the original question: perhaps we may never have gotten Supergirl or Superman if the 'original mission' had worked. Why? Read on...
From the pilot we know that it seems Kara's instinct was to blend in with life on Earth; not to use her powers. Despite having a super-cousin to inspire her, in the pilot she still preferred to seek 'greatness' via her work career like a normal woman. (Ultimately it was the lack of fulfilment in her career, more than anything else, that made her wonder whether she should use her powers somehow.)
Without Kara's trip through the Phantom Zone the super-criminals of Fort Rozz would not have landed on Earth. Without Fort Rozz the DEO would not have existed, her sister Alex would not have been targeted by the escapees, and Kara would not have had to reveal her powers to save Alex. No super-ciminals; no threat to Alex; no DEO -- it seems reasonable to assume that Kara would have just kept her head down, tried to blend in, and channelled all her efforts into trying to have a normal life on Earth (although she may have always lived with nagging doubts about using her powers.)
Kal-El clearly wanted to be a hero, but Kara had to be coaxed into accepting her superhero role. So... what if Kara had landed alongside Kal-El as planned and had raised him instead of the Kents? Was the desire to become a 'superman' something innate in Kal-El, or something the Kents helped instill in him? If Kal-El had been raised by Kara, with her more cautious "keep your head down" mindset, would Kal-El have still become Superman, or would he have listened to his big cousin and just tried to hide himself amidst humanity as a normal person..?
R5
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- five_red
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five_red wrote: Kal-El clearly wanted to be a hero, but Kara had to be coaxed into accepting her superhero role. So... what if Kara had landed alongside Kal-El as planned and had raised him instead of the Kents? Was the desire to become a 'superman' something innate in Kal-El, or something the Kents helped instill in him? If Kal-El had been raised by Kara, with her more cautious "keep your head down" mindset, would Kal-El have still become Superman, or would he have listened to his big cousin and just tried to hide himself amidst humanity as a normal person..?
This reminds me of Justice League: The Nail , an Elseworld based on the assumption that the Kent didn't find Kal-El's rocket, but it was an hamish couple, who urged little Kal never to use his powers in public and so the world continued without Superman.
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- Woodclaw
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