Kara's origin as depicted on TV show

I've opened this thread for speculation and discussion (when we begin to know more) about what origin story the TV show will use for Kara.

As a recap, these are the origin stories I know of. Please add others if you have them.

1) From the beginning, it was said that the Zor El family lived in Argo City, which was orbiting Krypton's sun on a chunk of old Krypton. The domed city had somehow survived the destruction of the planet (never did hear a plausible explanation of that).

In the comics, the residents coated the ground with lead (the asteroid was now Kryptonite), and Kara grew up there. When she was in her mid-teens, meteorites ripped into the lead and exposed the deadly rock beneath. Kara was shot to Earth in a rocket, the lone survivor of Argo City, in a story that mimics Kal's. She arrived on Earth to Superman's welcome. Given he was older, his interactions with her were parental in nature. She has the greatest admiration for him.

This version of the story, with some minor variants, was the only origin story from 1959 until Kara was killed off in the 1985.

In a twist that was used in the 1984 Supergirl movie, Kara heroically left Argo City in a small spaceship to track down the Omegadedron, a power source that had been carelessly sent flying to Earth by a local artist. Peter O'Toole played the artist (and acted as if he'd eaten one too many magic mushrooms.)

Per the movie, there was no Superman. Kara was the only Kryptonian on Earth.


2) Kara was in her mid-teens when Krypton was dying, and she was asked to travel to Earth to protect Kal, her cousin, who was a tiny baby. They travel in different ships, and hers has problems.

When she next meets Kal, he's been a grown man and Superman for some time. He tries to take her under his wing, but she pushes back to do her own thing. They don't get along.

There seem to be minor variations on this in different comicbook runs, but, one way or another, she winds up in suspended animation or a time warp and doesn't age while Kal grows up. She has limited interactions on Earth with Kal, and most of them are not to her liking. In some accounts, she is trained by Diana and under Batman's tutorage as well.

This story was used by the comicbooks early in the 21st century, and also was the basis for the Smallville TV show.

(There may be a spin on this used in the current comic book, but I can't stand to read it.)

3) The preview comic book issue for the Cavill's Man of Steel movie where she travels to Earth many thousands of years ago as a member of an exploration team from Krypton, and is shipwrecked here. The movie leaves this origin as a possibility (empty pod on the discovered ship,etc).

It'll be interesting to see if the TV show leverages off one of these, or if they come up with yet another origin story.

Shadar

Why don't we go way back and have Jimmy, I mean James rub a magic totem and WISH her into existence as a partner for Superman.

I will say this:

If they show her origin in the last epiosde of the show(or the season maybe)-could be the right call. The more in Media res the story starts the better.

shadar wrote: In a twist that was used in the 1984 Supergirl movie, Kara heroically left Argo City in a small spaceship to track down the Omegadedron, a power source that had been carelessly sent flying to Earth by a local artist. Peter O'Toole played the artist (and acted as if he'd eaten one too many magic mushrooms.)

Per the movie, there was no Superman. Kara was the only Kryptonian on Earth.

Just a minor correction. In the 1984 Supergirl movie, Superman was around and active during Supergirl's visit to Earth during the movie. In fact, I remember a scene where Kara and Lucy Lane (I think that was her name, haven't seen the movie in a while) look at a poster of Superman and talk about him for a few lines. It is never explained why Superman never shows up when another Kryptonian shows up on the planet. Of course, the real reason was that they could net get Christopher Reeve to make an appearance.

I will add Man of Steel Also states that Krpyton had a large number of colony worlds that for reasons that they don't go into they then abandoned.
This could be a good way of doing Argo City and a world of Krpytonians without getting into bottle cities and the like.

I will state this. When i wrote my Supergirl script last year my take was more or less what they did in man of Steel:

Spoilers for something that isn't cannon to anything.


But i have faith they can find something intresting. Supergirl is a product of the Silver Age at its most silver. I am intrestrested to see what they do with it in a robabbly more realistic sence

Castor

PS. And i for one kind of Like Peeter Otoole. Theres a spring in his step in the movie thats a lot of fun to watch, that all of the other krpytonians in robes can't match.

jdrock24 wrote:

shadar wrote: In a twist that was used in the 1984 Supergirl movie, Kara heroically left Argo City in a small spaceship to track down the Omegadedron, a power source that had been carelessly sent flying to Earth by a local artist. Peter O'Toole played the artist (and acted as if he'd eaten one too many magic mushrooms.)

Per the movie, there was no Superman. Kara was the only Kryptonian on Earth.

Just a minor correction. In the 1984 Supergirl movie, Superman was around and active during Supergirl's visit to Earth during the movie. In fact, I remember a scene where Kara and Lucy Lane (I think that was her name, haven't seen the movie in a while) look at a poster of Superman and talk about him for a few lines. It is never explained why Superman never shows up when another Kryptonian shows up on the planet. Of course, the real reason was that they could net get Christopher Reeve to make an appearance.

Tks for the correction... I'd forgotten about the poster on the dorm wall. What I remembered was that he wasn't a factor in the movie, either by his presence or his absence. Hope we don't see that kind of silliness again. If Superman exists, he's damn well going to be a major influence in the life of the only other Kryptonian on Earth. Even if we only see him in the distance or hear him on the phone or whatever during the TV show. Which based on the casting is how it appears SG TV is going.

Shadar

castor wrote: I will add Man of Steel Also states that Krpyton had a large number of colony worlds that for reasons that they don't go into they then abandoned.
This could be a good way of doing Argo City and a world of Krpytonians without getting into bottle cities and the like.

I will state this. When i wrote my Supergirl script last year my take was more or less what they did in man of Steel:

Spoilers for something that isn't cannon to anything.

Warning: Spoiler!

The scout ship was part of the Start of a War between Colu(braniacs world) and Krypton. Krypton won the war eventually but at great cost and had to withdrawl most of there resources to there homeworld(and destroying all but one of the Colu). Supergirl being in suspended animation for 20,000 years sat this out.

If you want this could be an intresting device. Argo city is a colony world-but is destroyed by the Braniacs or something else[Darksied maybe]-and Kara escapes to earth where she mees are good friend at the climax.

But i have faith they can find something intresting. Supergirl is a product of the Silver Age at its most silver. I am intrestrested to see what they do with it in a robabbly more realistic sence

Castor

PS. And i for one kind of Like Peeter Otoole. Theres a spring in his step in the movie thats a lot of fun to watch, that all of the other krpytonians in robes can't match.

Ever since I came across that backgrounder for the MOS movie, I've felt it was a powerful origin story that could be exploited in the current time. Kara is a Kryptonian living under a yellow sun. 20K years of suspended animation in the ice isn't too far fetched (given the rest of it).

But if they go that way, they've got a lot of work to do. Remember that this Kara is from an ancient civilization and she was trained as a soldier, as a scientist and is an experienced space explorer on those scout ships. She was also the team leader if I'm recalling it correctly, and was in her mid-twenties, or so it appeared. She would be vastly more knowledgable about Krypton and its science (given her ship was capable of traveling across the galaxy) than Kal El's mostly Earthly upbringing. She would be a very strong character.

In that regard, I don't think that origin fits the TV show as I currently understand it. Unless maybe she woke up with amnesia or whatever and might not even have known she was Kryptonian at first. Over time she discovered some things about herself, which scared her and her family enough for her to keep her talents hidden, and is only now preparing to break out and become her true self. Maybe she's starting to remember things from her former life.

But that's a big stretch, even for this kind of fantasy story.

Shadar

shadar wrote:

castor wrote: I will add Man of Steel Also states that Krpyton had a large number of colony worlds that for reasons that they don't go into they then abandoned.
This could be a good way of doing Argo City and a world of Krpytonians without getting into bottle cities and the like.

I will state this. When i wrote my Supergirl script last year my take was more or less what they did in man of Steel:

Spoilers for something that isn't cannon to anything.

Warning: Spoiler!

The scout ship was part of the Start of a War between Colu(braniacs world) and Krypton. Krypton won the war eventually but at great cost and had to withdrawl most of there resources to there homeworld(and destroying all but one of the Colu). Supergirl being in suspended animation for 20,000 years sat this out.

If you want this could be an intresting device. Argo city is a colony world-but is destroyed by the Braniacs or something else[Darksied maybe]-and Kara escapes to earth where she mees are good friend at the climax.

But i have faith they can find something intresting. Supergirl is a product of the Silver Age at its most silver. I am intrestrested to see what they do with it in a robabbly more realistic sence

Castor

PS. And i for one kind of Like Peeter Otoole. Theres a spring in his step in the movie thats a lot of fun to watch, that all of the other krpytonians in robes can't match.

Ever since I came across that backgrounder for the MOS movie, I've felt it was a powerful origin story that could be exploited in the current time. Kara is a Kryptonian living under a yellow sun. 20K years of suspended animation in the ice isn't too far fetched (given the rest of it).

But if they go that way, they've got a lot of work to do. Remember that this Kara is from an ancient civilization and she was trained as a soldier, as a scientist and is an experienced space explorer on those scout ships. She was also the team leader if I'm recalling it correctly, and was in her mid-twenties, or so it appeared. She would be vastly more knowledgable about Krypton and its science (given her ship was capable of traveling across the galaxy) than Kal El's mostly Earthly upbringing. She would be a very strong character.

In that regard, I don't think that origin fits the TV show as I currently understand it. Unless maybe she woke up with amnesia or whatever and might not even have known she was Kryptonian at first. Over time she discovered some things about herself, which scared her and her family enough for her to keep her talents hidden, and is only now preparing to break out and become her true self. Maybe she's starting to remember things from her former life.

But that's a big stretch, even for this kind of fantasy story.

Shadar

Ehh that could be kind of intresting actually if they go that far. The idea that shes a 12 year old super solder trained from birth to kill...who comes to earth and has to learn to be human. Theres no real law that says a 12 year old can't be an incredible efficent soldier. Well that happens in the real world(sadly) and shes an alien besides from a hyper milataristic culture.

Agian in my story its a theme i play with.(shes the ultimate badass in three galaxies-the general of there armies-but well what can she do except be a college student. Its the only option really has) but if you had Helen Slater and Dean Cain maybe in Lost Like scenes where they have to raise her into something human-that could be intresting.

And this thread is making me want to go back and finish up the 30 or so pages i have left from my script into a second episode.

Secret Origins #9, which came out a few weeks ago, includes an origin story for Power Girl. In the "New 52" continuity, Power Girl had been the Supergirl of Earth 2 until she was transported to Earth 1 via a Boom Tube. In the story, Kara arrives on Earth 2 as a young girl, in a rocket that lands (coincidentally?) on the Kents' farm, years after her cousin Superman. She's raised by the Kents and trained by Superman (who wants to keep her existence a secret so that she can be his "emergency weapon" -- harkening back to the early Silver-Age Supergirl stories).

It got me wondering ...

DC has announced that it will be pulling the plug on the current Supergirl series. I'm guessing they'll be launching a new series, in tandem with the TV show and free of the "New 52" baggage that might put off viewers who don't ordinarily read comics but who might pick up this title. If so, are we getting a sneak peek at Supergirl's backstory as it will be presented in the TV show? To me, it makes sense. It's a pretty simple, straightforward origin that closely parallels Superman's (which most people are familiar with).

And maybe Melissa's costume will resemble the one Kara wears in this story?

jdrock24 wrote:

shadar wrote: In a twist that was used in the 1984 Supergirl movie, Kara heroically left Argo City in a small spaceship to track down the Omegadedron, a power source that had been carelessly sent flying to Earth by a local artist. Peter O'Toole played the artist (and acted as if he'd eaten one too many magic mushrooms.)

Per the movie, there was no Superman. Kara was the only Kryptonian on Earth.

Just a minor correction. In the 1984 Supergirl movie, Superman was around and active during Supergirl's visit to Earth during the movie. In fact, I remember a scene where Kara and Lucy Lane (I think that was her name, haven't seen the movie in a while) look at a poster of Superman and talk about him for a few lines. It is never explained why Superman never shows up when another Kryptonian shows up on the planet. Of course, the real reason was that they could net get Christopher Reeve to make an appearance.

As I recall, we learn (via a snippet of a news program on a car radio) that Superman is away on a peace-keeping mission in a distant galaxy.

What if Kara's mom was the one in the MOS pod, as it's unclear if she is a ai/holegram ietc in the new series and there's the age difference thing. I'm not sure but aren't kryptonians supposed to age very slowly. So she's been around for 20K years (maybe even founded the amazons ) and finally decided to settle down with some nice human dude and or decided to clone herself or something

Just thinking / my 2cts