Supergirl's Original Opening Scene Was Scrapped, Writer Explains The Reason

A lot can change between a script’s first draft and the version that finally reaches theatres. That was also the case with Supergirl, where the creative team revisited an important part of the film before locking the final cut.

Screenwriter Ana Nogueira has now revealed that the DC film was originally meant to begin very differently. Speaking to Variety, she shared that the opening scene was reworked during development to help audiences connect better with Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El.

According to Nogueira, the first draft introduced Ruthye Marye Knoll before Kara appeared on screen. However, the team later realised that approach worked better for comic readers than for general moviegoers.

“In the original draft of the script, the movie opened with

meeting Ruthye and getting to know her. But what we realized is that comic readers know Supergirl really, really, really well, so they are OK with meeting her through somebody else’s eyes.”

She explained that while comic book fans already know Supergirl’s story, many people watching the film may not be as familiar with the character.

“But for the movie-going public, Supergirl is not Batman; we haven’t seen her parents die a bunch of times (like Bruce Wayne’s), we don’t know it that well. I’ve seen Spider-Man get bitten by a radioactive spider a bunch of times, but we don’t have that with her.”

That led the filmmakers to rethink the opening and make Kara the audience’s first point of connection.

“So, we realized we had to onboard the audience to (Kara) as the focus of the movie, not just through Ruthye.”

Although the film no longer follows the narration style of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Nogueira said the team wanted to preserve Ruthye’s admiration for Kara, which is an important part of the story.

“But we wanted to maintain the sense of wonder of this little girl seeing this extraordinary woman and wanting more from [her]. There’s this element of (Kara) not totally living up to her potential, so we wanted to maintain that, but take the voice-over Ruthye out of it.”

While Ruthye is no longer the film’s narrator, her perspective continues to shape Kara’s journey, allowing audiences to see both the superhero’s strengths and her imperfections through the eyes of someone who deeply admires her.

Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, is currently playing in theatres.