The new Supergirl movie has sparked debate among fans of the original comic. A key scene on the planet Barenton, where a kryptonite sun weakens the heroine, has been simplified. In the film version, the danger is resolved quickly, removing the moment when the girl Ruthye protected Supergirl for ten hours from alien dinosaurs, an act of bravery that gave weight to the plot.
The technical development of the scene and its narrative impact 🎬
The decision to shorten this sequence stems from a production approach that prioritizes action pacing over secondary character development. In the comic, the use of alien dinosaurs as a threat required choreography with long shots and practical effects to convey Ruthye's fatigue. The film, instead, opts for a quick digital resolution that reduces the girl's screen time. This eliminates the need to animate complex creatures for ten hours of footage, but sacrifices the emotional depth that the original script offered the viewer.
Ten hours of intergalactic babysitting that Hollywood didn't want to pay for 🦎
Look, I get it—filming ten hours of a girl scaring off space lizards while Supergirl takes a kryptonite break is expensive. But the comic's message was clear: sometimes adults need a kid with more guts than them to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. Now, the heroine solves in five minutes what was, on paper, an accelerated course in childhood responsibility. Good thing the dinosaurs went home, because otherwise we'd have to ask Ruthye to teach us how to write a resume.