Supergirl (2026) post

Supergirl (2026) is a fun and entertaining enough superheroine blockbuster movie that, unfortunately, falls victim to the many setbacks in the modern era of filmmaking that prevent it from being a truly great, breathtaking and memorable monument to the art of cinema and theater-going; to the artful mainstream, public pop culture sphere. Like, "It could have been so much better, and at some point during development, it most likely was."

Of course I blame late-stage capitalism, greed, cutting financial corners at every level, and the cowardice of modern corporations and their aversion to taking any risks. This is despite the fact that taking risks is part of what filmmaking - what creating art and entertainment in general - is supposed to be about.

I miss eighties and nineties movies - remember when mainstream cinema made an effort, took risks, went big, and could actually shock you, and create moments in film that stay with you for a lifetime? It's not originality that's dead - it's creators' passion and care that are dead or dying. Remember when filmmakers cared about what they were doing? When they took the effort - went the extra mile - to please themselves and audiences, in giving them not only what they wanted but what they needed? Giving them what they didn't even know they wanted and needed? When writers, directors, producers - storytellers - had something they wanted to say, that needed to be said, and they said it, no holding back, no compromises, no censorship?

Remember when going to see a movie was an experience, an event, that you would never forget? When awes were earned? When movies were not only fun and charming, but challenging and life-changing? These were no mere escapist fiction, but an important message told through entertainment. Messages that were big and important, and thus you were made to feel big and important yourself, in being gifted the knowledge and experience.

When films mattered, and could challenge you brain, and touch your heart and soul, it made it easier to believe you mattered, too, because the films put the effort into telling you so, in their own way, as you were worth the time and effort. You were worth it. You were respected.

Change and challenge in film is good, is what I'm driving home at. Change and challenge and creativity and care. It's what makes art.

Now that's an aspect of nostalgia I can get behind.

(Superman (2025) is all the above to an extent, which Supergirl, like the edgy little sister that tries hard but not hard enough to be like her big brother, doesn't quite land in achieving; even knowing it was never meant to be as colourful and hopeful, though both superhero films are mature in vastly different ways.)

Still, Supergirl does take some risks - even though they're not always for the better, the progressive - and the acting is absolutely superb. Your mileage may vary on whether it is "safe", but it is definitely not "soft". A few changes from the Supergirl comic book lore - including its main inspiration, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow - left me baffled, however. And I'm not cool with the recent movie trend/tactic of female-lead-is-given-no-romantic-interest-not-for-asexual-representation-or-female-independence-but-as-a-way-to-avoid-any-queer-representation-whatsoever-to-pander-to-moronic-and-whiny-queerphobic-"fan"babies-and-conservatives-and-the-Chinese-box-office-market.

But Supergirl is by no means mediocre or worthless. I like its action sequences, its space and different planet settings, its female camaraderie, friendship, support and presence themes, and the unconventional "unlikeable" heroine. Based on the evidence onscreen, I hope it wasn't in fact made by soulless ghouls calling themselves storytellers and entertainers, with soulless intentions in mind.

We need more mainstream superheroine media, dammit. So despite how Supergirl could have been more (though I might be completely satisfied with it in hindsight and on further examination and analysis, who knows), I'm supporting and defending it to the ends of the bloody cosmos.

And at least, unlike the most overhyped, overblown and bloated MCU properties, Supergirl is short and contains no end-credit sequences. There is no baiting, pandering or piss-taking in that area.

No, I'm not burnt out yet; not suffering from superheroine fatigue. Not ever.

Order of favourite DC superheroine films, starting from the top:

Wonder Woman (2017)

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Supergirl (2026)

Also, just because I can, here are my favourite Marvel superheroine films, from the top:

Captain Marvel (2019)

Black Widow (2021)

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) (it counts!)

The Marvels (2023)

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Lilith: Awakening The Dark Feminine Energy: History, Symbols, Secret Rituals, and Esoteric Practices to Reclaim the Sacred Feminine Long Suppressed by Patriarchy' by Melissa Smith

"I am she who dwells in the desert,

who sleeps among ruins,

who whispers among broken stones.
No man possesses me.
No god commands me.
My name is spoken with fear,
yet those who truly know it, find me."
(apocryphal fragment, attributed to the Voice of Lilith - oral tradition, source unknown) - page 4



I read 'Lilith: Awakening The Dark Feminine Energy: History, Symbols, Secret Rituals, and Esoteric Practices to Reclaim the Sacred Feminine Long Suppressed by Patriarchy' by Melissa Smith, as a companion book to 'Lilith: The First Witch: History, Myth, and the Forbidden Power of the Dark Divine' by Nyx Corven. In fact, I read both on the same day. They are small indie nonfiction 'Lilith' books of similar length.

Indeed, 'Lilith: Awakening The Dark Feminine Energy' is similar in its research of the history of Lilith, and in its exploration and psychoanalysis of the symbolism, mysticism, spirituality, teachings, rituals, spells, practices, and the whole divinity of her. Only it is perhaps more detailed and thorough in its research. And it can be very repetitive in how it writes Lilith's lessons on how to live life (and cast spells), especially towards the end ('Lilith: The First Witch' can be repetitive, as well).

But makes it very clear that Lilith is not really some supernatural being. She is not a goddess, an icon, a mythical, mystical presence and figure to be worshipped or idolised - she doesn't like that. That is not what she is about.

She is a natural, powerful, enduring feminine spirit, who is simply a reminder to be yourself, and live as your authentic self. No wavering, no quieting, no fear, no excuses. She is your dark, shadowy, strong and defiant feminine id.

No more repression. No more reinvention, for that matter.

But remembrance, reclamation, refusal, resistance, and rebellion. And return. A rise from the ashes.

Lilith is and always has been someone and something who just is, as herself. No apologies. No backing down. No submission. No compromises. Neither good nor evil. And you can be too.

She wants to help you be you. To reclaim complete control of your own autonomy. To embrace your hidden, shadow self. It's Jungian philosophy, where to be a free woman is your wild and true calling.

Lilith has always just been. Always there. Always waiting. Always saying "No" to anything that is against her nature and principles. Always demanding equality. She doesn't have to explain, justify, or prove herself to anyone. She doesn't have to ask permission on anything, throughout her existence, which has neither a beginning nor an end.

Lilith - the legend, the myth, the newfound and reclaimed feminist deity and icon - is truth personified.

Pandora, Medea, Hecate, and the patriarchal, medieval idea of "the witch" are also mentioned and explored in 'Lilith: Awakening The Dark Feminine Energy'.



From the blurb:


'Lilith is not a collection of myths to be memorized, nor a new goddess for easy worship. She is a force, a presence, a refusal to vanish.
Lilith: Awakening the Dark Feminine Energy offers a return to the forgotten source.
Across Mesopotamian winds, Kabbalistic traditions, medieval fears, and modern reinterpretations, Lilith has survived every attempt to silence her--not as a demon, not as a heroine, but as the wild memory of everything that was once rejected and never truly lost.
This book restores depth to her story, placing Lilith back in her original contexts, tracing her evolution through time, and only then--only then--inviting you to encounter her through ritual.
Inside, you will find sober explorations of her history, symbols, and transformations; reflections on dark feminine energy, forbidden desire, and the voice that refuses to soften; and practices designed to awaken the sacred feminine long suppressed by fear, control, and forgetting.
Lilith does not comfort. She does not offer blessings. She demands that you meet yourself without filters, without disguises.
If you are ready to reclaim the voice you buried, the power you abandoned, and the desire you were taught to fear, Lilith is already waiting.'


She may not like to be idolised and blindly admired, but Lilith is still one of my favourite goddesses. I love and respect all she represents.

For more, read my review of 'Lilith: The First Witch: History, Myth, and the Forbidden Power of the Dark Divine'.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Lilith: The First Witch: History, Myth, and the Forbidden Power of the Dark Divine' by Nyx Corven

A brief, easy-to-read-and-digest history - and legacy, reflections and teachings - of the legendary first woman, Lilith.

And what a herstory it is.

Her feminist story of unshakeable, natural rebellion, and everything it represents, and that continues to be relevant, is inspiring.

'Lilith: The First Witch: History, Myth, and the Forbidden Power of the Dark Divine' does more than explore the myths and legends concerning Lilith (it even looks into her various portrayals throughout popular culture); it tells the truth of what it means to be a woman. A woman who can and must feel alive, and be authentic and free.

I could highlight every brilliant, insightful passage in this small indie nonfiction book that can be devoured in an afternoon. Just read it.

Let Lilith live, and be free, and be remembered, as her true self, away from dogma. She is not a demoness, nor a succubus, nor a manhating baby-eater, nor a seductress, nor even strictly a witch or a goddess.

She is a liberator of women everywhere, throughout the ages.

A complex being of unstoppable, defiant, challenging, healing feminine power, and of sacred, ancient, timeless knowledge and truth.

No more shall she be misunderstood and demonised.

Okay, here are, ahem, some highlighted passages:



'This book will show you Lilith not as a villain, but as a survivor. Not as a seductress, but as a symbol of sacred rage. She is the dark mirror--reflecting back the truths we fear about feminine power, sexuality, and autonomy. Her story is the story of every woman who has been silenced, punished, or erased for being too wild, too sexual, too loud, too much.

This is not a gentle book. Lilith doesn't whisper. She howls. She demands. And though her, you will remember a part of yourself that has always been there--buried, but not broken.

Lilith: The First Witch is your invitation to reclaim the forbidden. To rise from the ashes of obedience. And to walk once more in the path of the first woman who refused to bow.' - page 2


'It is important to note that the transformation of Lilith into a demon was not just misogyny--it was theological surgery. By making her monstrous, male-dominated systems could erase the history of powerful women, sacred sexuality, and feminine mysticism. The process was deliberate. The consequences, enduring.

Yet she endured too.' - page 26


'Lilith teaches us that what is called demonic is often what is most divine when it resists control.' - page 26


'Psychologically, these archetypes--succubus, vampire, femme fatale--represent the projection of repressed desire and rage. They are not born from evil, but from what society has refused to see in itself. They are the shadows of patriarchal guilt, the reflections of fear that women who own their power, especially sexual power, are ungovernable.

And yet--these archetypes also endure because they liberate.' - page 57

'The collective psyche remembers Lilith even when religion tries to forget her. She rises in times of cultural upheaval, when voices long silenced begin to howl. She returns when justice [and equality] is demanded. She appears when women stop apologizing and when men begin dismantling the parts of themselves built on domination.

She is not limited to gender. She lives in every soul who has ever been told to shrink.' - page 85


'Lilith is not returning. She never left.

What's happening now is not her reappearance [resurgence]--it is our readiness to meet her.' - page 87


'MY BODY IS NOT A SIN.
MY TRUTH IS NOT A THREAT.
MY WILDNESS IS NOT A WOUND.' - page 88


'The rise of the feminist divine is not coincidental--it is ancestral. Lilith's myth lives in every matriarch silenced, every mystic burned, every witch drowned. But her spirit outlives every suppression. Her defiance is the seed from which the future grows.' - page 88


'Lilith is the archetype of those reclaiming:

The erotic as holy.

The menstrual cycle as sacred.

The anger as clarifying.

The body as divine.

The voice as spell.

The "too muchness" as exactly enough.

Across the world, women are telling their daughters: "YOU ARE NOT HERE TO BE SILENT. YOU ARE HERE TO BE SOVEREIGN."

Men are asking, for the first time, what Lilith might mean to them--not as a demon of temptation, but as the feminine force within them that was denied. She appears when they question inherited authority. When they reject domination. When they open to softness, surrender, and soul.

Queer and trans communities are also reclaiming Lilith--not as a binary figure, but as the embodiment of fluidity. She lives beyond structure, beyond gender roles, beyond submission. She is the part of the psyche that defies containment, and in that defiance, she becomes a guardian of truth.

Lilith's spiritual legacy is not about a return to the past. It is about an evolution. It is not about erasing tradition, but expanding it. She is not against light. She is against false light--the kind that blinds rather than reveals.' - page 89


'[Lilith] does not come to save you. She comes to remind you that you were never meant to be tamed.' - page 90


'I AM NOT HERE TO BE LESS.
I AM HERE TO BE WHOLE.
I AM LILITH--ALIVE, AWAKE, AND FREE.' - page 94



From the blurb:


'The woman who defied God. The witch who walked out of Eden. The dark goddess they tried to erase.

Uncover the truth of Lilith--the first woman, the first exile, and the original witch--in this groundbreaking, historically rooted and spiritually potent masterpiece.

More than a myth, Lilith is a force of cosmic rebellion. Before Eve, there was Lilith: a woman born of the same earth as Adam, who refused to submit, refused to be silenced, and chose exile over obedience. Branded as a demon, feared by religion, and erased from scripture, Lilith's truth has been buried for centuries. This book brings her back--fierce, free, and fully remembered.'


Fuck the patriarchy.

No oppressive system can control and suppress the unconscious, the inner mind and life that knows the truth, impossible to hide and bury forever.

"Take a walk on the wild side" and "Be wild and free" are not empty and meaningless platitudes and catchphrases.

Remember. Resist. Recognise Lilith. Reclaim her.

Free Lilith, and be free with her.

Let Lilith live, and live as Lilith. Become Lilith.

Live free without apology. Without permission. Without shame.

Live as you. Put yourself first.

Read also this - 'I Am Lilith' by Melanie Dufty.

EDIT: I have now written a review of a companion indie 'Lilith' book, 'Lilith: Awakening The Dark Feminine Energy: History, Symbols, Secret Rituals, and Esoteric Practices to Reclaim the Sacred Feminine Long Suppressed by Patriarchy' by Melissa Smith. Link here.

Final Score: 4/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Madonna: A Rebel Life' by Mary Gabriel

I admit to mostly skimming this gargantuan book (880 pages! and that's its edited and revised version!) about Madonna. It chronicles her whole life and career up until 2023. But it contains the most amazing anecdotes and passages, and facts about Madge I didn't know before. They made me appreciate and respect her even more than I ever had before. They made me love and idolise her even more.

'Madonna: A Rebel Life' made me proud to be a Madonna fan. She's always been a fearless, feminist rebel and social activist on the scene, and an enemy of the patriarchy, sexism, misogyny, and fascism. Doing whatever she wanted, never taking shit from no one, and never playing "safe" and apolitical in order to appear "likeable" and "uncontroversial". She's a human who makes mistakes and is mega-flawed, but that makes her more admirable and relatable, and she keeps trying to improve and upscale - on her own terms, in her own unique, big, extreme, postmodern, reflective, truth-telling style - and help others along the way.

She's in fact always been what society - what the world - needs.

This powerful, influential woman - a rich white woman who actually cares about people and human life, and doing the right thing - is an inspiration. An icon.

Mary Gabriel has a wicked and no-nonsense sense of wit and humour, as well as pathos, in her writing. She clearly loves Madonna and what she has continuously represented since the beginning of her career - her life. It is fan her/hero-worshipping at its most critical and laudable, and fully detailed. The passion, dedication, knowledge and research put into this magnum opus, this work of art, is awestriking and commendable.

It is a triumph.

'Madonna: A Rebel Life' - the biggest, and perhaps the best Madonna biography to date. I will keep coming back to it, and read pages and pages at long intervals, with no fatigue, and my esteem raised ever higher.

'A Rebel Life' isn't just about a pop star whose career spans over forty years, who is the "Queen of Pop" - it is about life, and our recent history, in pop culture and other human "civilised" areas, subjects and issues, such as politics.

Keep rebelling, Madonna Louise Ciccone. Madge.

Rebel. Respect.

Fight fascism and the patriarchy with your art, your music, your songs, your dances, your faith, and your words. Your expression.

(Little sidenote: I have of late been coming back to and watching Madonna's films, such as 'Desperately Seeking Susan' and 'Who's That Girl', and I like them a lot, with 'Evita' and 'A League of Their Own' remaining my absolute faves.)



From the blurb:


'In this exceptional biography, Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna.

With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion - as great as that of Elvis or the Beatles - taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent.

But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanour of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Amid the scourge of AIDS, she brought queer identities into the mainstream, fiercely defending a person's right to love whomever - and be whoever - they wanted. Despite fierce criticism, she never separated her music from her political activism. And as an artist, she never stopped experimenting. Madonna existed to push past boundaries by creating provocative, visionary music, videos, films and live performances that changed culture globally.

Deftly tracing Madonna's story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time.'


Read my review of another favourite Madonna biography, 'Madonna' by Michelle Morgan, here.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'Supergirl (DC Supergirl) (Little Golden Book)' by Courtney Carbone (Writer), Erik Doescher (Illustrator)

A cute Little Golden Book about Supergirl.

It is basically baby's first Supergirl (and baby's first reading experience). It barely covers her origin at the beginning - the doomed planet Krypton, along with her parents and people - before moving swiftly to her kicking butt in action sequences that show off her various superpowers, all the while reassuring the reader that the totally untraumatized Supergirl can do anything!

But the book is fun and colourful, and highlights Supergirl/Kara Zor-El's strengths as an awesome, mighty and confident superhero. This comes at the cost of ignoring and omitting her weaknesses, however, such as kryptonite, and any introspection on her tragic past.

Also included are her cousin Superman, of course, and Batgirl, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl's beloved Krypto the Superdog (he only shows up on one page, mind you), Cyborg, Catwoman, Cheetah, Poison Ivy, Bizarro, Sinestro, Lex Luthor, and Solomon Grundy.

'Supergirl (DC Supergirl) (Little Golden Book)' - recommended for Supergirl fans of all ages, in 2026, the year of Supergirl!

Superheroines forever!

Superheroines of tomorrow.

Up up and away!

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'DC Super Hero Girls: High School Reunion' by Shea Fontana (Writer), Yancey Labat (Artist)

A cute, wholesome and colourful super-sequel to the 'DC Super Hero Girls' comics, set ten years later, for, as the title says, a 'High School Reunion'.

It is about the no-longer teenage Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Bumblebee (I don't know why Katana is on an alternate cover, she's hardly in the comic) - they are the DC Super Hero Girls - plus Beast Boy. He's very popular in this franchise, and I don't mind a bit. Not having grown up a bit since graduation and "boyhood", he has been promoted to the token guy of this superhero group; an inverse and almost subversion of the Smurfette Principle.

All of these heroes are cool and fun, and full of bad puns!

Although, 'High School Reunion' is mostly about Harley Quinn, and her insecurities as a nonpowered "burden" to her superhero team and friends, whom she'd ghosted since graduating DC superhero high school; it is her development from that. She lives with Poison Ivy, and it is heavily implied they are a couple in this franchise as well. Fantastic!

Got to appreciate that Ivy is not skinny like the other girls, too.

'DC Super Hero Girls: High School Reunion' is simple, kiddie and cartoony - aimed at a younger audience, despite its heroes being adults now - but it is an enjoyable and fresh ride to kill around a half hour of time in reading. Therein lie so many adorably, hilariously bad puns - nearly every line of dialogue contains a pun.

On a surprising note: there is an antidiscrimination and fearmongering theme running in 'High School Reunion', especially in regards to xenophobia. However, it isn't featured much, nor developed on a deeper level beyond what this light, colourful, funny-and-punny children's superhero comic could perhaps handle or get away with. Still, I appreciate its presence. It is a very important topic to bring up and teach to the youth, especially in this hellish, dystopian day and age.

For my review of the first 'DC Superhero Girls' comic, 'DC Super Hero Girls Vol. 1: Finals Crisis' (from ten years ago!), click here

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch' by Various

'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch' is a rather weird, eclectic and random collection of comic issues featuring the Scarlet Witch.

In some, she isn't even a main character, and in a couple she barely appears. One one-page shot is just about Black Widow - why was that included?!

Scarlet Witch isn't really the protagonist of any of the stories collected in 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch'. It mostly consists of classic Marvel issues (which are very wordy on dialogue, thought balloons, and narration, I tell you), and a few strange, 'Sabrina' and 'Bewitched'-style 'X-Men' stories from the 2000s.

In Marvel comics editorial, I have no idea how the process works when choosing comics for these 'Marvel-Verse' books, and why, when they are meant as a jumping-off point, and to entice new readers with "introductions" to Marvel superheroes; sometimes the comic issues are barely related to the heroes they are supposed to be about. In this case, it's like "Which witch is the Scarlet Witch again?"

Still, this 'Marvel-Verse' is mostly entertaining. As well as Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, it stars Jean Grey (in those 2000s children's 'X-Men' comics, she is mainly called Marvel Girl, and she is youthful and childlike, but is besties with Wanda, so I'm not mad), Wanda's twin brother Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Professor X, the Mole Man, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, H.Y.D.R.A., the Thing/Ben Grimm, Stingray/Walt Newell, Triton, Agatha Harkness (in her best portrayal as Wanda's witch mistress mentor and mother figure in every comic she appears), Doctor Strange, Wong, Dracula himself (oh yeah, there are vampires in this!), Edwin Jarvis, Hannibal King, Monica Rambeau (called Captain Marvel here, which may confuse readers only familiar with the MCU), Wanda's synthetic robot husband Vision (there is a 'Wanda and Vision' story included, even though there is already a 'Marvel-Verse' book for those), and demons and nightmares from her past.

My favourite story in 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch' has to be the last one, 'Women of Marvel #1', aka 'Patty Prue in "Real Witches"'. It is about Scarlet Witch connecting with a grieving, lonely, insecure, stubborn, and complex young POC wannabe-witch, Patty Prue. It's the kind of witchy, occult story I like, and it is about female friendships! It's like 'The Craft' and 'Spell on Wheels'.

So while 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch' isn't that great, or even that accurate to what its title promises, it is good enough for me, as a fan of witches and superheroes in general. It is a guilty, magical, mystical pleasure.

And I now own a 'Scarlet Witch' comic on my shelf. I've never been impressed by any of her solo titles.

It's just that the Scarlet Witch is the kind of character I should adore. I want to adore her. She's a super-powerful brunette-mixed-with-red witch, and a sympathetic, relatable victim of the worst of societal ostracisation and prejudice - she's been through hell and back - what's not to love? But I keep being disappointed by her various appearances and how she is written, well, everywhere (do not get me started on her portrayal in the MCU, that's another matter (and rant) entirely).

And is she a mutant anymore, or not? I hate it when the MCU influences the canon Marvel comics.

But I like some of the tales in 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch', so, yey, go Wanda!

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff - the most powerful sorceress, female magician, illusionist, and reality-warper in the Marvel universe, and one of the most powerful women in the Marvel universe...though she's hardly ever written as such, or competently, or not as an "overemotional woman" who is "too powerful for her own good and needs to be subdued and controlled by powerful men who feel entitled to her autonomy". Stupid superhero media sexism.

Now that I think about it, it makes every bit of sense that Wanda and Jean Grey are friends.

Thus concludes my reading of the 'Marvel-Verse' books, about the women of Marvel. They have been mixed at best, but I enjoyed the following:


'Marvel-Verse: Captain Marvel'

'Marvel-Verse: Ms. Marvel'

'Marvel-Verse: She-Hulk'

'Marvel-Verse: Jane Foster, The Mighty Thor'

'Marvel-Verse: America Chavez'


Final Score (for 'Marvel-Verse: Scarlet Witch'): 3.5/5