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Supergirl was wasted in CW's Smallville, but actor Laura Vandervoort feels the new movie and the Melissa Benoist show is helping repair the character's legacy
“They were always trying to get rid of her”: Supergirl actress Laura Vandervoort opens up about the character’s Smallville arc
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The summer of 2026 belongs to Supergirl. However, the character hasn’t always had an easy time in live-action media.
Supergirl, an upcoming DC Studios film starring Milly Alcock, is currently in post-production with a June 26, 2026 release date. The film is based on the popular Tom King and Bilquis Evely comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Many people are looking forward to seeing Kara Zor-El get her due on the big screen, including Laura Vandervoort, who played the character on Smallville. The actress believes that the new film will honor the character’s legacy in a way Smallville never did.
“I just felt like they didn’t do enough with her,” Vandervoort says during a Smallville reunion panel at Fan Expo Cleveland 2025. “I would disappear and get amnesia. Because I could fly and someone over here couldn’t [jokingly points to costar Tom Welling], so they were always trying to kind of give her a little push to a different direction just to get rid of her.”
Vandervoort played Kara Zor-El in Smallville season 7, but the character was written off. She returned for a single guest appearance in season eight, was absent for all of season nine, and made two appearances during season 10. For Vandervoort, she sees this as wasted potential.
“I don’t know, I felt like there could have been so much more story for her that we didn’t see, and then I just flew away.”
However, Vandervoort feels like Melissa Benoist took the character to new heights on the Supergirl television series and is looking forward to seeing what Milly Alcock will do on the big screen. She sees this as repairing the legacy after Smallville botched the job.
“Then we got the Supergirl series, and now she’s going to have a feature film, so the legacy continues. We get to see different versions of her. I just wish I got to do a little more.”
Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026. This time her story won’t end with the character getting amnesia and being written off.
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