The second movie in James Gunn's DCU Chapter One has now hit screens worldwide, but one film critic has revealed that he was shown a cut of Supergirl at a screen test at the start of the year that included more scenes that didn't make the cut.
Warning: the following contains a few spoilers, so turn back now if you haven't seen the film. But make sure to read our Supergirl review first.
"The cut wasn’t very different than the one I saw earlier this week. Besides more scenes on Krypton and an alternate opening, it was the same film," said The Film Frontier's Dan Marcus on Twitter. Krem had more of his backstory cut from the finished film, though."
In the final cut, we first meet Krem as a murderous pirate scavenging for goods and collecting young women as brides to sell on his home planet. However, the movie doesn't really explain why he is the way he is. But according to Marcus, the test screen cut shone a light on Krem's motives. "He talked about how he was abused as a child, but how that upbringing made him stronger," said Marcus. "He revealed he was going to do the same with Ruthye, threatening to make her his wife."
According to Marcus, the original movie "started with the destruction of Krypton," rather than Supergirl waking up in her ship, followed by the harrowing scene showing Krem murdering Ruthye's family. But not all is lost, as the new cut added two more scenes featuring David Corenswet’s Superman, which we think will be important in the future as Supergirl kind of sets up the Superman sequel, 2027's Man of Tomorrow.
However, it doesn't sound as though we missed out on much, as Marcus confirmed the cut he saw was only around 10-15 minutes longer than the final product, and still had no Supergirl post-credits scene. Despite saying the original opening was "better," he added, "The finished film didn’t feel that much different than the cut I saw in February."
So, why did DC cut the movie down even further when it would have still been under 2 hours to begin with? In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Craig Gillespie said, "I hate a long film. Because it’s this road trip between two women [Milly Alcock and Eve Ridley]... The more that we kept it lean and true to just their mission, the better the film was. There is a ticking clock in this."
Supergirl is out in theaters now. If you have already seen the film, you can find answers to any burning questions you may have in our guides to the Supergirl ending explained, Supergirl Easter eggs and cameos, and differences between Supergirl and the Woman of Tomorrow comic.
