One of the most talked-about choices in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is that Kara Zor-El is introduced at a bar, deliberately trying to get drunk. It is not played as a “party girl” bit. It’s framed as someone looking for a rare moment where she can actually feel something, even if it’s messy and self-destructive.
The Red Sun Detail Is the Whole Point
In the comic, Kara is celebrating her 21st birthday, and she is looking for a planet with a red sun “on which she can get drunk.” Under a yellow sun, Kryptonians are basically built to shake off normal human limits fast, which makes intoxication a lot harder to pull off in any meaningful way. The red sun choice is Kara gaming her own biology so alcohol can hit like it would for anyone else, because for once, she wants vulnerability more than strength. That alone tells you this story is not aiming for the classic, squeaky-clean Supergirl vibe.
It’s a Shortcut to Kara’s Headspace
The drinking is less about alcohol and more about grief and exhaustion. Woman of Tomorrow leans into the idea that Kara carries a different kind of Krypton trauma than Clark. She remembers more. She lived among Kryptonians. She watched her world die in slow motion, and the comic treats that as a wound that never really closes, even when she’s doing the right thing and saving people.
So when Kara goes looking for a place where she can actually get drunk, it reads like someone trying to step outside the “symbol” for a night and just be a person who is not okay.
The Bar Scene Also Sets Up the Story’s Moral Argument
The timing matters. Kara’s attempt to disappear into the background gets interrupted by Ruthye Marye Knoll, a young alien girl who’s chasing vengeance after her father is murdered by Krem of the Yellow Hills. Kara gets pulled into Ruthye’s quest, and the comic makes it clear Kara initially rejects the idea of revenge, partly because she has responsibilities on Earth and partly because she doesn’t want Ruthye to become the kind of person vengeance creates.
That’s why the drinking lands the way it does. It’s the contrast. Kara is unraveling, but she still draws a moral line when it counts. The series keeps returning to that tension: she’s damaged, but she’s still trying to be good.
Why This Is Suddenly a Bigger Conversation
This character beat is also having a moment because DC’s upcoming Supergirl movie is explicitly drawing from Woman of Tomorrow, and the “red sun so she can get drunk” detail is being treated as a defining snapshot of this version of Kara. If you have only seen Supergirl as “Superman, but nicer,” this is the story that argues she’s something else entirely: older in spirit, rougher around the edges, and still heroic even when she’s falling apart.
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