While Supergirl is easily one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe–with her Kryptonian abilities outshining those of even Superman–the hero just received a dark new upgrade that turned her from one of DC’s most powerful heroes, into one of its deadliest.
Kara Danvers aka Kara Zor-El became the heroic Supergirl after arriving at Earth following the total annihilation of her home planet, Krypton. Unlike Superman, who was sent to Earth as an infant, Kara made the journey as a teenager with the purpose of watching over her baby cousin and helping him assimilate to human culture while also being a surviving representative of the Kryptonian race. However, on that journey, Kara was thrown off course and arrived at Earth some years after Kal-El, and due to the time displacement, she appeared younger than her cousin rather than older. So, since Superman was an established hero on Earth and didn’t need Kara’s protection, Danvers decided to become a hero in her own right: Supergirl–though her heroic journey quickly went dark upon her latest appearance.
In DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #2 by Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine, Supergirl has taken on a villainous role as an apparent ally of Darkseid. In this storyline–which acts as the climactic conclusion to the wider DCeased saga–Darkseid has weaponized the anti-life equation and is using Supgirl to spread its destructive chaos across the cosmos. In this issue, Supergirl is successful in corrupting what was described as the largest and the most destructive computer in the galaxy: Warworld. While heroes and villains alike have come together to stop her, their combined efforts didn’t seem to do much good as this issue indicates that Supergirl seemingly breaks Green Lantern’s neck, out-muscles Sinestro and Soranik while protecting Darkseid, and is successful in the infection of Warworld.
This issue takes Supergirl’s established strength to whole-new levels. In the past, Supergirl has proven her superiority over Superman in a number of ways, with one of the most obvious being their respective levels of injury when attacked with a nuclear weapon. When Superman was hit with a nuke in Dark Knight Returns, his body shriveled into a completely weakened version of itself as the explosion nearly killed him. Supergirl, however, experienced practically the same attack in Supergirl #25, and she just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Supergirl’s greater levels of strength are attributed to her longer exposure to the yellow sun while traveling through space, indicating that her slower arrival time to Earth actually worked in her favor. Unfortunately, what worked in Supergirl’s favor has become detrimental to the wider universe.
With Supergirl by his side, Darkseid will seemingly be able to defeat the heroes of the DC Universe once and for all as this issue reveals a major victory for the villainous duo. While that victory was impressive, the most striking aspect of Supergirl’s assault on Warworld is the exhibition of Supergirl's unparalleled strength, a power that was equal parts brought out in her by Darkseid while also having always existed within herself–a dark new upgrade that turned Supergirl into DC’s deadliest hero.