A Supergirl Christmas

A Supergirl Christmas is a television Christmas special based on HBO Max's Supergirl. It centers around the origins of the show's protagonist, Kara Zor-El (aka "Supergirl") in a Christmas-oriented fashion.

Plot
On the dying planet of Krypton, Jor-El and his wife rocket their only baby son, Kal-El, to Earth in a spacepod where he will be safe. Following in suit, Jor-El’s brother Zor-El has prepared his own pod for his own daughter, Kara Zor-El, with his wife instructing her to follow her baby cousin to Earth, raise him, and teach him the ways of their people. Boarding her pod, Kara’s pod rockets after Kal-El’s in the last minute before Krypton explodes. However, shockwaves from Krypton’s destruction pushes Kara’s pod into the Phantom Zone, a region of space where time never passes. Sleeping there for over twenty-four years, Kara’s pod is later able to get loose. Arriving on Earth in a small town of Midvale, still a thirteen-year-old girl, her pod is discovered by a then-adult Kal-El, who has gone to become the famous hero known as Superman, the most powerful man in the universe.

Wanting her to have a similar upbringing to his own, Kal-El places Kara with the Danvers couple, scientists who once helped him understand his own superhuman abilities, and now run a convenience store together. Jeremiah and Eliza reassure Kara that she will be safe with them, and Kara agrees that the best thing she could do is to fit in, as Earth doesn’t need another hero.

Almost one year later, Kara started Midvale High School as a 14-year-old freshman. While helping his foster father, Jonathan Kent, chop up some wood for the fire at his farm in a Smallville forest, Superman notices Kara standing over a helpless mountain lion cub stuck on a branch. Kara berates Superman for keeping his glory to himself and wants to do heroic stuff as well, only to end up wrestling with an adult mountain lion after getting its cub off the branch much to Superman’s horror.

Later, at Kent Farm, Superman is hosting a Christmas party for his friends, the Justice League (consisting of himself, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg), where Green Lantern is healing Kara’s wounds from wrestling the mountain lion. Kara asks Superman if she wants to be a superhero as well, as she has the same Kryptonian powers he has. However, Superman rejects Kara, believing that the Justice League has no room for kids, even the Flash and Cyborg think she is overreacting. On the other hand, Batman encourages Kara that wrestling a mountain lion was a valiant effort to prove to her cousin that she is capable of defending herself come what may, reminding her that, when Superman was her age, he wrestled with a grizzly bear once back at high school.

Suddenly, a gentleman thief named Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot shows up uninvited to the party with some henchmen asking for eggnog. However, Jonathan and Martha Kent tell Penguin they are out of eggnog and that he and his men should come back next year. Despite the party running out of beverages, including eggnog and a can of sports drink for Kara, Superman tries to offer Penguin their last bottle as an apology, only for Penguin to smash it on his head, spilling eggnog all over him. Since he is part of Gotham’s Rogue Gallery, Penguin informs Superman to steer clear of him or there will be consequences. Superman tries to clean up the mess, but Penguin shoots the rest of his food with his umbrella machine gun, dirtying him even more, before leaving the party with his henchmen.

Afterwards, Superman and the Justice League burst into laughter over this form of humiliation. Angered by their attitude, Kara berates Superman for taking such insults from a gentleman thief like Penguin. Despite Superman’s efforts to cheer her up, Kara storms outside to let off some steam, only to inadvertently shatter numerous windows with some kind of superhuman scream. Superman catches Kara’s unexpected discovery, and proceeds to inform her that, as a Kryptonian, her body will convert the energy of the yellow sun into superpowers, making her weak to antimatter for the rest of her life, much to Kara’s shock.

Sometime later on Christmas Eve, Kara’s classmate from school, Jimmy Olsen, visits her foster parents’ convenience store to take her to a malt shop in Metropolis to talk to her. At a malt shop in Metropolis, Kara shares her disappointment about Superman with Jimmy, claiming that she overestimated him and wanted to apologize for the incident at Kent Farm. To help lift Kara’s spirit, Jimmy reveals that he has signed both him and her up for an internship at the Midvale Sheriff’s Department to help bring villains to justice the way she sees it, and interested, Kara agrees.

Suddenly, Penguin and his henchmen visit the malt shop for some eggnog. While drinking, Penguin states that he wanted to get rid of cowards on sight like Superman, claiming that the Justice League knows how to act cool. Angered by her cousin’s insults, Kara, with her eyes glowing red, tries to fight the Penguin, but she gets dragged out on the streets by his henchmen who then restrain her for immediate examination, thus creating a hostage situation; Penguin discovers that Kara possesses the same superpowers as Superman, noting that he could make a lot of money by selling her to a circus. On the other hand, Perry White, owner and manager of Daily Planet, notices the situation and begs Penguin to release Kara so that his latest news story will not be published. However, Penguin refuses, expressing his hatred to weaklings who insult him to White. Unfortunately for Penguin, Kara refuses to join the circus, so he tries to execute her for rejecting his offer when Superman arrives to find out what’s going on.

Penguin tries to warn Superman off, but when one of his henchmen points a gun to his head, he gets stung on the neck by a wasp created by Green Lantern’s ring, thus revealing the Justice League behind Superman’s back. After Superman gives Penguin a speech about him not standing abduction, the gentleman thief himself becomes unfazed, sending the rest of his henchmen after the Justice League who eventually take out his entire crew is a Power Rangers-style fashion single-handedly, leaving Penguin alone. Realizing his losing battle with the Justice League, Penguin drops a smoke bomb and takes Kara away. As the smoke clears, Superman realizes Kara is gone and panics.

Out at sea near Metropolis State Beach, Penguin takes Kara to his boat, the Duck, where he forces her to walk the plank. Angry that she could not do anything to defeat Penguin, Kara struggles in the water as a massive shark appears, scaring Penguin and his henchman piloting the Duck away. Moments before Kara is eaten, Aquaman saves her life and scares away the shark with his marine telepathy. When the shark is gone, Aquaman commends Kara for standing up for her cousin when she begins crying upon realizing he has lost his hand in saving her life.

On Christmas Day, Superman presents Kara her own costume as a token of his gratitude for standing up for him. Realizing she has done something good for the first time in her life, Kara agrees to use her powers to fight for altruism under the alias of Supergirl.

Later, Supergirl confronts Penguin again while he is stealing train cars full of gold, and finally defeats him as retribution for insulting her cousin.

Characters

 * Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers/Supergirl
 * Zor-El
 * Alura
 * Justice League
 * Superman
 * Batman
 * Wonder Woman
 * Green Lantern
 * Aquaman
 * Flash
 * Cyborg
 * Jeremiah Danvers
 * Eliza Danvers
 * Jonathan Kent
 * Martha Kent
 * Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot
 * Jimmy Olsen
 * Perry White
 * Lois Lane
 * Shark