WB treats the Donner movies as the holy grail of Superman, and by extension so does this show.
It'd be nice if they'd quit referencing the films for the brunt of these characters and actually go to the real source material to see what they've done there. There's a reason the Deadpool movie is getting such rave reviews... and it's not because they "reimagined him for modern audiences" or referenced the atrocious reimagining of him from the Wolverine flick.
I really don't get what's so hard to understand about that when it comes to the films. Changing costumes a bit so they look better and/or more believable? Sure, that's perfectly fine. But ignoring the source material and just going back to old, rehashed material over and over again? Just bleh.
I got mixed feelings on this. I mean yeah, I see the Donner influence in how Kara has been written in a dorky, kind of comedic way, though the show has toned that down a bit since the pilot. And the inclusion of Non and her aunt as a Zod-like villain. That being said, Non is not like he is in the Donner films.
Perhaps the color scheme, the sense of hopefulness also is a Donner trait. But in terms of aesthetics, I think Supergirl has moved away from the Donner films. (Edit: Well they haven't moved away from the Donner Fortress of Solitude; just saw the picture of Kara in the Fortress). But from Supergirl's take on Krypton, its look is separate even from Man of Steel and arguably Kara's supersuit takes inspiration from Man of Steel. Smallville took a lot more inspiration from the Donner films.
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