The chaotically soaring nature of Claudia Sarne’s Supergirl theme fits the character like a glove, but the score overall is sadly let down by duller material for villain Krem and protagonist Ruthye as well as less memorable and at times wincingly aggressive electronic action.
A very different tone of superhero theme seems to have been called for with this new iteration of Supergirl. I can’t say I’m too surprised, given the darker, more damaged take on the character that both the 2025 Superman movie hints toward and the Woman Of Tomorrow comic series (that the new film is based on) features. While a more traditionally superheroic theme like Jerry Goldsmith’s for the 1984 Supergirl movie (starring Helen Slater) or Blake Neely’s for the CW series (starring Melissa Benoist) would have been nice, I must say I was pretty intrigued to hear how a darker, no nonsense kind of Supergirl would sound musically. And so, after no less than two composer changes – from Ramin Djawadi to Tom Holkenborg – the 2026 Supergirl movie (starring Milly Alcock) landed on Claudia Sarne for scoring duties, a composer who I must admit I have not heard a note of music from before. That’s not usually a bad thing though; indeed, it’s always great to hear a fresh new sound in the superhero genre! So now, with levels of interest for both composer and musical tone at pretty solid levels and the soundtrack finally in our hands, let’s get started with Sarne’s new main theme, heard in full through the three minute “Supergirl Suite”.
The three minute track opens rather serenely, with echoing plinks of percussion and ethereal vocals floating atop a moody synth soundscape. As the music continues, quiet hints toward what will become Supergirl’s theme then add to the decidedly atmospheric sound in swirling on solemn electronics, before the ensemble then practically explodes at the eighty second mark as the full theme grandly surges to the forefront with roaring brass leading a dramatic charge over the synth. After its thunderous debut, the theme and its fiery instrumentation then fade in favour of moodier ambience until cue’s end. All-in the motif itself is quite catchy, I must say, and it fits this darker Supergirl like a glove in its intensely chaotic but also still somewhat heroic tone. A good start! Next up an eerier, almost Western-styled atmosphere descends with “Bar Fight” alongside deep moody murmurs of an electric guitar; this then builds to fever pitch at the two minute mark as dramatically harsh, in-your-face electronics briefly surge action into centre stage before the track fades out. Ok, I must admit this is now less good – one thing you should know about me if you don’t already is that I absolutely detest electronics that are so aggressively atonal and loud that they almost make you wince. But still, this is only the second track.
A solemn and rather downtrodden piano is centre stage at the start of “Krypton Destroyed”, with increasingly worrisome strings, brass and high-pitched vocals then overtaking to power home the intense anguish of the planet’s destruction. The quieter electronic ambience from the start of “Supergirl Suite” then returns in “Argo, Pt. 1” alongside deeply sorrowful strings, with “Pt. 2” afterward continuing in much a similar vein with low-pitched brass, mournful vocals and a rather melancholic (though lovely) rendition of Supergirl’s theme on strings. Aggressive electronic action then returns at a frenetic pace in “Cat and Mouse Hunt” together with anxious strings and bursts of ominous brass, before we get a set of further character suites in “Lobo” and “Krem”; the former, an antihero of sorts played by Jason Momoa in the film, gets a thunderously electronic and guitar-focused sound, with deep throbs of the latter grating against emphatic aggression in the former, making for a dramatically imposing sound overall. The film’s villain Krem then receives a much eerier and unsurprisingly malevolent style with horror-like strings, brass and naturally – deeply, dramatically distorted electronics at the forefront. Sigh.
Krem’s dramatically horror-like electronic aggression continues into action cue “The Battle”, before the music then settles again as the gentler ambience of Supergirl reprises at the start of “Flying Through Space”. Hope then starts to rise at the halfway mark with soaring vocals and strings reaching a series of crescendos alongside a spectacular (though short) burst of Supergirl’s theme. An electronic dance beat then occupies the back half of the funky “Sklarian Raiders”, before the music slows for the darker, more determined and distortedly synth-focused “Vigilantes (Space Cowgirls)”. The standout moment of the album then arrives with the three minute “Supergirl” as dramatic percussion, uplifting brass and soaring strings finally surge her theme back to the forefront for what is a triumphantly heroic and happily full action rendition overall. After another deafeningly malevolent electronic counterattack by Krem in “Poisoned”, the score settles again for the quietly pensive “Ruthye” with echoing string and piano ambience. The short “Clark’s Apartment” is then a nice surprise with a short synthy appearance of John Williams’ Superman theme playing alongside Supergirl’s, before the score draws to a close with peaceful strings, piano and electronics in the atmospheric “Reunited”.
Overall, Claudia Sarne’s Supergirl has a strong main theme going for it, but sadly not much else. Said theme, showcased best through Standout Cue “Supergirl Suite” as well as in action form through “Supergirl”, enjoyably blends both heroic and chaotic tones that fit the title character extremely well, with the stylistic blend of hopeful synth and emboldened orchestra also fitting the space adventure style of the film. The theme elevates the album whenever it appears, with a particularly heartfelt rendition in “Argo Pt. 2” and a floatingly atmospheric one in “Flying Through Space” being the highlights there (bar the above tracks). Outside of that theme though, I must admit there’s not a whole lot to remark on here. The only other thing of interest is Lobo’s theme, with a throbbing electric guitar cementing it fairly entertainingly through action cue “Lobo”, but both villain Krem and protagonist Ruthye sadly get very little thematically; the former’s amounts to little more than harshly horror-like instrumentation, and the latter doesn’t seem to get anything at all (or at least, nothing stands out). The action music is also irritatingly plagued by those deafeningly in-your-face electronics that feature in so many film scores nowadays which makes it pretty forgettable, and the quieter moments are only strong when Supergirl’s theme is present. So all-in, I’d say check out the Supergirl theme – but leave the underwhelming rest.
Score: 6/10
Standout Cues: Supergirl Suite, Supergirl
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