Hollywood's penchant for revisiting failed franchises this summer has awakened a number of 80s oddities in the oubliette! This time, Amanda Jane Stern joins us to revisit the Salkinds' 1984 attempt at a Superman spin-off: Supergirl, featuring Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee, Faye Dunaway as the witchy Selena, and Peter O’Toole, Mia Farrow, Marc McClure, and others filling out a very British, very prestige-flavoured comic-book fever dream. Much like Masters of the Universe (1987), it's a film about a missing macguffin, a displaced hero from an alien world navigating 80s America, and the familiar fantasy of inherited power being folded into an Americana quest narrative – all while trying to look serious enough to justify its budget and strange enough to justify its existence. Should Supergirl be set free to soar into heroism, or should it be locked away in the Phantom Zone? Find out!

Check out Amanda Jane Stern's projects at www.amandajanestern.com

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