Sorry, Kara and Mon-El Are Not Canon for 'Supergirl'

A lot of people are wondering if Kara Danvers and Mon-El are going to do the do on Supergirl. The awkward tension between the mysterious jock with a heart of gold and the Girl of Steel might be at all-time high, but if the minds behind The CW and DC’s Supergirl are going to follow comics canon at all, then the two won’t end up together. Here’s why.

The character of Mon-El, otherwise known as “Mike,” is kinda sorta based on a character in the DC Comics Universe that’s gone by several names: Halk Kar, Lar Gand, Valor, M’Onel, and, yes, Mon-El. He starts off as Halk Kar in 1953, but that character was soon forgotten after a brief run-in with Superman. The character’s storyline being stranded on Earth and briefly losing his memory is reused in 1961 with the introduction of Lar Gand, who’s renamed Mon-El by Superboy and treated as a brother when he assumes Mon-El is a Kryptonian. He is, of course, wrong (he’s a Daxamite). Shit goes down.

And, from there, Mon-El’s character was retconned time and time again for the next 50 years. The latest retcon belongs to Supergirl, where Mon-El is played by Chris Wood and is probably a Daxamite prince. Oh, and he’s head-over-heels for Supergirl.

Mon-El confessing his love for Kara wasn’t a surprise, but Kara’s less-than-thrilled reaction didn’t really inspire hope for Mon-El and Kara (for which the ship name will henceforth be “Kon-El”) shippers everywhere. Maybe it’s because Kara knows her heart is, technically, supposed to lie elsewhere.

Originally, it belonged to a Dick. Richard “Dick” Malverne was an orphan at the Midvale Orphanage at the same time as Linda Lee’s Supergirl, and he was constantly trying to sniff out the mystery of Supergirl’s identity. He figured it out, but the two grew apart after attending college together. Linda eventually visited him on his deathbed while he was dying of cancer, and he confessed that he’d always loved her. They kissed, and he died that night (woof). Luckily for Mon-El, Kara’s kiss didn’t do the same to him on his deathbed.

The second big romance in Supergirl’s life (this time as Kara Danvers) was Jerro of Atlantis. Jerro was a short-lived merboy, so unless Mon-El grows a tail and gills overnight there’s not much crossover there.

But the most significant of Supergirl’s romantic interests was Brainiac 5, leader of DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes for many years and, ironically enough, the creator of an antidote that saves Mon-El’s life in the comics. Brainiac 5 is relentlessly intelligent and Supergirl’s main squeeze through several different iterations of the characters across several universes. They keep coming back together, for better or worse.

There’s no one in Supergirl who comes close to Brainiac 5. Mon-El’s dumb puppy vibe is far from Brainiac 5’s ability to outplay any adversary and create life-saving antidotes for said dumb puppy’s lead poisoning.

But that’s kind of the point. There’s no one good enough for Kara. No matter what, Kara always abandoned her significant others — even Brainiac 5 — to do her damn job in DC’s comics. Kara would sooner shun a romantic interest than not be an independently functioning superhero. And that mentality has transferred over from the comics to the television show.

Supergirl may put a lot of weight to Kara’s various potential romances — Jimmy, Winn, and now, Mon-El — but, truth be told, Kara’s not going to end up with any of them. That’s just how Supergirl rolls.