The 1984 Supergirl movie continued the mythology of the movies starring her more well-known cousin, all while adding its own unique concepts and elements. One of these is Kara Zor-El's home of Argo City, full of fellow Kryptonians like her. This city is based on the location from the DC comic books, but it's quite different from how it's portrayed there.

Kara's home is an almost interdimensional place, and it's kept ticking thanks to a weird deus ex machina device called the Omegahedron. This strange idea is one of several that may leave viewers scratching their heads during Supergirl. Here's a closer look at how Argo City was portrayed in the movie, as well as how it originally was in the comics.

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What Is Argo City in 1984's Supergirl?

In the movie, Argo City is some kind of colony or commune full of Kryptonians, none of whom were on the planet when it met its end years ago. It's in a sort of pocket dimension within "inner space," with the Kryptonian Zaltar mentioning that it's separate from outer space. Zaltar created the Omegahedron, a scientific device of amorphous abilities, to power the city. For some reason, he begins playing with the device and later gives it to Kara Zor-El to use as a toy. This results in it being lost and ending up on Earth, forcing Kara to retrieve it in order for Argo to stay alive as a city.

The effects of Argo City losing the Omegahedron aren't shown, although when Kara brings it back at the end of Supergirl, the city lights up bright once again. It's worth noting that outside of the Phantom Zone prison, there's very little connection between Argo and Krypton. Argo is never mentioned as a colony of Krypton, nor is the doomed planet ever mentioned. Despite this, they seem to know quite a bit about Earth (while being ignorant of basic things there), such as the fact that Kara's cousin, Kal-El, landed there and became Superman. Thus, it is unknown how the city and its people came to survive Krypton's destruction.

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How Argo City Was Different In the Supergirl Comic Books

Argo City debuted back in the Silver Age comics, and it was much different than how it was portrayed in the Donnerverse. The original Argo City was, in fact, once part of Krypton, with the city being surrounded by a dome created by the scientist Zor-El (Kara's father and Superman's uncle). This dome was always meant for protective purposes, but it was unintentionally instrumental in saving the city from Krypton's destruction and the resulting Kryptonite radiation.

Argo City would survive for years afterward until its dome casing became compromised. Wanting their daughter to survive their home's impending death, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze sent her in a spacecraft similar to her cousin's to safety on Earth. There, she would become Supergirl, though her parents (at least in the original continuity) would survive via transportation to the Survival Zone.

New continuities and versions of Supergirl would eventually reintroduce the Argo City concept, keeping it much the same as it was in the Silver Age. One slight exception was the DC Animated Universe, where "Argo" was instead a sister planet to Krypton. None of its variations have adapted a version of the city similar to how it was portrayed in Supergirl, and the Omegahedron is a similarly forgotten concept. It's just one of the movie's many idiosyncrasies, and unlike Superman elements from the other Donnerverse movies, has failed to influence the wider perception of the character.

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