Yesterday, I watched the Supergirl trailer and was absolutely, thoroughly delighted. First of all, I love Milly Alcock. I think she’s brilliant. Second of all, I love—to the very marrow of my reckless heart—messy women. I think the world and art in general need more messy women.

Women who have no desire to be perfect, but who still want to be good. Women who are impulsive and sloppy and yet, still strong. Women who fall apart.

For the same reason the No Man’s Land scene in Wonder Woman brought me to tears (the power of knowing yourself! Doing what you know in your heart is right! Kicking all the ass!), I already know this version of Kara is going to have my whole damn heart.

A million years ago, I used to write TV show reviews for Blastoff Comics. I miss it! It was honestly so much fun. (Want to hire me to write things? You can absolutely do that. Message or email me!) Back then, I reviewed Supergirl, The Flash, and Agent Carter, among others. That iteration of Supergirl, as a character, was wildly different than what we’re seeing in the movie trailer. Both are different than, say, the movie from the 80s. And you know what? They’re all goddamn awesome.

Because women aren’t a monolith, so why would Supergirl be? Watching the 1980s movie a million times as a kid, I saw a cheerfully wonderful badass who was as powerful as Superman. Watching the TV show, I saw someone who radiated kindness and strength and humor. In the new movie, I see someone who is hurting and messy and traumatized and still reaching toward goodness. Protecting and being chaotic, with a scrappy, ridiculous sidekick of a dog. (Krypto is the best and the worst. Anyone who has ever owned a pet knows exactly what I mean.)

I’ve heard people absolutely rip this version of Kara, for not being a pristine image of goodness. For daring to be sideways and sarcastic. But no one blinked an eye at drunk, traumatic Thor in the Marvel universe. That character was allowed his arc of mess and mourning and abandoning. It fit the narrative.

And you know what? This messy Kara does too. As I pointed out in a face-to-face conversation with a comics “purist,” it’s actually based on a comic plotline. Comics, like everything else, grow and shift and change, allowing the characters to become different too. Except for the Nazi Captain America storyline, it makes sense to reframe things in a different, less idealized lens.

The idea of letting women break and still be capable of punching through assholes is excellent. Because there isn’t a woman on this earth who isn’t carrying some form of grief or trauma or rage—almost always, all three. And sometimes, we turn that anger inward. And sometimes, we choose—like Bridget Jones—vodka. And sometime, we get ourselves a goddamn dog, because animals do save us. Always. Because loving something else helps us love ourselves and sometimes, gives us a reason we need. Ya know?

Here’s the thing, too: messy women are interesting. Perfection, or its appearance, is boring as hell. Nobody wants that. Yes, you can tell a good story about a perfect Kara, kicking ass and saving the day. Even the TV version of Kara wasn’t perfect, though the new movie version leans waaaaaaay into the chaos. A world-weary, truly done with everyone’s shit version of Kara. Who can’t relate to that? Especially in these trying, more than mildly insane times we are living through?

The best characters are always, always complicated characters. So, I’m looking forward to Supergirl much in the same way I looked forward to Wonder Woman.

Bring it on, kittens.