I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not exactly caught up on my Superman/Supergirl/Krypton lore. But when I think about Supergirl, the first thing that comes to mind is the CBS/CW TV series that stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El. My impression of Supergirl is not dissimilar to the one I have of her cousin: bright, clean, and pure-hearted. With James Gunn’s DCU reboot, however, it looks like I’m gonna have to toss my preconceived notions out the window.
Do be warned that I’ll be spoiling a small scene in the ending of James Gunn’s 2025 Superman movie.
Towards the end of Superman, we get our first short glimpse of Supergirl herself, played by Milly Alcock. She stumbles into the Fortress of Solitude drunk, here to collect her adorable dog Krypto and before you know it, they’re both rolling around on the ground and breaking the floor marble. Superman and Gary look at them with the slightest hint of disapproval, and the former even says they have a toxic relationship. She, apparently, likes to party on planets with red suns so she can get drunk Supergirl then stumbles out with Krypto, presumably to go off on her own adventure.
Gunn confirms that this is indeed the exact version of Supergirl we’ll be getting in the 2026 film. In a recent interview, Gunn describes her as “a total mess.” He explains that Kara’s had a very different upbringing from her cousin Superman. Whereas Clark has enjoyed a wonderful upbringing with two parents who love him unconditionally, Kara’s situation is a lot more difficult.
The 2026 movie will draw from the comic book series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. And if you’ve even read up a little bit about what that arc covers, you can kinda see where this is going. In Woman of Tomorrow, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday by partying, drinking, and getting into fist fights. It’s not until she meets a girl named Ruthye that everything changes. Ruthye tells her that her father has been murdered, and she wants Kara to help kill her father’s murderer. That’s honestly pretty dark stuff and not at all what I would’ve expected from your typical DC heroes, especially the Super family.
Whereas Clark Kent was portrayed as a bit of a goodie two shoes, I’m certainly excited to see the DCU’s new iteration of Kara and where they take her.
Milly Alcock starred in a bunch of smaller projects before getting her breakout role as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon. Trash though that show may be, Alcock was the highlight, even if she only appeared in a handful of episodes before Emma D’Arcy took over as the adult version of Rhaenyra.
Supergirl will come to theaters in 2026.
