It has been over four decades since the Maid of Might flew solo on the big screen, but the DC Universe is finally correcting that. Following her cameo in Superman, Milly Alcock is set to lead Supergirl, directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella, I, Tonya) with a script by Ana Nogueira.
Based on the critically acclaimed Tom King and Bilquis Evely run, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is slated for release on June 26, 2026.
DC Studios recently dropped the first teaser, giving fans a look at the sci-fi setting, the dynamic between Kara and Ruthye, and even a peek at Jason Momoa’s Lobo. While the teaser set the mood, the creative team—including James Gunn, Craig Gillespie, and Milly Alcock—sat down to give us the full scoop on why this version of Supergirl is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Why Supergirl? It’s All About the Script
According to DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, the decision to fast-track a Supergirl movie immediately after Superman came down to the strength of the screenplay.
“The reasons are various, but the main one is when Ana Nogueira wrote the Woman of Tomorrow script, it was fantastic,” shares Gunn. “And at DC Studios, we care most about the writing. So, we just instantly greenlit the movie.”
Gunn admits the casting process began even before he officially took over DC, sparked by seeing Alcock’s performance in House of the Dragon.
“I remember when the graphic novel first came out,” he continues. “Peter and I were kind of talking about taking over DC, but hadn’t decided yet, and I called Peter. I said, ‘Have you seen this book by Tom King, Woman of Tomorrow?’ I told him how great it was, what an interesting take it was on Supergirl. I said, ‘You know who would be great? If you’ve seen that little blonde girl in House of the Dragon, I think she would be great, because it’s a rock-and-roll Supergirl.’”
Director Craig Gillespie notes that the script’s darker tone required an actress who could balance grit with genuine emotion.
“It was the first time I’ve actually read a superhero script [where] for me I could understand the tone and what to do with it,” adds Gillespie. “I was all in. Milly had already been cast, and that combination—that script with Milly, with [DC Studios] overseeing it… Because the script goes to some very dark and hard places for the character, and I felt like [they] would double down on that. Milly, tonally, was perfect for it. She’s got this vulnerability and this humor and this accessibility, but the strength and this seraphic nature that’s built into her DNA, that was perfect. The whole combination.”
A Tale of Two Kryptonians
While they wear the same crest, do not expect Kara to be a carbon copy of Kal-El. Alcock emphasizes that Kara’s trauma defines her, creating a stark contrast to her cousin.
“Supergirl, compared to Superman, she’s had a completely different upbringing,” Alcock says. “She was brought up on a planet that was dying. Everyone that she’s ever known and loved is dead, so that creates a very cynical, tough… She’s got a very big wall up and she’s very skeptical of people. Clark is the opposite of that. He’s very overly trusting. He expects the good in people. He’s had a very sheltered life and he’s also pretending. Kara never pretends. If she’s not feeling well, you will know. She doesn’t have a facade, which is really refreshing to play.”
Alcock believes this “messy” version of the character is exactly what modern audiences need.
“She’s so flawed, and I think we really need a flawed hero. What Supergirl represents for young women, especially, is that you can be flawed and you don’t have to be perfect in order to come to some internal self-resolution. We’re kind of thrusted upon this narrative, especially women, that you have to be perfect in every aspect of your life. Kara is someone who so beautifully leans into her flaws. I think that’s really special.”
Gunn echoes this sentiment, pointing out a disparity in how male and female heroes are often written.
“That’s really what spoke to me both in the book and the script,” he acknowledges. “A lot of times, for some reason, our female superhero leads are just so much more perfect than our male. Tony Stark and Star-Lord are such messes and yet that isn’t always the same thing for our female superhero leads. Seeing somebody who was just so imperfect and such a mess, but just really a beautiful soul…”
From Comic to Screen
The film opens with Kara celebrating a birthday on a planet orbiting a red sun. Depowered and intoxicated, she crosses paths with Ruthye Marye Knoll, a girl seeking vengeance for her father’s murder. While the premise honors the source material, Gillespie warns fans to expect surprises.
“I know we keep mentioning the Tom King book, but [screenwriter Ana Nogueira] really took it to a different place as well,” he says. “So, for everybody thumbing through that Tom King novel right now, it’s different.”
For Alcock, the role of a reluctant hero mirrored her own experience stepping into the massive spotlight of the DC Universe.
“Kara doesn’t want to be a hero,” she says. “There’s a similarity between my own personal experience being an actor and being able to empathize with having to step up to a certain role and a certain kind of external expectation because you feel like you don’t deserve to. I could resonate with that. I was like, ‘She has to kind of be the hero of her own story.’ A lot of us struggle to do that and to feel worthy of that.”
“She’s an anti-hero,” agrees Gillespie. “What I loved in the story is she doesn’t want the role. When we meet her, she’s in a very hard way, running away from it and in her own space. She gets dragged very reluctantly into the world of having to be a superhero. The way she handles that, the way that she deals with it and the way that she finds herself through that story is really fascinating and it’s incomplete, which I love as well.”
Alcock adds:
“She doesn’t want to be a hero until the end of the movie. Then she’s like, ‘I have to be this.’”
Action, Visuals, and Red Suns
The film promises unique action sequences dictated by the environment—specifically the presence of red suns (which depower Kryptonians) versus yellow suns.
“In each case, it’s always a little different, whether she has her full power, whether she has no power, if she’s on a red planet,” he says. “Also, where she is in the story emotionally dictates a lot of how these fight sequences go. If she’s in a very angry place, it’s going to be much more frenetically messy, aggressive kind of camera work. If she’s feeling in the zone, so to speak, the camera work gets more fluid. So, trying to figure out where we are in the story and how that reinforces her emotionally with the fight sequences was really fun.”
Gunn adds:
“It is fun watching the movie because she’s going in and out of these planets—red planets and yellow planets.”
Gillespie jokes that Kara actually prefers the depowered environments:
“She’s very, very much trying to find every red planet she can. That’s where she’s comfortable.”
A Standalone Vision
Despite sharing a universe with Superman, Gillespie was given the freedom to make Supergirl visually and tonally distinct.
“When [James and I] met, I said, ‘How much do I have to adhere to Superman in this world?’” shares Gillespie. “He was like, ‘We’re approaching this like every one is its own graphic novel. You get to put your stamp on it and your style and your vision.’ That was incredibly exciting and I’m very grateful for that. It was very necessary for the tone of the script. They are so different in tone, and to be able to really lean into it and embrace it… Plus, the whole movie takes place in outer space. So, it’s a very different world to start with. We had a completely blank slate in a way.”
And finally, to settle the debate on who wins an arm-wrestling match between the cousins? Alcock has a theory.
“I think Kara would. Because Clark would let her win and she wouldn’t know.”
Get ready to see the Maid of Might like never before. Supergirl arrives in theaters June 26, 2026.
