Movies - Supergirl : Milly Alcock finally steps into the cape, and the DCU’s next movie looks like a bruised, space-bound revenge odyssey

By Mulder, 11 december 2025

If you've been following how DC Studios has gradually unveiled its new universe, the launch of Supergirl gives the impression that, for the first time, marketing and concept are coming together publicly: the first official images and the recently released trailer aren't selling Superman in a skirt, but a very specific vibe, a very specific journey, and a Kara Zor-El who seems to have been through something that can't be summed up simply in heroic rhetoric. Milly Alcock, in her costume, has this posture that says don't test me and instantly communicates what James Gunn and Peter Safran have been signaling for months: this version of Supergirl isn't supposed to be the sunny counterpart, she's supposed to be the scar that still hurts when you press on it.

On paper, the official storyline is already wilder than what the general public might expect from the Girl of Steel label: when an unexpected and ruthless threat strikes her world, Kara Zor-El reluctantly teams up with an unlikely companion and leaves Earth for an intergalactic journey motivated by revenge and justice. The film leans more into this idea of a road movie in space than the classic urban superhero trope. Craig Gillespie directs the film from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira, which adapts the spirit of Tom King and Bilquis Evely's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which is in itself a pretty strong statement: this comic book is not interested in polished heroism, but rather in moral erosion, grief, and what happens when a symbol must confront the darkest aspects of what survival does to a person. The cast confirms that the tone is no gimmick either: Milly Alcock stars opposite Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, and Jason Momoa, with Eve Ridley playing Ruthye Marye Knoll and Matthias Schoenaerts playing Krem of the Yellow Hills, a villainous name that already sounds like something out of a myth you wouldn't want to hear before going to sleep. And then there's a delightful surprise for anyone who grew up watching DC flirt with the idea without ever committing to it: Jason Momoa as Lobo, finally, in a DC movie that can actually afford to let him be what he's supposed to be, not a watered-down cool badass, but a chaotic cosmic mercenary presence who changes the temperature of every scene he enters.

By choosing Blondie's Call Me as the soundtrack, DC is clearly announcing, in neon letters, that this movie will be meaner, cooler, and crazier than its cousin who admires humanity for a living. What we love is that the images don't just scream attitude, they present attitude as armor; we see the festive atmosphere of alien worlds, the protagonist's sharp reactions, and the feeling that she's not trying to be loved, but to be honest, sometimes brutally so. There is also a very deliberate emphasis on the cosmic scale: the environments are vast, the journeys seem important, and we can see that the film wants to follow in the vein of space operas where personal traumas and galaxy-scale conflicts can coexist in the same breath. And yes, there's also a little dopamine boost for die-hard DC fans: Krypto is part of the story, because Krypto is an integral part of Supergirl's stories when this aspect of the myth is seriously adapted, and because he adds that bittersweet contrast that makes dark stories even more powerful: loyalty and innocence in the passenger seat while the driver is spiraling out of control.

Behind the camera, DC's plan of action takes no shortcuts: Rob Hardy's cinematography, Tatiana S. Riegel's editing, and a recently confirmed score by Ramin Djawadi, who, frankly, is one of those recruits that makes me sit up and take notice, as it suggests a confidence in emotion, not just noise. Add to that a production that includes DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, and The Safran Company, with worldwide distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, and you have the kind of infrastructure that usually only appears when a studio believes a film can define a path, not just fill a niche. The schedule is set: June 24, 2026, for France and June 26, 2026, for the United States. The positioning as the second DCU film is significant, as DC openly states, “We're following our flagship product with something more risky in tone,” which is either a truly bold creative move or a sign that they're betting heavily on the audience's appetite for characters who don't shine, but burn.

One cannot discuss a new Supergirl moment without acknowledging the long shadow of the comic book that looms over the name: Supergirl was created by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino, based on DC characters originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. She has been relaunched, killed, resurrected, reframed, and reintroduced over the decades because the central idea is too powerful to abandon: this is what Krypton looks like when it arrives with memories rather than amnesia, with grief rather than unqualified optimism. That's exactly why this interpretation is interesting: the film doesn't pretend that Kara Zor-El is simply Superman's cousin, it treats her as a survivor with a different emotional system, which is the only honest way to portray her in a live-action film without repeating the same myth with a different slant. If Craig Gillespie and Ana Nogueira manage to maintain this authenticity through to the final cut, Supergirl could well be the first real punch in the DC cinematic universe, less a triumphant victory than a long, cold breath before deciding whether you're going to save the universe out of love, rage, or simply because no one else will.

Synopsis :
The adventures of Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, who escaped the explosion of her planet Krypton and now lives on Earth under the identity of Kara Danvers. But she has superpowers that allow her to protect humans under the name Supergirl.

Supergirl
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Written by Ana Nogueira
Based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King, Bilquis Evely
Produced by James Gunn, Peter Safran
Starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, Jason Momoa
Cinematography : Rob Hardy
Edited by Tatiana S. Riegel
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Production companies : DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, The Safran Company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date : June 24, 2026 (France), June 26, 2026 (United States)