Supergirl screenwriter Ana Nogueira says she struggled to get to grips with the often cheerful and optimistic portrayals of Kara Zor-El until she encountered Tom King's comic book Woman of Tomorrow.
"She watched Krypton completely be destroyed," Nogueira told Variety. Unlike Superman, who was raised on Earth by loving human adoptive parents, Kara, who's older (despite her outward appearance) had a much more tumultuous upbringing.
"I was always like, 'I can’t get my head around the version of the character that is so sunny,'" she added. That was, until she encountered King’s "rougher and grittier and edgier and funnier" version of Kara in Woman of Tomorrow, on which her script is based. "When I read it, I was like, 'There she is.'"
Directed by Cruella and I, Tonya helmer Craig Gillespie, the upcoming Supergirl movie stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, Superman's jaded party girl cousin, who ends up on a "murderous quest for revenge" during her travels across the galaxy (with Krypto the Superdog in tow). Matthias Schoenaerts will play the movie's villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills, and the film will also feature a cameo from Jason Momoa as bounty hunter Lobo.
Supergirl is Nogueira's first feature film, but she's already working on Wonder Woman and Teen Titans movies for James Gunn's DC Studios, too.
Supergirl arrives in theaters on June 26, 2026. In the meantime, get up to speed with the rest of the DCU Chapter One with our guide to the other upcoming DC movies and shows.
