Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Excitement

James Gunn’s new DC Universe got its cleanest possible launch point with Superman: optimism, sincerity, bright colors, and a hero who believes people are worth saving. But what makes the upcoming Supergirl so exciting is that it does not look like a simple “same powers, different cousin” follow-up. It looks like the DCU is about to introduce its first true wild card.

That excitement was captured nicely on Unspooled when the podcast hosts talked about Kara’s brief appearance at the end of Superman: Milly Alcock’s Supergirl shows up hungover, seemingly fresh from some interplanetary bender, and immediately gives the impression that she is operating on a very different emotional frequency than Clark Kent. The joke lands because the contrast is obvious: Superman is trying to be Earth’s moral center, while Kara looks like she has been coping with cosmic trauma by disappearing off-world and making questionable choices.

Officially, Supergirl is directed by Craig Gillespie, written by Ana Nogueira, produced under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios, and stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El. It is based heavily on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a self-contained space story in which Kara crosses paths with a young alien girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll, and gets pulled into a revenge quest against Krem of the Yellow Hills. Rotten Tomatoes’ preview notes that the film appears to open with Kara and Krypto celebrating her 23rd birthday on a red-sun alien world before Ruthye enters the story.

That red-sun detail matters. Under a yellow sun, Kara is godlike. Under a red sun, she can be vulnerable. She can bleed. She can get drunk. She can lose control. In other words, the movie may be using cosmic sci-fi not just for spectacle, but to put a Kryptonian in places where her power does not automatically solve everything.

That is where the comparison to Will Smith’s Hancock becomes useful. Hancock was compelling because he was not an aspirational hero at first. He was powerful, sloppy, isolated, self-medicating, and clearly carrying damage he did not know how to process. This Supergirl seems to have a similar attitude on the surface: reckless, abrasive, possibly drunk, possibly angry, and definitely not interested in playing the perfect symbol. The difference is that Kara’s pain has a deeper mythological edge. Clark was raised by loving parents in Kansas. Kara remembers Krypton. She lost a world, a family, and a future. That makes her bitterness more than attitude; it makes it grief with a cape.

The bar for female-led cosmic superhero storytelling was set high when Captain Marvel crossed $1.1 billion worldwide in 2019, proving there was massive appetite for a powerful woman at the center of a big superhero universe. The comparison is unavoidable, but Supergirl may be aiming at a different target. Carol Danvers’ first film was about identity, suppressed memory, and power unleashed. Kara’s film looks more like a bruised space western about trauma, revenge, and whether a person with godlike power can still choose mercy.

That is a strong direction for Gunn’s DCU because it immediately broadens the tone. Superman can be the beating heart. Supergirl can be the scar tissue.

The reported and teased elements make the speculation even more fun. Jason Momoa is playing Lobo, and that alone suggests the movie may introduce a louder, uglier, more violent corner of the DC cosmos. GamesRadar reported that Peter Safran has already said Supergirl is “a major part” of what DC is doing, and that Alcock is expected to return in Man of Tomorrow, which places Kara as more than a one-off side experiment.

The trailer discussion also points toward a surprisingly intense premise: Kara’s mission may involve saving Krypto after he is attacked by Krem, which has led some viewers to compare the setup to “John Wick with super powers.” Creative Bloq also notes fan comparisons to both John Wick and Guardians of the Galaxy, largely because the film appears to combine revenge, cosmic locations, and a rougher tone than Superman.

That opens the door to a few educated guesses.

First, Krypto may be more than comic relief. If the dog is wounded or threatened, he becomes the emotional trigger that forces Kara into action. That would be a very Gunn-friendly move: use an animal companion for humor, then make the audience care enough that the stakes hurt.

Second, Lobo may not be the main villain. He feels more likely to be a chaos agent, bounty hunter, rival, or temporary ally. If DC is smart, they will use Momoa’s Lobo as a test grenade: throw him into the movie, let him steal a few scenes, and see whether audiences want more.

Third, the film may quietly build out the cosmic DCU. The comic is a planet-hopping story, and Rotten Tomatoes speculates that the movie could use its space setting to introduce or hint at worlds like Tamaran, Daxam, Khundia, or other major alien civilizations. Even if only some of that happens, Supergirl could become the bridge between the grounded Superman corner of the DCU and the weirder galactic mythology.

Fourth, the movie may give us a harsher look at Krypton than Superman did. Kara is not just “Superman’s cousin.” She is a survivor who remembers what was lost. Rotten Tomatoes’ preview suggests the film may spend meaningful time with Argo City and Kara’s parents, which could make Krypton feel less like abstract backstory and more like a wound Kara is still living with.

As for the big question: does Kara ultimately become Superwoman?

In the specific Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow arc, that is not the main endpoint. The known story is about Kara’s journey through vengeance, grief, and moral choice, not a straightforward evolution into the Superwoman identity. However, there is a known DC comics path where Kara becomes Superwoman: Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman presents an older Kara who has left Earth and taken on the Superwoman name while guarding the Moon as a refuge for aliens.

So the answer is: yes, Kara becoming Superwoman exists as a known comic possibility, but there is no solid evidence that the 2026 film is adapting that transformation directly. My educated guess is that DC will keep her as Supergirl for now because the title is marketable, recognizable, and emotionally useful. “Supergirl” is almost ironic for this version: she is not innocent, not simple, and not secondary. If she eventually becomes Superwoman, it would probably be a later-stage arc after the DCU has let her grow beyond rebellion and trauma.

That is why this movie feels so promising. It is not just introducing another hero. It is introducing a contradiction: a Kryptonian who has Superman’s power but not his peace; a young woman who might be heroic before she is healthy; a survivor who may have to learn that justice and revenge are not the same thing.

Under James Gunn’s DCU, that could be exactly the kind of mess the franchise needs.