Superman may have launched James Gunn’s new DC Universe, but Supergirl could be the real test. With Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El and a stranger cosmic story ahead, the movie may reveal whether audiences are ready to follow the DCU beyond its safest hero.

DC doesn’t just need Supergirl to be good. It needs Supergirl to prove the new DC Universe has legs beyond Superman.

That’s the real pressure here. James Gunn’s rebooted DCU began with Superman, but Superman was always the safest possible starting point. He’s the center of the brand, the symbol, the cleanest way to tell audiences, “This is where the new DC starts.” Supergirl is different. It’s the follow-up test. It’s where we find out if people are interested in this universe, or if they were only curious about Superman.

The movie is set to hit theaters on June 26, 2026, with Milly Alcock starring as Kara Zor-El. It’s directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, and it’s inspired by Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow. The story follows Kara on a cosmic revenge journey with a young girl named Ruthye after Ruthye’s father is murdered. Jason Momoa is also showing up as Lobo, which instantly gives the movie a louder, weirder edge than a standard superhero origin story.

That matters because DC can’t afford to feel generic anymore. For years, DC movies felt like they were either chasing Marvel, apologizing for the last version of themselves, or trying to reboot before the audience had even processed the previous reboot. Supergirl has a chance to avoid that by being strange, cosmic, emotional, and a little rough around the edges.

Kara also gives the DCU something Superman can’t. Clark Kent was raised on Earth by loving parents. Kara remembers Krypton. She carries more grief, more trauma, and more anger. That makes her a very different kind of hero. Reports have described this version as more jaded than Superman, and even James Gunn’s earlier framing of the character leaned into the idea that she isn’t just a female copy of Clark.

That’s exactly why this movie could become a real measuring stick. If audiences accept Supergirl, it means the DCU can expand beyond its biggest icon. It means viewers might be willing to follow characters into space, into stranger tones, and into stories that don’t feel like the same cape movie again.

The casting pressure is also real. Milly Alcock already has franchise experience from House of the Dragon, and recent interviews have focused on how she’s handling online criticism before the movie even arrives. That’s part of the modern superhero problem now. The movie doesn’t just have to open. It has to survive months of fan arguments, trailer breakdowns, culture-war noise, and people deciding they hate it before they’ve seen it.

So Supergirl isn’t just another DC release. It’s the first real proof-of-concept after Superman. If it works, the new DCU starts to feel like an actual universe. If it doesn’t, people will wonder if the reset only worked when the safest character was carrying it.

Discover more from Screen Rated

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.