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Well, James Gunn isn’t in the director’s chair this time, but it sure does seem like he made a wise decision in handing the reins of the next DC Universe film to director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella). Even though they are very different directors, Gillespie seems to have taken a page or two from Gunn’s playbook, because the upcoming Supergirl movie already looks like it would be right at home in the same universe as Rocket Raccoon and Groot.
What We Know About Supergirl, Explained
In Supergirl, Millie Alcock (House of the Dragon) plays Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Kal-El, aka Superman. Based on the acclaimed miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely, the film sees Kara traveling with her dog Krypto to a far-off planet. There, she hopes to use the planet’s natural dampening of her Kryptonian superpowers to actually get drunk and celebrate her 23rd birthday.
But as so often happens, the would-be celebration veers into several bad places: Kara finds she’s carrying deep unresolved trauma from losing her home and (almost) entire family; being old enough to remember and carry it all prevents her from being the same sunny hero as her cousin. So when Kara stumbles across a young alien girl named Ruthey Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), who is suffering the same kind of dark tragedy she once did, the “Supergirl” decides to use her unequaled power to get Ruthey the justice she never did. However, that side quest turns out to be much crazier and more dangerous than Kara imagined, as she must confront everything from alien gangs, to despots, killers, and the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, Lobo (Jason Momoa).
Supergirl Will Be More DCU Connected Than Guardians of the Galaxy Was to the MCU
Already, there is clear evidence that Supergirl is cleverly introducing some key DCU elements that will be bigger factors down the line, in future projects. That list includes setting up the rivalry between Momoa’s Lobo and Earthy Kryptonian heroes (some of the few who can stand up to the “Main Man”); as well as a backdoor introduction to the villain Brainiac, via flashbacks to when Kara’s Kryptonian home, the city of Kandor, was covered in a force field, presumably to be miniaturized and added to Brainiac’s collection.
That particular story beat, and Kara’s resulting trauma, are both things that seem to be feeding into the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which arrives in 2027. That film is speculated to be about Superman (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hault) having to put aside differences and form an uneasy alliance in order to save Earth from Brainiac. If that’s the case, we expect Supergirl to appear in the film feeling some kind of way, and we’ll fully understand why after her solo film.
