Supergirl (2026 film)

Background

Oren Uziel was hired by Warner Bros. Pictures in August 2018 to write a film based on the DC Comics character Supergirl. This came as Warner Bros. and DC Films were looking for new approaches to their DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise following several critical and commercial disappointments. Development on the film was in the early stages,^[21] but Warner Bros. was already being "very vocal" about wanting to hire a female director.^[22] The studio's shift to focusing on a Supergirl film was given as one of the reasons that Henry Cavill was no longer expected to portray Supergirl's cousin Clark Kent / Superman in future DCEU films after portraying the role since Man of Steel (2013);^[23] Cavill later indicated that he still wanted to return to the role.^[24] Production on Supergirl was tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2020,^[25] but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[26]

In February 2021, Sasha Calle was cast as Supergirl for the DCEU film The Flash (2023) and signed a multi-film contract for the DCEU.^[27][28] Supergirl was included on DC's slate of films planned for release in 2022 or 2023.^[29] In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment while Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary.^[30] Tatiana Siegel of Rolling Stone reported in August that Supergirl was unlikely to move forward under Zaslav,^[31] and it was quietly canceled around that time.^[13] Writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October.^[32] A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.^[33][34][35]

Development

On January 31, 2023, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. One of the films in the slate was an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021–22) by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.^[5][36] Gunn described the project as "a big science fiction epic film" and stated it would explore a more "hardcore" version of Kara Zor-El / Supergirl than had been previously seen on screen.^[6][36] King was also revealed to be one of the writers working on the overall story for the DCU.^[5] Within days of the film's announcement, copies of the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book had sold out on Amazon and at many different publishing houses and comic book shops. Gunn said he was working with DC Comics publisher and chief creative officer (CCO) Jim Lee to ensure more copies were printed soon.^[37]

While promoting the release of The Flash in June 2023, Calle expressed her love for the Woman of Tomorrow comic book and said she hoped to reprise her role in the film, but this was not guaranteed.^[38] She had met with Safran to discuss her future as the character by then,^[39] but Gunn eventually decided to move in a different direction with the character.^[40] Calle said she was heartbroken and frustrated with the decision because she had filmed a different ending of The Flash that was intended to set up future appearances for her character. She was proud of her work in the role.^[27] Following rumors that the DCEU's Aquaman actor, Jason Momoa, would be recast as the character Lobo in the DCU,^[41] he was reported in October 2023 to have had discussions with DC Studios about playing that character in the first DCU film, Superman (2025), or a standalone film.^[42]

In November 2023, Ana Nogueira was revealed to be writing the screenplay. She was previously attached to write a Supergirl film in 2022 when it was being developed as a spin-off from The Flash. Gunn and Safran enjoyed her work so much that they had her return for their own take, and she signed an overall writing deal with DC.^[43] Gunn confirmed Nogueira's involvement and called the film a "beautiful, star-spanning tale".^[44] He chose to move forward with it as the second DCU film after Superman, which was not originally planned, based on the strength of Nogueira's script.^[45] The film was reported to include the super-powered dog Krypto.^[46] Nogueira revealed that changes from the comic Woman of Tomorrow were already included in her initial pitch, such as Supergirl being the one to kill Krem instead of Ruthye Marye Knoll.^[47]

Pre-production

By January 2024, Milly Alcock, Emilia Jones, Cailee Spaeny, and Meg Donnelly were being considered to portray Supergirl. Donnelly had voiced the character in the animated films Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2024).^[40][48] Jones did not read for the role.^[49] Alcock had a general meeting with Safran and was asked to make a self-tape a few weeks later.^[50] Alcock was conflicted about pursuing the role, wanting to "do things people watch" but also not be "pigeonholed into one part"; she was convinced after researching the role and realizing it emotionally resonated with her.^[50][51] Alcock and Donnelly had auditions and screen tests in costume on the Superman set in Atlanta later in January.^[13][40] Alcock was officially cast at the end of the month. Gunn said she embodied how King, Evely, and Nogueira envisioned the character,^[7][52] and he had first mentioned Alcock for the role to Safran over a year earlier after seeing her performance in the television series House of the Dragon (2022–present). Gunn believed she had the "edge, grace [and] authenticity" for this interpretation of Supergirl, which he wanted to distance from the more earnest portrayal of the character by Melissa Benoist in the Arrowverse series Supergirl (2015–2021).^[53] Alcock learned of her casting approximately 10 days after the audition when Gunn sent her an online article about the news.^[51][50] The studio was hoping to hire a director in the coming weeks,^[13] but prioritized casting Supergirl because the character was set to debut in another DCU project, reported to be Superman.^[40][48][52]

When Alcock was cast, filming was expected to begin in late 2024.^[7][53] She spent approximately two months during pre-production doing stunt rehearsals at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden.^[51] Zaslav confirmed in February that the script had been written and further casting was underway.^[54] In April, Craig Gillespie entered talks to direct the film and DC Studios EVP Chantal Nong was revealed to be an executive producer.^[55] Gillespie said he was immediately interested in directing the filming after reading the script and seeing Alcock's performance, as he understood the "tone and what to do with it".^[56] His pitch to Gunn and Safran was heavily based on Nogueria's script, in addition to also providing 120 images as to what he felt the film should look like.^[57] He also enjoyed receiving creative freedom from Gunn, which they felt was necessary in maintaining the script's tone.^[56] He was confirmed as director the next month, when the film was given a release date of June 26, 2026.^[58] In September, Matthias Schoenaerts joined the cast as the main villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills,^[59][17] and filming was expected to begin in January 2025 in the United Kingdom.^[59] The next month, Gunn said the film would follow a three-act structure rather than the structure of the Woman of Tomorrow comic book, but it would retain the major characters and themes from the comic. He had reviewed screen tests for the character Ruthye Marye Knoll by then,^[60] and Eve Ridley was cast in that role at the end of the month.^[61] Gillespie included more scenes with Krypto during the opening credits, which were not originally written in the script, as he felt it would better develop Kara's relationships with Krypto while also establishing Krypto as "the only physical, tangible thing she has" from her life in Krypton.^[57]

In December, Momoa was reported to be portraying Lobo in the film. He confirmed the casting by referencing an interview from a year earlier in which he expressed interest in the role.^[17] While the character does not appear in the Woman of Tomorrow comic book, King's original pitch for the story was a team-up between Supergirl and Lobo in which they would take on similar roles to the characters Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn, respectively, from the novel True Grit (1968).^[62] Gunn said Lobo was added to the film to help with adapting it to a three-act structure. He felt Lobo was "the biggest comic book character that's never been in a film".^[9] Momoa's role was reported to be a cameo appearance.^[63] Anna B. Sheppard and Neil Lamont were the film's costume designer and production designer, respectively.^[64] The costume team based Krem's character design off of Woman of Tomorrow's descriptions of him as a Viking and on further historical research they did regarding piercings and studs. For Lobo, the team was heavily influenced by his comic book aesthetics in the 1990s and opted for simplicity and faithfulness to his character.^[57] The cape of Alcock's costume was designed from 16 meters of the same material used in the cape of Christopher Reeve's Superman costume.^[65]

Gillespie noted how Woman of Tomorrow itself was inspired by True Grit, and incorporated that into the script while also citing Logan (2017) and John Wick (2014) as inspirations.^[14][10] Earlier versions of the script featured Supergirl wearing her costume earlier in the film. However, Gillespie chose to postpone it as much as possible because he felt it is thematically consistent with Kara embracing her responsibilities as hero whenever she is ready for it.^[66] Meanwhile, Alcock felt Kara's choice to embrace Supergirl occurs after she understands it is about selflessly helping others.^[51] He also described Supergirl as being a "road movie" and as having a darker tone than Superman because Nogueira's scripts candidly dealt with the trauma Kara Zor-El had gone through during her childhood.^[10] It centers around Kara Zor-El's journey in accepting her heroism, and takes place in outer space,^[56] with Gillespie estimating that nine distinct worlds were featured, each with their own languages. He cited the 1997 film The Fifth Element for creating a world with a variety of distinct characters.^[14]

Filming

Principal photography began on January 13, 2025, at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and London in England.^[67][17] Rob Hardy served as director of photography, shooting Supergirl using the Sony Venice 2 digital camera paired with Panavision Ultra Panatar II anamorphic lenses for large format photography.^{[68][independent source needed][64][69]} IMAX cameras were also used used.^[70] Gillespie said the cinematography during action sequences would reflect Kara Zor-El's emotional state at the time, with anger being associated with "frenetically messy, aggressive kind of camera work" while her being relaxed would be associated with a "more fluid" style.^[56] An action sequence filmed in Leavesden involved practical 40-foot fireballs and Momoa using a real motorcycle while portraying Lobo.^[66] Gunn insisted that Gillespie film the ending that was originally envisioned in the script, even though Gillespie was willing to film alternate versions if it was not well-received during test screenings.^[57] The first scenes filmed during production was Kara's arrival on Earth, which involved Alcock and Corenswet interacting in the Kryptonian language.^[15][16] She had also learned five comic book languages for the film, while Gillespie estimated she spent an hour before filming to rehearse her stunts.^[71] Later that week, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham joined the cast as Supergirl's parents Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, respectively;^[63] Beecham previously worked with Gillespie on the 2021 film Cruella.^[72] Other than the very beginning of filming, Gunn was not present on set and said Gillespie was a great partner who had "just been doing his thing".^[73] Gunn and Safran said filming was halfway done at the end of February.^[74] Momoa and Krumholtz wrapped their scenes in April.^[75][76] Filming was taking place in Scotland by the end of that month,^[77] and wrapped by May 10.^[78] Filming was also expected to occur in Iceland.^[79]

Post-production

Tatiana S. Riegel, a frequent collaborator of Gillespie's and an additional editor on Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), edited the film,^[64] alongside Fred Raskin, a frequent collaborator of Gunn's.^[80] Geoffrey Baumann is the visual effects supervisor,^[64] with visual effects provided by Digital Domain, Framestore, and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).^[81] In June 2025, Gunn announced that the film's title had been shortened to simply Supergirl.^[73] By October, a test screening had quietly occurred at the Warner Bros. Studios Burbank lot with some Warner Bros. and DC Studios executives and personnel.^[82] The film was reported at the start of December to have a $200 million budget,^[83] which Gunn disputed;^[84] it was subsequently reported to have a net budget of $170 million.^[85] Journalist Jeff Sneider reported that another test screening had occurred during the week of December 15, 2025, and that it had received praise for Alcock's performance and featured several needle drops like Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014–2023) films for Marvel Studios. However, Sneider said the action sequences and Schoenaerts's Krem elicited more mixed responses;^[86] The Hollywood Reporter would later report that after this screening, DC Studios took control of the post-production process, enlisting the help of writer Jeremy Slater.^[80] Between November 2025 and January 2026, additional actors were revealed to be appearing in the film: Ferdinand Kingsley as Ruthye's father, Elias Knoll;^[18] David Corenswet reprising his DCU role as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman;^[15] and Diarmaid Murtagh as Krem's second-in-command, Drom Baxton.^[12] Sneider also reported that Seth Rogen had a voice cameo,^[86] later revealed to be an alien space bus passenger. Rogen previously worked with Gillespie on the television series Pam & Tommy (2022) and the film Dumb Money (2023).^[20] By early 2026, the studio decided to compare two different versions of the film; Gillespie's cut was 11 minutes longer and included more of the villain Krem, better pacing and song choices; the studio went with their own cut over Gillespie's after test screenings showed it scored above Gillespie's slightly.^[80]

Theatrical

Supergirl had its world premiere at the Plaza at 300 Ashland in Brooklyn on June 22, 2026,^[114] and was released theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on June 26,^[58][11] in IMAX.^[64] It is part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.^[5]

Home media

Supergirl is scheduled for digital download on July 28, 2026, before releasing on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 8.^[115]

Box-office performance

As of July 22, 2026^[update], Supergirl has grossed $71 million in the United States and Canada, and $53 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $124 million.^[3][4] With a net production budget of $170–186 million, the film needs to gross around $315 million worldwide to break even.^[116][2] Following its opening weekend, it was reported that the film was projected to lose the studio $85–125 million.^{[117][118][113]}

In the United States and Canada, Supergirl was projected to earn between $40–55 million during its opening weekend from 3,600 theaters.^{[119][120][116]} Estimates were lowered after the film made $13 million on its first day (including $7.8 million from previews). It ended up debuting to just $38 million domestically and $68 million worldwide.^[2] In its second weekend, the film dropped 76% to $9.6 million domestically and reached $100.5 million worldwide.^[121]

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 362 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Milly Alcock brings a swagger to Kara Zor-El that'd make Krypton proud in this otherwise familiar origin story, dawning a promising new hero in the DCU who's still waiting for an adventure that matches her vigor."^[122] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[123] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while 52% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film.^[2]

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mixed review, writing: "[...] Gillespie barrels through a pedestrian mainframe narrative that's basically True Grit meets John Wick meets Mad Max: Fury Road with the usual random assortment of needle drops," also noting: "Given [Australian director] Gillespie's history with films about spirited, rule-breaking women, like I, Tonya and Cruella, the failure to find emotional depth in the sisterhood of Kara and Ruthye is notable."^[124] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood gave the film a mixed review, writing: "The special effects and relentlessly dark tone often get in the way of making this group rock despite the best efforts of Alcock who is a bit too quirky, playing Zor-El as somewhat reckless, headstrong, and not always put together."^[125] Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing: "Kill Krem! Save the dog! Those are the motivations driving the entire not-even-interesting-enough-to-be-convoluted plot of Supergirl. Maybe that's why the movie is full of action yet numbingly flat."^[126]

In a one-and-a-half-star out of four review, Tomris Laffly of RogerEbert.com called the film a "shallow blockbuster that never takes flight", as well as writing: "In the end, you can't help but wonder why the emotions of these characters don't pack as much of a punch."^[127] Clarisse Loughley of The Independent awarded the film two stars out of five, writing: "The mandate here appears to be to keep things as distinctly Gunn-esque as possible. In return, Superman's moodier, more cynical relative has been robbed of the chance to speak with her own voice. It's the superhero equivalent of a Vegas impersonator."^[128] Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film, labeling it a "hot mess" with a "too-terrestrial plot", and that it "thrives on chaos but settles for convention."^[129]

In a positive review for IndieWire, Kate Erbland wrote: "What makes Supergirl stand out [...] is its interest in staying small while asking some very big questions indeed."^[130] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, calling it "sprightly and sparkling superhero yarn", while also writing that Supergirl "isn't a perfect movie by any means", but said that "there are moments when you'll believe this franchise can fly."^[131] David Fear of Rolling Stone gave the film a positive review, noting that it "can go deep", and wrote, "This movie proves that you can take something that might seem esoteric or strictly-for-the-heads and make mass entertainment out of it without selling out completely."^[132] Leila Latif of Empire gave the film three stars out of five, writing: "Milly Alcock's hungover hero is delightful, even if the film never truly cuts loose."^[133]