Supergirl (2026)

“Supergirl” stars Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa.  Released on June 26, 2026, the film has Supergirl traveling through the galaxy on a murderous quest for revenge.

The film was directed by Craig Gillespie, who also directed films such as “Mr. Woodcock”, “Million Dollar Arm”, “I, Tonya”, “Cruella”, and “Dumb Money”.  It is the second film in the DC Universe, which is based on the 2021 comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.  James Gunn’s revitalized DC Universe reintroduced audiences to a new, young Man of Steel, aiming to surround him with an expansive world akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe across films and television.  That strategy proved to be a solid hit for Warner Brothers, promising big things to come not just for David Corenswet’s Superman, but also for the universe and characters it’s introducing or bringing back, in terms of the variety of storytelling.  One such character returning to the big screen is Superman’s just-as-strong cousin, whose personality is anything but heroic.  This was evident in her cameo appearance at the end of 2025’s “Superman”, where she appeared as a drunk who loves to party hard and is Krypto’s true companion.  This also serves as the basis of the DC Universe’s second theatrical outing, where “House of the Dragon” star Milly Alcock takes over the role of the Man of Steel’s Kryptonian relative.  After two failed attempts to revive Supergirl for the big screen, will the third time be the charm?  Let’s find out.

The story centers on Kara Zor-El (Alcock), the cousin of Superman (Corenswet).  She was raised by Superman on Earth after a tragic event destroyed the planet Krypton, leaving her more jaded than her cousin.  Kara also tends to travel across the galaxy with her dog, Krypto, and party on planets with red suns.  As she celebrates her 23rd birthday, Kara faces a dangerous situation that results in Krypto being poisoned.  To save her scruffy companion, she joins forces with a young girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll (Ridley), who recruits Kara to help her avenge her family’s death at the hands of Krem (Schoenaerts), the ruthless leader of the Brigands.  Knowing that Krem is also responsible for Krypto’s condition, Kara and Ruthye embark on a galactic journey to exact their own kind of justice: revenge.

Like my experiences with Superman and Batman, I was familiar with Supergirl from the animated adaptations and her live-action appearances.  However, I’m more in line with the animated versions.  I remember watching the 1984 version starring Helen Slater, but I haven’t gone back to it that often for the same reasons everyone else avoids it.  I also didn’t mind Sasha Calle’s portrayal of the “Girl of Steel” in the heavily divisive “Flash” movie, even though her future in the DC Extended Universe was cut short.  So, it’s no surprise that I was looking forward to the direction they’re taking for Supergirl, especially since it has another actress attempting to break out in the film industry.  However, it did serve as a difficult task for the filmmakers to accomplish to make Supergirl’s attitude-inducing, party-rocking personality as interesting as her previous incarnations.

As I said, her last two live-action debuts left a pretty bad taste in the audience’s mouths regarding quality and storytelling.  But thanks to Kara’s first appearance in 2025’s “Superman”, the film was already one step ahead of its opportunity to make her stand out from the other versions, notably in its attempt to adapt Woman of Tomorrow.  Unfortunately, even with this new approach to the character, it somehow lacks much else to make her solo adventure worthwhile.  Clearly, it provides some amusing moments to make its intergalactic revenge quest a breezy watch.  However, when compared to other films with similar themes and vibes, “Supergirl” is akin to the character herself: drunk, messy, and overall murky.  Whether that’s a good thing or not, I would leave that up to the audience.  Personally, I would consider it another reason why I prefer to balance my alcohol consumption.

It’s a shame, too, given the effort Milly Alcock put into her role as Supergirl.  Even though she only appeared at the end of “Superman”, I could see her potential as Supergirl lasting a bit longer than the other live-action iterations.  However, her true test is carrying the weight of her first solo outing without Superman’s training wheels.  For the most part, I thought she did a pretty good job making Kara more than a one-trick pony.  There were times when she tried to emulate Star-Lord in her sarcasm and energy, which occasionally fell flat.  But other times, Alcock suitably conveys the character’s uncertainty in her surroundings and trauma amid her jaded persona.  I wouldn’t say it’s a groundbreaking performance, but Alcock once again provided a compelling spark in Supergirl’s tough and disorderly identity to ensure a hopeful future for the character.  It’s too bad that this isn’t the right movie to give the DC character justice, especially when referring to her arc.

This is evident in Ana Nogueira’s screenplay, which offers very little that we haven’t already seen in other movies, particularly superhero films.  This is another “revenge-seeking” action movie that warns the audience that “revenge is bad” and is disguised as a “Guardians of the Galaxy” knock-off.  It soars through the familiar narrative elements all willy-nilly without taking its time to expand on their depth with emotion and nuance.  I’m not joking when I said the film “soars” through them.  The pacing in this movie was very inconsistent with how it portrays certain character moments.  One minute you’re watching a bleak yet somewhat gorgeous view of space, and the next, you’re dropped into an action scene like a superhero landing.  It does slow down a bit during Kara’s origin, but outside of that, it shows a clear sign that there were many scenes left off to prevent it from being another two-hour-plus superhero extravaganza.  Because of that, all we’re left with is an uneven trip through the galaxy that’s thin on ideas and development, particularly Kara as a character.

While the end of “Superman” highlights her drunkenness and attitude, “Supergirl” further develops the character by exploring her origin and background amid her space adventure.  On paper, this was a great opportunity for the filmmakers to fully explore Kara’s journey, especially her adaptation to her new home on Earth.  Not to mention, its themes of revenge and goodness would make Kara’s growth feel as rewarding as that of other superheroes in their cinematic outings.  Sadly, it just didn’t come together onscreen in terms of execution.  Nogueira certainly has the pieces in place for a well-developed, coming-of-age journey for Kara amid her fundamental quest for revenge, but she struggled to make them feel earned, leaving me with a character devoid of genuine depth beneath her satiated, drunk persona.  Again, Alcock did a decent job of elevating Kara’s magnetic presence, but the screenplay didn’t really do her talent justice.  All I can say is that Nogueira needs to step up her writing game for her upcoming projects in James Gunn’s DC Universe to avoid getting more of an earful from her critics.

I’ve been hearing people saying that “Supergirl” is a mixture of “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Mad Max”, and they’re not completely wrong.  James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” gave rise to the realization that audiences love needle drops of classic songs and galactic oddities, leading to the creation of movies that tried to replicate that success.  “Supergirl” is unsurprisingly one of them, though I would say it’s more like “Guardians of the Galaxy Lite” if the color palette were trimmed down to a more brownish appeal.  Granted, the visuals didn't look too bad in terms of the alien designs and makeup, but the lighting effects overshadowed them a bit due to their lack of vibrancy.  I’ve enjoyed Craig Gillespie’s recent works like “I, Tonya”, but I don’t think this is the right project for him.  It felt like he was going through the motions of any other superhero film, without putting much heft into his creative vision, similar to what other acclaimed filmmakers experienced rom while directing popular IPs.  It tried to strike a balance between the two movies it was inspired by in terms of tone, but it felt more like a cinematic tug-of-war that couldn’t decide which identity worked best.  As for the action scenes, they’re pretty standard, though none of them stand out because the choppy editing makes it difficult to see the violence unfold.  Understandably, it’s to retain its PG-13 rating, but it shouldn’t go so far as to baby its audience by censoring the violence.  Show some backbone, movie!

As for the supporting cast, the only highlight was Jason Momoa as Lobo.  Momoa had previously played Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, and now he has a second shot at being a part of DC as a different character.  From what I heard, Lobo was supposed to be the role Momoa wanted to play, and I can see why.  Given his physique, long hair, and magnetic charm, Momoa certainly looks identical to the alien bounty hunter that I’ve only seen in the Superman animated series.  Regarding his performance, he made a pretty solid effort in making Lobo’s small amount of scenes a bit more enjoyable than I originally thought they would be.  Momoa definitely has the looks to play Lobo, and he most definitely has the voice capable of matching Lobo’s intimidating and occasionally wild side.  The rest of the cast were okay at best, including Eve Ridley as Ruthye, a girl who’s blinded by revenge.  Matthias Schoenaerts was the only actor who didn’t work for me in terms of his role as Krem.  Krem is yet another forgettable antagonist who doesn’t have the same standout moments as the heroes, and Schoenaerts tried way too hard in his performance to capture the restrained insanity of the character.

Overall, “Supergirl” lacks the strength of Superman’s cousin to make its derivative, uneven galactic adventure super.  It’s not without a few amusing moments that somewhat elevate its familiar space vibes, particularly Milly Alcock’s portrayal of the DC character.  Besides that, it felt more like an underwhelming, thin mix of “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Mad Max” than a truly unique take on its superhero formula.  This is another film that has some neat ideas in its themes and narrative to inject life into its murky trek, but it fails to follow through on them, letting itself soar through its familiar genre tricks instead of taking advantage of its creativity.  Given its thin screenplay, bleak color palettes, choppy editing, and forgettable antagonist, this latest superhero landing ends with a whimper rather than a bang.  But I’m not willing to give up on James Gunn’s DC Universe just yet since this is only the second movie in the universe, with several more on the way.  With “Clayface” and next year’s “Man of Tomorrow” on the horizon, Gunn and his crew would have to do some rethinking with the whole “script” strategy to pick themselves back up from this unfortunate misfire.

C-