Summary
Supergirl goes on a bender through space, and it’s an appropriately cool, chaotic and messy melee.
It’s only moments into Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl that Krypto the super dog literally pisses over the image of Superman. Surrounded by a messy spaceship, and backed by pop music, it’s hard not to instantly compare it with producer James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Yet this may be folly from the start.
Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) was briefly introduced at the end of Gunn’s Superman, a version of the iconic character that draws inspiration from Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book run. Kara, celebrating her 23rd birthday, is reintroduced drowning her sorrows on a red sun planet, the only kind of place where the booze still affects her.
Here Kara crosses paths with the young Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), intent on revenge against Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), the brigand who killed Ruthye’s family. Kara is reluctant to get drawn into heroics until her dog Krypto is poisoned by Krem. Now it’s personal.
With its western motifs and quasi-revenge narrative, Supergirl instantly has a more singular focus that her cousin Superman’s film. Gunn tried to fly before he could walk, cramming in as many DC Comics characters as possible to the detriment of its hero. Here Kara is the star, and writer Ana Nogueira plays it like an origin story. Kara is an anti-hero who is working towards the mantle.
Which makes Alcock wonderful casting, and she clearly relishes the rough-around-the-edges version of the character. Yet Nogueira runs into the same problem that has always faced the Super Family in comics and film: Kryptonians are generally overpowered. So, it often feels that every five minutes she has to be robbed of her powers in order to raise the stakes. Red suns. Poison. Kryptonite arrows. Even a green sun. It ensures that the character and the story stays tethered to a episodic set of rails.
On a technical level, the action is messy, dark and often chaotically confusing. Individual sequences are fine, but there are many times when it’s simply difficult to know who is punching who, as CG bodies fly against constructed backdrops. Which is in stark contrast to DP Rob Hardy’s gorgeous shots of the Scottish and Icelandic vistas.
It’s also a shame that the much-touted appearance of Jason Momoa as the Czarnian space biker Lobo is little more than a series of glorified cameos. He rolls in like a diabolus ex machina, causes some mildly helpful shenanigans, and disappears. David Corenswet, as Clark/Superman, literally video conferences with Supergirl for the most part.
Supergirl leaves the titular character in a place of hope, one that sets up future adventures with her cousin and, presumably, bigger stories with the rest of the DCU. As a film, it may not quite live up to expectations, but there’s no denying that Alcock’s Supergirl has arrived.
2026 | USA | DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie | WRITER: Ana Nogueira | CAST: Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa | DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. | RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 6 March 2026 (USA), 26 March 2026 (Australia).