Supergirl is flying into cinemas soon, here's what you need to know

A new Supergirl movie will be flying into cinemas soon with House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock set to play the title role and Cruella and I, Tonya filmmaker Craig Gillespie in talks to direct.

The Australian actor fought off competition to play the coveted role of Kara Zor-El in a new instalment in James Gunn's nascent DC Universe, although no director has been officially announced for the film yet, which means Supergirl will likely appear in 2025's Superman before her own solo movie arrives in the future. We also know that the film is reportedly set to shoot in late 2024, after production on Gunn's Superman movie has wrapped.

With more questions than answers at the moment, here is what we know about the upcoming Supergirl movie right now.

Supergirl FAQs

Is the new Supergirl movie based on Woman of Tomorrow?

Yes. The new Supergirl movie will take inspiration from the DC comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Written by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Evely, Woman of Tomorrow was an eight-part comic arc that was released across 2021 and 2022.

The project was first announced by producers James Gunn and Peter Safran at a DC studios press day, who described this new take on the character as “a very different type of Supergirl”.

Gunn explained: “In our series we see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl who was raised on a rock, a chip off Krypton, and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life, and then came to Earth when she was a young girl. She’s much more hardcore; she’s not exactly the Supergirl we’re used to seeing.”

The comic series sees a disenfranchised Supergirl being sought out by an alien girl for a dangerous mission of revenge on the people who destroyed her home world.

A synopsis on the DC website adds: “Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.”

Is The Flash’s Sasha Calle playing Supergirl?

No. The new Supergirl movie will see the character played by Milly Alcock, not Sasha Calle who played the role in 2023’s The Flash.

In that movie, The Flash and Batman attempted to track down Superman by tracing a crash landed Kryptonian pod to a site in Siberia. However, they found Kal-El’s cousin Kara Zor-El (Calle) imprisoned in the facility instead.

Supergirl became an invaluable ally to Flash and Batman thanks to her superhuman abilities, but Kara sadly met her fate in that movie when she was killed by Zod, and now it seems her incarnation of the character will not return.

Talking around the release of the Flash, Calle told Entertainment Tonight that she hoped to don the cape again in the future. “I love her so much and I feel her very deeply. I think this movie was a runway to a better story for her."

“I just want to dive deeper into Kara and her feelings into her day to day. I would just love to see her in regular clothes, in human clothes. As a fan, the whole time that I was filming, I kept thinking, 'What would she wear? What glasses would she wear?'"

"[In The Flash], we don't meet her human, realised self, so as a fan, that would be something very cool," she added.

It’s been reported that plans for Sasha Calle’s own Supergirl movie were shelved at around the same time that Batgirl was cancelled by Warner Bros. as a tax write-off, despite being in post-production.

Talking about finding the new Supergirl, DC boss James Gunn said: “Milly was the FIRST person I brought up to Peter for this role, well over a year ago, when I had only read the comics. I was watching ‘House of the Dragon’ and thought she might have the edge, grace and authenticity we needed.”

Welcoming Milly Alcock to the role, Helen Slater — who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie — wrote on Instagram: "Congratulations to the luminous Milly Alcock, the next Supergirl! DC universe awaits you! You will be AMAZING!!"

Will Supergirl appear alongside new Superman David Corenswet?

The Wrap, who first reported the casting news, says that Milly Alcock’s Supergirl will first appear on screen with new Superman David Corenswet in 2025's Superman.

According to Variety, in-costume auditions for the role of Supergirl were held on the set of James Gunn's Superman movie which is currently in production in Atlanta, suggesting they held chemistry reads with Corenswet and Alcock together on camera.

Read more: What you need to know about Superman: Legacy

Supergirl's own solo movie will then follow, but whether the new Clark Kent crops up in her movie remains to be known.

Will TV’s Supergirl Melissa Benoist appear in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow?

No, the new Supergirl movie will not be connected to the recent Supergirl series which starred Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El and ran for six seasons from 2015-2021.

However, thanks to the multiverse concept, you can never rule these things out completely.

When will Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow be released in cinemas?

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow does not yet have a release date, or even a director, so expect the film to be released within the next two or three years.

The Hollywood Reporter says the movie could shoot in Autumn 2024 if they find a director in time. Ana Nogueira is writing the script.

Read more: Supergirl

Casting Supergirl Without a Director Set for Her Movie Is ‘Very Weird,’ Says Matthew Vaughn: ‘The Director Should Be Casting the Movie’ (Variety, 3 min read)

One year after its reveal, James Gunn explains how plans for DCU Chapter One have changed (Total Film, 1 min read)

Finding ‘Supergirl’: A ‘Superman: Legacy’ Set Audition, Costume Tryout and Edgier Heroine (Variety, 2 min read)

Watch: Milly Alcock is the new Supergirl