The latest Superman movie is out in theaters, and by and large, people are loving it. Beyond just Superman, the movie featured a lot of DC heroes, including Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, Metamorpho and Superman's cousin Supergirl, played by House of the Dragon veteran Milly Alcock. By introducing these side characters, it's obvious that Superman is setting up other films in the new DC Cinematic Universe that writer-director James Gunn is building, but the movie didn't feel overstuffed or desperate.
Supergirl, real name Kara Zor-El, showed up right at the end of the movie to collect Krypto the Superdog, whom Superman had been watching while Kara partied on other planets; apparently Kryptonians have to go to worlds with red suns if they want to get drunk, since the power of our yellow sun improves their metabolism too much. There's a runner in the movie about how Krypto, while adorable and basically the breakout star of the movie, is not a very obedient dog. Superman chocks that up to his owner Kara, who has a wild and irresponsible streak.
We'll get to see that up close and personal in Supergirl, a new movie due out next year. "She's a mess. She's a total mess," James Gunn told Screenrant. "I mean, I think as we learn, she's had a completely different background from Superman. A much more difficult background. He's had this wonderful upbringing by these two parents that loved him and were very healthy. And her background was much different than that. And she's ended up different than her cousin."
How exactly was her background different? Gunn explained that in a different interview, speaking to ComicBook.com: "[S]he’s had a real issues growing up. And it is based on the comic where she watched person after person after person dying in front of her as her piece of the planet disintegrated.”
The new Superman movie largely dispenses with origin stories, which I think we're all thankful for; everyone knows that Superman was sent away from the planet Krypton as a baby and was raised by a kindly Kansas couple. Supergirl's origin story, which involves her growing up on a fragment of Krypton after the planet has blown up, isn't as well-known, so I'm betting we'll get more filled in in her film. Gunn says that flashbacks to the destruction of Krypton in Supergirl.
The Supergirl movie, written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie, is based on the comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which sees Supergirl fighting an alien threat on a distant planet. If the movie follows the comic, Krypto the Superdog will be part of it, which basically guarantees a built-in audience. Krypto may not technically be a good boy, but he is the best boy.
At the moment, the future of this new DCU looks pretty bright. Superman has gotten strong reviews and pulled in $220 million internationally on its opening weekend, which is the strongest-ever debut for a Superman movie and one of the strongest debuts of the year. Supergirl is the next film in this budding cinematic universe, and is due out on June 26, 2026.
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