Kara Zor-El's Cosmic Journey in Upcoming DC Film Explored

By Published Apr 26, 2026, 10:34 PM EDT Graeme Guttmann is the Deputy News Editor for ScreenRant, overseeing the News and Interview & Events team for film and television. He began at ScreenRant in 2026 as a freelancer. He has interviewed talent from various films and series, including Jennifer Coolidge, Mikey Madison, Emma Roberts, and more.

Additionally, Graeme is a critic for ScreenRant, having attended film festivals like Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW, and Cannes.

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Kara Zor-El is preparing to take flight and reveal a whole new side of the DC Universe.

Milly Alcock is set to make her proper DC debut in after a brief appearance in last summer's James Gunn-directed Superman movie. Helmed by Craig Gillespie, the film is set to be the first live-action film in the franchise to go cosmic, introducing a slew of planets, alien races, and a few new characters along the way, including and Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem of the Yellow Hills.

Bringing that side of the DCU to life for the first time is no small task as it will set the stage for many more cosmic adventures to come and Gillespie knows that. In an interview at CCXP Mexico, the director told ScreenRant it was "both exhilarating and overwhelming" to be able to establish that side of the DC Universe. Luckily, he had a blueprint: "Obviously, I started with the comic book and sort of took license from there. [But] it was just a lot of research."

It was no easy feat, though: "There's just thousands of images and culling it down, eventually things would bubble to the top," Gillespie said of the process of creating these new worlds. "Also, taking it from the story — each planet has its own backstory. What's going on with that community informed a lot of how they would dress and behave and the state of the planets in general."

At the center of it all is perhaps the DC Universe's most complicated character yet. When Alcock's , she's in a much different place than her fellow Kryptonian. Whereas Kal-El has fully embraced his Clark Kent persona, Kara is still searching for a purpose after losing almost everything and everyone she ever loved. Gillespie found that intriguing immediately.

Having a character we get to build on in this unapologetic way was so exciting.

Known for his complex female leads in the likes of Tonya Harding from I, Tonya or Emma Stone's Cruella, the director was immediately drawn to Kara when reading the script for Supergirl, penned by Ana Nogueira. "From the get-go, the first time you meet her in the script, she's complicated [and] flawed," he says. "She's coming from a lot of trauma, which is really quite different from Superman's journey."

That complexity only excited him, though. "Having a character that we get to build on, and then to be able to do it with humor and pathos in this unapologetic way was so exciting. Literally, I was two scenes [into the script] and I'm like, 'All right. I'm in.'"

With just two months to go until the next chapter of the DCU hits theaters, Gillespie and Alcock are both just excited for people to truly meet Kara. Supergirl will take her on a dangerous journey through the cosmos after . Along the way, she'll have companions like Lobo and Eve Ridley's Ruthye Marye Knoll, who is on her own quest for vengeance after the death of her father.

"It's been a long journey," Gillespie said. "A lot of hard work with a lot of people, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. [I] can't wait for the world to see Milly."

Like Follow Followed 12 Superhero Sci-Fi Release Date June 26, 2026 Director Craig Gillespie Writers Ana Nogueira, Otto Binder, Tom King, Al Plastino, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bilquis Evely