While the “S” on the chest usually signals a beacon of unwavering hope, James Gunn and Peter Safran are using the first trailer for “Supergirl” to signal something much more volatile. Directed by Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya,” “Cruella”), the film introduces a version of the Girl of Steel who is a far cry from past earnest portrayals.
Milly Alcock (“House of the Dragon”) stars as a battle-hardened Kara Zor-El, a survivor who spent her formative years witnessing the slow death of her people on a drifting fragment of Krypton. This traumatic history has left her jaded, attitudinal, and deeply dangerous.
The footage leans heavily into the source material—the acclaimed “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” miniseries by Tom King and Bilquis Evely—positioning the film as a sprawling interstellar odyssey. We see Kara on Krypton before it blew up, and then a truncated version of the least trailer, where she was celebrating a whiskey-fueled 23rd birthday on a red-sun planet before being recruited by Ruthye Marye Knoll, played by Eve Ridley (“3 Body Problem”), a young girl seeking justice for her murdered father. This isn’t a superhero origin in the traditional sense; it’s a cosmic Western that finds Kara traveling across the stars alongside Krypto the Superdog to hunt down the ruthless pirate Krem of the Yellow Hills, portrayed by a menacing Matthias Schoenaerts (“Rust and Bone”).
Gillespie employs a gritty, high-contrast visual style, courtesy of cinematographer Rob Hardy (“Ex Machina”). At the same time, the score from Tom Holkenborg (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) underlines the film’s “hardcore” sci-fi credentials. With a supporting cast that includes David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham, the project is a massive pivot for DC Studios, trading the bright streets of Metropolis for the lawless fringes of the galaxy.
“Supergirl” arrives in theaters and IMAX on June 26, 2026. Watch the new Super Bowl trailer below.
