Draft:Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is an upcoming American superhero film based on DC Comics featuring the character Supergirl. Produced by DC Studios and to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it will be the second film in the DC Universe (DCU). The film is being directed by Craig Gillespie, written by Ana Nogueira, and will star Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl.

A film featuring Supergirl entered development as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise in August 2018, and the character was introduced in the film The Flash (2023) portrayed by Sasha Calle. Plans for the standalone project were altered when James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios in October 2022. A new Supergirl film was announced in January 2023 as an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021–22) by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Nogueira was hired in November 2023, Alcock was cast in January 2024, and Gillespie was hired in May. Filming is scheduled to begin in October 2024 in Atlanta.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 2026. It is set to be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Premise
While celebrating her 21st birthday, Kara Zor-El travels across the galaxy with Krypto the Superdog, during which she meets the young Ruthye and goes on a "murderous quest for revenge".

Cast
The cousin of Superman who was raised on a chunk of the destroyed planet Krypton and watched everyone around her die, making her a more jaded person than her cousin who was raised on Earth by loving parents.
 * Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl:

The super-powered dog Krypto and the character Ruthye, a young woman who meets Supergirl, will also appear in the film.

Background
Oren Uziel was hired by Warner Bros. Pictures in August 2018 to write a film based on the DC Comics character Supergirl. This came as Warner Bros. and DC Films were looking for new approaches to their DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise following several critical and commercial disappointments. Development on the film was in the early stages, but Warner Bros. was already being "very vocal" about wanting to hire a female director for the project. The studio's shift to focusing on a Supergirl film was given as one of the reasons that Henry Cavill was no longer expected to portray Supergirl's cousin Clark Kent / Superman in future DCEU films after portraying the role since Man of Steel (2013); Cavill later indicated that he still wanted to return to the role. Production on Supergirl was tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2020, but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2021, Sasha Calle was cast as Supergirl for the DCEU film The Flash (2023), and was expected to appear in other DCEU projects. That April, Supergirl was included on DC's slate of films planned for release in 2022 or 2023. A year later, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. Tatiana Siegel of Rolling Stone reported in August 2022 that Supergirl was unlikely to move forward under Zaslav, and it was quietly canceled around that time. Writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.

Development
On January 31, 2023, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. One of the films in that chapter was revealed to be an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021–22) by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Gunn described the project as "a big science fiction epic film" and said it would explore a more "hardcore" version of Supergirl than had been previously seen on screen. It was also revealed that King was one of the writers working on the overall story for the DCU. Within days of the film's announcement, copies of the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book had sold out on Amazon and at many different publishing houses and comic book shops. Gunn announced that he was working with DC Comics publisher and CCO Jim Lee to ensure more copies were printed soon.

While promoting the release of The Flash in June 2023, Calle expressed her love for the Woman of Tomorrow comic book and said she hoped to reprise her role in the film, though this was not guaranteed. She had met with Safran to discuss her future as the character by then, but Gunn eventually decided to move in a different direction with the character. In November 2023, Ana Nogueira was hired to write the film's screenplay. She had previously been attached to write a Supergirl film in 2022 when it was being developed as a spin-off from The Flash. Gunn and Safran enjoyed her work so much they had her return for the film under their direction, and she signed an overall writing deal with DC to do so. Gunn confirmed Nogueira's involvement and called Woman of Tomorrow a "beautiful, star-spanning tale". The film was reported to include the super-powered dog Krypto.

Pre-production
By January 2024, Milly Alcock, Emilia Jones, Cailee Spaeny, and Meg Donnelly were being considered to portray Supergirl. Donnelly had voiced the character in the animated films Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One (2024). Jones did not read for the role, while Alcock and Donnelly performed auditions and screen tests in costume on the Superman (2025) set in Atlanta later that month. Alcock was officially cast at the end of January. Gunn said she embodied how King, Evely, and Nogueira envisioned the character, and he had first mentioned Alcock for the role to Safran over a year prior to her casting after seeing her performance in the series House of the Dragon (2022–present). Gunn believed she had the "edge, grace [and] authenticity" for this interpretation of Supergirl, which he wanted to distance from the more earnest portrayal of the character by Melissa Benoist in the series Supergirl (2015–2021). The studio was hoping to hire a director for the film in the "coming weeks", but prioritized casting Supergirl over finding a director because the character was set to debut in another DCU project, reported to be Superman, before Woman of Tomorrow. Filming for Woman of Tomorrow was expected to begin in late 2024. Zaslav confirmed in February that the script had been written and further casting was underway. In April, Craig Gillespie entered talks to direct the film and DC Studios EVP Chantal Nong was revealed to be an executive producer. Gillespie was confirmed as director the next month, when the film was given a release date of June 26, 2026, and filming was set to begin that October.

Filming
Principal photography is scheduled to begin on October 4, 2024, in Atlanta.

Release
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is scheduled to be released theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on June 26, 2026. It is set to be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.