Milly Alcock Reveals Why DCU’s Supergirl Is Very Different From Superman With a New Look at the Upcoming Movie

A new look at Supergirl explains how different she is from Superman, and it comes straight from actress Milly Alcock.

The upcoming Supergirl film is part of the new DC Universe and is directed by Craig Gillespie, with James Gunn involved as a producer. Milly Alcock plays Kara Zor-El, who is Superman’s cousin. Even though they come from the same planet, the movie shows that their lives and personalities are very different.

The story first hints at this difference in the final moments of James Gunn’s Superman film, where Supergirl briefly appears. In that scene, she shows up with strong energy, collects her dog Krypto, and quickly leaves her cousin behind. That short moment gives an early idea of her personality before her own movie begins.

According to Alcock, the character was shaped by reading the comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which helped define the tone of the film. She explained, “I understood at that point that James is trying to do something very different and unexpected with her. She’s such a good contrast to Superman, because she’s a survivor of trauma in the purest sense. I was excited to play someone so beautifully flawed and resilient.”

This version of Supergirl is not written as a calm or fully controlled hero. Instead, she is shown as someone who has gone through extreme loss and carries that with her in every part of her life. The story does not avoid that pain. It uses it as the base of who she is.

Director Craig Gillespie also spoke about why he wanted to make the film. His past work often focuses on complex characters, and he said that approach fits Supergirl very well. He explained, “I have a very specific tone I’m attracted to. I always loved the first Iron Man: flawed, complex and conflicted. They sent me the Ana Nogueira script [for Supergirl], and two scenes in, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ It was exactly what I hoped for; it’s all character. She went from an incredibly, incredibly dark scene to this irreverent character scene, all in the first 15 pages.”

He also described the character as someone with a rough edge who does not try to hide her pain. “[Supergirl] has got a lot of trauma, a lot of demons; she’s unapologetic,” he said. “You get to have a character that can be punky and edgy and not take off those rough edges.”

The film itself follows Kara Zor-El as she travels through space and gets pulled into a violent and emotional journey. She is not just dealing with action and adventure, but also with grief and anger from her past.

Supergirl is directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira. It stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, along with Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa. James Gunn and Peter Safran are producing the film under DC Studios.

The movie is based on the comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and follows Kara on a journey across the galaxy after a personal tragedy pushes her into a revenge-driven mission. According to the report from Empire, the film is designed to show a more emotional and damaged version of the character compared to Superman.

Supergirl is scheduled to be released on June 26, as part of the new DC Universe.

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