Supergirl (2026) - Review: Woman of Tomorrow

 

With last year’s “Superman” film, James Gunn effectively revitalized the DC brand for the cinematic landscape and kickstarted a new “DC Universe” run by himself and Peter Safran. “Supergirl” then faces an almost impossible task: it is the second film in this new universe, it's the first DCU project to not involve Gunn in the writer or director’s chair, and it features a character who, despite the giant S on her chest, is a lesser-known hero compared to the likes of Wonder Woman, Batman, or her older cousin. All of this is to say that all eyes are on this space faring woman of tomorrow.

The film follows Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, played by Milly Alcock (“Upright,” “House of the Dragon”) as she parties around the universe, celebrating her birthday in a drunken stupor. During said stupor, she is approached by Ruthye Marye Knoll, played by Eve Ridley (“Emerald”), a young girl seeking a warrior to help her kill Krem of the Yellow Hills, played by Matthias Schoenaerts (“Bullhead,” “The Mustang”), a space pirate who murdered her entire family. After Krem steals her ship and poisons her dog Krypto, Kara finds herself chasing after him as well in search of an antidote, reluctantly bringing Ruthye along.

With the 2021-2022 comic mini-series “Woman of Tomorrow” as its base, screenwriter Ana Nogueira and director Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya,” “Cruella”) certainly have some meaty material to pull from. While a good amount of that meat makes it to the big screen, what’s been changed in the process isn’t for the better. This isn’t an example of things being changed and therefore automatically being made worse just by that virtue. Rather, its clear that this is a very simple story that’s been overstuffed with small detours and complications that don’t add to the central character arcs. What should be essentially a superpowered version of “True Grit” in space is jam packed full of side characters that add little to the story and flashbacks for Kara’s own origin story.

This material isn’t necessarily bad. The origin is one of the film’s best aspects, and it allows Alcock to really showcase the nuanced differences between Kara and Clark. These differences then bowl over into the main narrative and how it represents her jaded persona. This is where Alcock truly gets to shine; if Clark is a picture-perfect portrayal of innocence and optimism, Kara is a calloused force of nature. Alcock nails the power, but she’s at her most interesting when she’s balancing her own drunken recklessness with said overpowered nature. Ridley does well in her first film role, and opposite Alcock she turns what could easily have been an annoying, childish companion into a character with her own forces and arc.

Schoenaerts does the best he can with this material, but Krem as he exists here is simply a bland villain. He attempts to be brutal and crazy, but it just comes across as one note and dull, doing weird things seemingly for no reason other than to just do them. The script simply doesn’t afford him any more depth beyond that. Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” “Game of Thrones”) appears as bounty hunter, and frequent nemesis of Kara, Lobo, and his minor role makes much more of an impact than Krem’s. Lobo might be superfluous to the story, essentially disappearing in the third act after his use is expounded, but Momoa has the charm needed to pull it off. Much of the film itself boils down to being just fine, with Alcock, Ridley, and Momoa holding it all together. The visual identity is good, but overly brown and muddy, especially in the last act. Camerawork is slightly inventive, but cinematographer Rob Hardy (“Ex Machina,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”) keeps things to a mostly routine look.

If there’s one massive boon to the film overall, it’s the overall vibe of this tale. Kara is diametrically opposed to Clark’s personality, and her film is likewise opposed to last year’s “Superman.” This space faring tale is full of violence, language, drinking, bounty hunting, and trafficking. None of this ever feels added simply for flavor, as the entire film lives and breathes in this grimy atmosphere. Claudia Sarne’s (“Broken City,” “The Book of Eli”) musical score is a massive highlight, matching the atmosphere and lifting things up, when it isn’t being undercut by hit-or-miss needle drops. While this “Mad Max” meets science fiction vibe could be off-putting for some expecting a more family friendly superheroine tale, it still maintains a throughline of good-natured qualities, juxtaposed against the nastier aesthetics of this tale.

“Supergirl” the film has a lot in common with its protagonist. Both are rough around the edges, can be off-putting to some given their attitudes and aesthetics, and certainly have some character flaws. Alcock does a lot to lift the film up, and she is excellent. What’s here isn’t awful but is certainly underwhelming given the starting point of this new DC universe from last year. A stronger script and visual identity could’ve helped smooth over even more of these issues, but as it stands, it's certainly a unique, abrasive take on Clark Kent’s cousin from beyond the stars. 3.5/5