DC Studios’ Supergirl plays like a wild hybrid mix of John Wick, Mad Max: Furiosa, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.
While the identifiable influences prevent Supergirl from entering the upper echelon of DC movies, director Craig Gillespie’s epic take is still an undeniably fun, wickedly entertaining ride.
Most of the success belongs to Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon), who delivers a subversively brilliant turn as Kara Zor-El. Alcock might not have been on anyone’s radar to play Kara Zor-El, but the choice was perfect. Her Supergirl is a volatile, drunken mess with a good heart and raw skills that match her cousin Superman’s – though not as controlled.
When her story picks up, she’s powerless due to spending time on a red planet. Fully embracing a hedonistic lifestyle, Kara isn’t in a hurry to return to Metropolis, ghosting her squeaky-clean cousin when he calls to check up on her. She’s turning 23 and doesn’t have any goals other than to find another bottle to fall into. Since she can’t get drunk near a yellow sun, she’s making up for lost time by drowning her pain in alien dive bars.
Watching a drunk Kara hang with her BFF Krypto would grow old fairly fast, so Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) pops into the narrative. Ruthye’s on a revenge quest and needs help, zeroing in on Kara after she takes out a massive creature who stole her sword. Kara wants nothing to do with going after Ruthye’s target, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts, The Old Guard), a ruthless brigand who looks like the offspring of Hellraiser’s Pinhead and gives off a Darth Maul vibe.
But when Krem incapacitates Kara’s beloved four-legged partner-in-chaos, the stakes become deeply personal. There’s no length Kara won’t go to to save her superpowered bestie. Which, of course, leads to teaming up with Ruthye to hunt Krem down.
Alcock delivers a stellar performance, tracing Kara’s evolution from cynical and detached into a hero who fully embraces her Supergirl mantle. Adding to the film’s fun vibe is Jason Momoa, a cool addition as bounty hunter Lobo. Playing an immortal with a god complex, Momoa is entirely in his element as the cigar-chomping anti-hero – a mass of muscles with an unpredictable edge who’s so volatile that Kara warns Ruthye not to make eye contact with him. Momoa provides comic relief while injecting a sense of unpredictable danger that actually overshadows Krem, the film’s main villain.
Gillespie (Cruella, Lars and the Real Girl) anchors the narrative with multiple poignant flashbacks detailing Kara’s traumatic childhood watching the last remaining Kryptonians die slow, painful deaths. Flashbacks also reveal Kara’s meeting with puppy Krypto and her first encounter with Superman on Earth. These emotional beats help ground the massive, relentlessly paced action set pieces that show off Supergirl’s extraordinary skills.
Visually, Supergirl thankfully avoids falling into the muted lighting trap so often found in comic book adaptations. The CGI blends seamlessly into action scenes’ choreography, and for once it’s easy to tell who’s fighting who in most of the set pieces.
More Momoa and Krypto would have helped make Supergirl super special. When you’ve got Momoa as Lobo, it’s a shame not to use him to blast through narrative speed bumps. And sidelining Krypto also means less time spent on Kara’s most entertaining relationship, trading it for a Kara and Ruthye team-up that just doesn’t have the same emotional weight. But those are minor gripes.
Overall, DC Studios’ latest offering takes a bold, refreshing approach to the character, embracing her flaws and taking audiences on a booze-fueled journey of self-discovery. Milly Alcock is the absolute heart and soul of the film, delivering a ferocious performance unlike any we’ve seen in past iterations of the character.
2026’s Supergirl is a flawed but fiercely entertaining ride that carves out the character’s own niche in the DC film universe.
GRADE: B
Rating: PG-13 for strong violence, action, language, and smoking
Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes
Release Date: June 26, 2026
