A jaded, hard-drinking Supergirl? This could be a major blow for James Gunn in the DCU| film

SEver since James Gunn’s Superman became the biggest superhero film at the box office this summer, the world has been waiting to see what the rest of the DCU sandbox will look like. Now, with the first trailer for Supergirl, we have our first proper glimpse. Based on this evidence, the new Kara Zor-El lives in a brave new world of gods and monsters, reflecting her loneliness and anger towards her.

Millie Alcock’s Woman of Tomorrow may be unlike anyone we’ve seen on big or small screens before — which is impressive considering the number of times Supergirl has been directed over the decades. Helen Slater’s 1984 version is now widely viewed as a kind of sun-bleached artefact of the Reagan era – a well-intentioned but ultimately campy experiment. Supergirl, played by Sasha Calle in The Flash recently, looked emotional, angry and potentially a game-changer. Melissa Benoist spent six seasons at the helm of the Supergirl series, which was warmly received by audiences but rarely entered the consciousness of people who actually bought comic books.

The new film is very much in line with Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s 2021-22 Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow miniseries. In the comic, Kara does not arrive on Earth as a baby – she is sent after the infant Superman with the express mission of taking care of him once she arrives, but her mission fails disastrously and she is left to watch Krypton die before her eyes. The trailer shows us a Supergirl who looks older than 23: a character who is always drinking and doesn’t have the luxury of Superman’s hopeful outlook; Who arrived on Earth traumatized and burdened by terrible memories.

We know from the comic that the film will see her reluctantly recruited by a young alien girl, Ruthie, seeking revenge for her murdered father. This will likely drag Kara into a dark vendetta as god powers offer no clear moral advantage, and being the strongest person in the room turns out to be the least useful skill she has. There are also hints that the DCU’s vision of space beyond the borders of the solar system will not resemble the one Gunn invented with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films. Ruthie is a child who wants revenge, not rescue, and this is the perfect desolate universe for a story that can boast heavy Western sensibilities.

If so, this would be a radical change from the way space was treated in the pre-Gunn DC era, when it was seen more as an imminent threat than an actual place. The alien gods have arrived to strike Earth, not to roam forgotten worlds. Instead, Supergirl suggests a universe full of moral dead zones and abandoned frontiers—the kind of place where hope doesn’t travel well.