SUPERGIRL director Craig Gillespie reveals he read the film’s script before reading the WOMAN OF TOMORROW comic book
The DCU will expand in 2026 with Supergirl. The film, written by Ana Nogueira, stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El and is directed by Craig Gillespie, who directed Me, Tonyawith Margot Robbie, and Cruel with Emma Stone. DC Studios’ next big screen offering is an adaptation of the 2021 one Supergirl: the woman of tomorrowdrawn by Bilquis Evely and written by Tom King. Aside from Jason Momoa’s Lobo playing a role in the story, the film should be a fairly faithful version of its source material.
Adapting a character with as much history as Kara Zor-El can be tricky, especially for someone unfamiliar with the subject matter. It turns out that director Craig Gillespie wasn’t familiar with the source material before tackling the project. Fortunately, it had the right tools to handle this feature. THE Supergirl trailer was recently made public online, but it was screened a few days before at a press conference, where Gillespie and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn were in attendance.
There, the director revealed (via Rant screen), he did not know the mythology of Supergirl and therefore decided to read that of Ana Nogueira. Supergirl scenario before reading it Woman of tomorrow:
“I very deliberately read Ana’s script before reading the comic, because I wanted to see how it would hold up.” The director explained that he “I didn’t know anything about that, like the Supergirl thing.” As such, he felt this made him the ideal type of viewer for the film, as he further explained: “[I] It was kind of a perfect audience for it, because I could ask all the questions I had, but she did an incredible job working this narrative. “
The director added: “It was very clear to me what was happening.” Gillespie also made a point of praising screenwriter Ana Nogueira for the way she adapted the script, saying (via DC.com): “I know we keep mentioning the Tom King book, but she also took it to a different place. So for anyone who’s flipping through this Tom King novel right now, it’s different.”
Supergirl is a huge milestone for DC Studios and the superhero genre as a whole, given that it will be one of the first back-to-back adaptations of a specific comic book series. Movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War And Avengers: Infinity War adapted major storylines and concepts from their source material.
Batman v Supermanfor example, took elements of Death of Superman And Return of the Dark Knight. The third Captain America the film adapted the Civil war comic book storyline, and Infinity War brought to life Silver Surfer who crashed to Earth to warn of Thanos’ arrival, but replaced him with Hulk. Despite these elements, neither film was a direct adaptation of its source material. Instead, they built on it, taking its core concepts and building new stories around them.
That of Craig Gillespie Supergirlon the other hand, according to everything that comes out of it (it was originally titled Supergirl: the woman of tomorrowfor starters), seems to be a very faithful adaptation of its source story. The comic is one of DC’s most critically acclaimed works in recent years. Having a film take this story as the basis of its plot is an exciting proposition, especially considering the creative team behind it and its star, Milly Alcock.
Talk to Varietyscreenwriter Ana Nogueira explained that Supergirl initially didn’t make sense to her: “She saw Krypton completely destroyed. I always thought, ‘I can’t understand the version of the character that’s so sunny.'” However, things changed when she read Woman of tomorrowwho was a “rougher, harder, bolder and funnier” assume the character. The writer said: “When I read it, I said to myself, ‘There she is.’”
Supergirl will be released in theaters on June 26, 2026.
What do you think of Craig Gillespie’s film? Supergirl perspective? Are you excited about the film? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
