Supergirl‘s official trailer has landed online — and, while I’m still very excited to see it, the movie’s latest round of footage has given me cause for concern.
The latter part of that statement is something I don’t say lightly. Supergirl is one of my most anticipated new movies of 2026, and everything I’d seen and heard about it — until its latest teaser, anyway — filled me with confidence that it would be worth the wait.
Now, though, part of me is somewhat hesitant about its arrival. Not because of who’s involved, how the DC Universe (DCU) film looks, or the overarching vision that its creative team has, well, created. No, my worry stems from my own internal expectations of what this comic book movie adaptation should be, rather than what it will be.
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A super duper entrance
As soon as it was announced part of DCU Chapter One’s movie and TV show line-up in January 2023, there was only one source that Supergirl was going to draw inspiration from: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
An eight-issue graphic novel series penned by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Eveley, Woman of Tomorrow is widely considered to be one of the best DC comic book stories of the past decade. An intimate two-hander and character study masquerading as a space western, it quickly garnered praise from fans and critics alike following its initial June 2021 release.
As a long-time admirer of this specific comic book miniseries, I was stoked to hear that Supergirl’s first big-screen outing in four decades would be a direct adaptation of this award-winning literary work. That was evident by the fact that, at the time, it would bear the same name as its comic book counterpart (NB: it’s no longer called that, and I’ll explain why later in this article).
My excitement has grown for Supergirl‘s June 26, 2026 release date in the the many, many months that have followed. Milly Alcock’s casting as the DCU’s Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, the character’s scene-stealing cameo in 2025’s Superman movie, and last December’s launch of Supergirl‘s first trailer among other expectation-raising reveals have further enthused me. That was the case anyway until its official trailer dropped on March 31.
Woman of Tomorrow, problems of today
Full spoilers follow for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
I’m going to preface this section by saying that Supergirl‘s latest teaser gave me chills. Set to an epic rendition of Jimmy Ruffin’s ‘What Becomes of the Brokenhearted’ song — one of my favorite soul ballads of all-time, FYI — it looks and sounds terrific, and I already know full well that it’ll hit me right in the feels when I finally get to see the full movie.
Nonetheless, the DCU film appears as if it’s not only slightly tweaked Woman of Tomorrow‘s story, but also how it’ll be told.
Kara Zor-El’s superhero alias is part of the graphic novel’s title, but she isn’t the point-of-view character that its story unfolds through. That individual is Ruthye, a young female warrior who enlists Kara’s help to track down the space pirate who murdered Ruthye’s father.
Ruthye is still a big part of this film — that’s clear by how prominent she is in Supergirl‘s various teasers and the fact that actor Eve Ridley appears high up on its cast list. For more on who joins Alcock and Ridley on the movie’s roster, check out my Supergirl cast and character guide.
Even so, all signs so far point towards Alcock’s eponymous metahuman being the central focus of this DCU Chapter One flick, rather than supporting character-in-chief.
And, look, I get it: you don’t hire someone of Alcock’s ability and not give her top billing. Additionally, you don’t announce Kara Zor-El her first big-screen adventure since 1984’s Supergirl — the one and only time she’s had a standalone live-action movie, too — and not make her its protagonist, especially when her pseudonym is in the title.
The problem I have, though, is that this fundamentally changes Woman of Tomorrow‘s story. By shifting the primary focus to Kara, I’m concerned that Ruthye’s character arc will be secondary to the movie’s main plot (I’ll get onto what this will be shortly). If that’s the case, it’ll detract from a core theme at the heart of Woman of Tomorrow‘s narrative — that being, forgiveness is a far more powerful weapon than vengeance will ever be.
It’s a motif that could get lost further in what appears to be Supergirl‘s primary storyline.
As its latest trailer reveals, Krypto the Superdog is severely injured when its main villain Krem shoots him with a poisoned dart before Krem flies off to whereabouts unknown after stealing Kara’s ship. With Ruthye pointing out that Krypto only has three days left to live unless the antidote in Krem’s possession is administered, a previously reluctant Kara is given a major reason to join Ruthye on her quest to hunt down Krem.
Okay, this is also the main fulcrum for Woman of Tomorrow‘s plot, so Supergirl will tread identical narrative ground to its literary inspiration. But, with Kara and the adorable Krypto’s dynamic placed at the forefront of Supergirl‘s two trailers, it’s clear that it’ll lean heavily into this relationship — especially as, Clark Kent/Superman aside, Krypto is the only thing that Kara has to remind her of their extinct home world Krypton.
Again, I understand the reasoning for Kara and Krypto’s bond taking center stage. That’s particularly true if it allows Supergirl to explore the tormented Kara’s long-standing trauma about Krypton’s destruction and subsequent death of her parents, and what it would do to her if she also loses Krypto.
However, I fear that it’ll not just overshadow the Ruthye-led storyline, but also significantly alter Woman of Tomorrow‘s timeline of events. The comic miniseries takes place over many, many months but, with that three-day window to save Krypto, I’m also afraid that its entire story will be condensed right down. That would be to its detriment, because it would significantly reduce the amount of time that Kara and Ruthye spend together travelling the cosmos and, by proxy, the fascinating yet at-times strained relationship they forge on their interstellar adventure.
Changes for the better
There are other aspects of Supergirl that rankle with me — Krem’s physical appearance compared to his comic book counterpart being chief among them. Equally, though, there are diversions from the source material that I’m actually looking forward to seeing.
Woman of Tomorrow only gives some insight into Kara’s traumatic memories of Krypton, but Supergirl seems like it’ll flesh things out and give us a greater understanding of why she is who she is. I’m also down for more appearances from David Corenswet’s Man of Steel following his fantastic portrayal in last year’s Superman flick.
Then there’s Jason Momoa’s Lobo. Initially, the Czarnian bounty hunter was supposed to play some part in Woman of Tomorrow, but King and Bilquis cut him out of the story at the last minute. Now, Supergirl offers the chance to see how he would’ve fit into the graphic novel’s tale — and, if DC Studios co-chief James Gunn is to be believed, Lobo will be a vital part of Supergirl‘s story. Let’s hope there’s some substance to those claims.
Those compelling additions notwithstanding, any movie trailer is specifically designed to tease its story and hype up its eventual release. It’s possible, then, that Supergirl‘s latest sizzle reel isn’t an accurate representation of how its story will play out. For all I know, it could do so in exactly the same way as Woman of Tomorrow does.
That said, I’m not sure that’ll be the case. Last June, Gunn revealed the comic book movie would no longer be called Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow; his argument being that he’s “sick” of seeing films with a subtitle. That’s likely true but, in light of its new trailer, I also believe it’s because Supergirl will be a reimagining of the aforementioned graphic novel, rather than a direct adaptation of it. What need does it have of the ‘Woman of Tomorrow’ subtitle, then, if it isn’t an authentic retelling of the graphic novel?
Let me be clear one last time: I’m still incredibly interested in seeing Supergirl when it finally takes flight in theaters. In light of countless other book-to-movie adaptations, I should’ve expected that it wouldn’t be a beat-for-beat retelling of Woman of Tomorrow, either. Nevertheless, I’m still sad that I won’t get the comic book adaptation I wanted — and I hope that, whatever creative liberties have been taken with it, Supergirl is still as great as the expectations I’ve set for it.
For more on the next DCU release, find out everything we know so far about Supergirl.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
