Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow Will Feature A Harsher, More Messed-Up Hero Than Superman
The DC Universe news is coming fast and hot out of the presser hosted by co-chair and co-CEOs of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran. One of the most intriguing projects announced was "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow," based off of the 2022 Tom King comic book run. /Film's own Jenna Busch was on hand for the event and filled us in on all the goings on, but let's focus on "Supergirl" for a bit, shall we?
Fans of the DCEU might have been a little upset that the DCU version of "Superman" is going back to the big blue boy scout template who absolutely, positively will not kill as part of his moral code, but that doesn't mean we won't get a darker super-powered being in the DCU in the form of Kara Zor-El, who didn't quite have her cousin's privileged upbringing. James Gunn promised a more complex and powerful character than DC fans are used to seeing portrayed on the screen. Here's what he had to say:
"Superman was sent to Earth and he was raised by incredibly loving parents whereas Kara was in a piece of Krypton that was drifting away from the planet and lived there for the first 14 years of her life [in] a horrible situation in which she watched everyone around her die. So she's a much harsher and more f***ed up Supergirl."
We already know Sasha Calle has been cast in the upcoming "The Flash," but when asked whether or not to expect Calle to take on the role for the character's stand-alone feature, Gunn didn't commit one way or another, saying "We're still figuring all that stuff out."
Tom King isn't just an inspiration for the DCU. He's a part of it.
In the Tom King comic, Kara is a bit of a lost character, trying to find her place in the universe. Even on Earth, she finds herself in the shadow of Superman. The character is angry, maybe even more powerful than Superman, and needs a place to focus her powers. In the book, she's recruited to go on a revenge mission, the kind of thing Superman wouldn't take on for moral reasons. Gunn said that King's ability to turn established characters on their heads is one of the reasons they're excited to adapt his work and, beyond that, to involve him in the DCU brain trust.
"Tom has been one of the architects of this situation. He's one of the guys in the room with us, along with four or five other writers, and I love his take on these characters where he slightly turns them into something very unique."
It sounds like this allows Superman to be his morally pure self, the unerring pillar of virtue that has been missing from the big screen, honestly, since the original two Richard Donner "Superman" films, while giving us another red, blue, and yellow caped figure who can get her hands dirty a little bit. Maybe not an emo-superhero, but one that by virtue of her harsh life has a slightly more flexible moral code. Based on the breadth of diversity among the titles announced by Gunn and Safran, it sounds like the DCU is going to have a little something for everybody. The optimists and cynical, the edgy and the square, and those that take all this super seriously, and those that just want to have a good time.
We'll see how it all shakes out, but it's a promising start.