Milly Alcock's Supergirl Is A Very Different Character Than David Corenswet's Superman (And That's Important)

On Sunday, December 7, I attended a trailer premiere event for "Supergirl," with director Craig Gillespie and James Gunn (producer, "Superman" director, and DC Studios mastermind) in attendance. A word they used a lot describing Supergirl was "anti-hero," which is not a label Superman often receives.

It's 50/50 right now if Superman (David Corenswet) will appear in "Supergirl." He doesn't show up in the now released debut trailer for "Supergirl," but he is alluded to so that Kara (Milly Alcock) can contrast herself with her cousin.

"He sees the good in people. I see the truth," Kara says at the end of the trailer. Clark Kent is an idealist, which is his greatest strength of character (but one that can be exploited). The biggest twist of "Superman" was that his Kryptonian parents' last message wasn't telling him to save Earth like he always assumed, but to conquer it. As his adoptive father Jonathan Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince) tells Clark, it's his assumptions about what the message meant that show the kind of man he is.

Rather than trying to reshape the Man of Steel to fit into a modern world, "Superman" presents him in the vein of the earnest (and iconic) Christopher Reeve portrayal. Corenswet's Superman is super, but he's also a man; a kindhearted and dorky guy trying to do his best. Kara Zor-El is also human, but in a different, flawed way. The first bit in the trailer is Kara's unruly Krypto literally pissing on a newspaper article about Superman's heroic exploits, setting up that "Supergirl" the movie and its lead are not the same as "Superman." Solar-powered though she may be, Kara does not share her cousin's sunny attitude.

When we meet Supergirl at the end of "Superman," she comes crashing into the Fortress of Solitude drunk, having gone bar-hopping on alien worlds. That seeming irresponsibility and hedonism contrasts her immediately with Superman. Even if Clark could get drunk, he seems like the kind of guy whose hardest drink order is sparkling cider or ginger ale (but who also never shames anyone else for having safe fun).

Kara's drinking appears in a sadder light in the "Supergirl" trailer. Even in the brief two-minute runtime, it's clear that Kara is weary about both the world and herself. She toasts sardonically with Krypto that her next year will be the best one yet, then brings down the excitement by saying that wouldn't be a high bar for her. Her cynicism comes with good reason. While Superman was raised by loving parents on Earth after Krypton's destruction, Kara got to see her civilization's slow end firsthand; her hometown Argo City was blasted off the exploding planet and died a slow death in space.

Characterizing Supergirl as an anti-hero will help cast off any perception that her character is a copy of Superman, but as a woman. At the trailer premiere event, I briefly spoke with Alcock, who did not come to the project as a DC Comics expert, about what she responded to in "Supergirl" and its DC Comics source material "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow." She said it was Kara's flaws and refusal to be anyone but herself:

"I think that the book shows us a woman who's inherently flawed, she's unapologetic, and she has a certain expectation that she has to behave a certain way because of where she's from and who she is. And I really admired her ability to resist that."

There is something to be said about the subversiveness of allowing a female character, let alone a female superhero, to be so openly flawed. Women are often expected to be perfect and quiet, so the DC Universe is flipping that on its head by letting Kara be the louder, messier, and less forgiving Super cousin. Yet, this also suggests a different trend in genre fiction, one that makes strong women shed any femininity because that's supposedly weak. (For a prime example, see Lindsay Ellis' video essay analysis of Sansa Stark's character development in "Game of Thrones.")

You see that especially with modern handlings of DC's no. 1 biggest female superhero, Wonder Woman, including in the previous DC Extended Universe. Many writers' solutions to the perception she's a weak character is to make her more militant, aka the one Justice League member who kills, or a swordswoman rather than an ambassador of peace. A brilliant counterbalance to that regrettable trend is Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman's ongoing "Absolute Wonder Woman" — this Diana may wield a huge sword, but she prefers to change her enemies' hearts, not chop their heads off.

If the movie can let Alcock's Supergirl be messy, strong, vulnerable, and everything in-between with an understanding that none of those qualities undermine the other, I think it will soar.

"Supergirl" is scheduled for theatrical release on June 26, 2026.