Supergirl Makes One Major Structural Change To The Woman Of Tomorrow Comics [Set Visit]

The upcoming "Supergirl" isn't throwing bits and pieces of its namesake's comic book history together into a new story the way most superhero movies do. Rather, director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira are specifically adapting a recent but acclaimed comic about Kara Zor-El: "Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow" by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. The first "Supergirl" trailer showed off the "Woman of Tomorrow" influence, but there's a key difference to how the film is structuring the story.

"Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" is a space opera. Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock in the DC Universe) travels across the galaxy with a young alien girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley in "Supergirl"), to hunt down Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), the brigand who killed Ruthye's father. "Woman of Tomorrow" is a riff on the classic Western "True Grit" — Ruthye plays the part of young Mattie Ross, seeking to avenge her father, while Supergirl is gunslinger Rooster Cogburn. "True Grit" is Mattie's story first and foremost, as she learns what it means to survive on the frontier as adult men fail her. Accordingly, "Woman of Tomorrow" gives Ruthye the central arc, but "Supergirl" is reframing things from Kara's POV.

/Film visited the "Supergirl" set back in April 2025, where publicist Sophie Scott made clear the title character of "Supergirl" is the main character: "This is Supergirl's movie. It's Supergirl's movie, but [Kara and Ruthye] are travel buddies." Noting the influence of "True Grit" on the story, Scott added, "I think that model is very evident in our film. The two of them together is really the bulk of the film."

How might "Supergirl" give Kara a more dramatic character arc? The film's marketing campaign might hold hints.

Spoilers for "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" to follow.

"Woman of Tomorrow" depicts Supergirl as an optimistic hero. She tags along on Ruthye's quest not so much to help her get revenge, but to save her soul. The twist is that Kara's super-pup Krypto is never in any real danger after being injured by Krem early in the story. (He heals up nice and quick). Kara just claims that she needs an antidote from Krem to treat Krypto as a pretense to come with Ruthye.

Conversely, "Supergirl" is marketing its version of Kara as an antihero and more cynical than her cousin Superman (David Corenswet). Kara observed in the first "Supergirl" trailer that "[Superman] sees the good in everyone; I see the truth." The movie is also going to explore Kara's traumatic childhood; she grew up on a chunk of Krypton sent hurtling through space after the planet blew up. She also had to watch everyone around her die until her father Zor-El (David Krumholtz) sent her and Krypto away in a rocket ship, much like how her uncle Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) had saved her cousin Kal years earlier.

It'd be a pretty easy character arc for Supergirl to get past her cynicism and become a hero more like her cousin by opening up to Ruthye. In the second "Supergirl" trailer, Kara is heard warning Ruthye, "Revenge, it won't take your pain away," which means the movie might be turning their relationship into more of a mutual growth, compared to Kara helping Ruthye come of age in "Woman of Tomorrow."

"Supergirl" is also going to introduce Jason Momoa as Lobo, the "main man" and an intergalactic bounty hunter. (He's basically a biker, but his bike flies through space.) This is the biggest change from "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow," where Lobo does not appear. Lobo was going to team up with Supergirl in the comic at one point, but, ultimately, it didn't happen, so the "Supergirl" movie is finally implementing that unused idea.

Chantal Nong Vo, the executive vice president of production at DC Studios and an executive producer on "Supergirl," discussed the decision to include Lobo during the set visit. "We felt like in a story like this, you generally want somebody to twist it up, change the game unexpectedly," Vo explained. Alluding to the Western cinema influence baked into the story, Vo (crediting DC Studios President James Gunn) said there are "black hats, white hats, and gray hats" on the galactic frontier of "Supergirl." Kara and Ruthye are slightly in the gray, while Lobo is "in the dark gray area," per Vo:

"It's really interesting to have somebody who plays with the gray area when you have a Supergirl and a Ruthye who are both kind of going from black to white, white to black, etc. you have somebody else opining, if you will. He's got a code, and it's just really interesting to see how it plays out. So, it was really story driven, but, obviously, he's a good toy to have."

Perhaps Lobo, and a true black hat like Krem, will be a wakeup call for Supergirl about what'll happen if she dips further into gray.

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