Supergirl Director Says Milly Alcock’s Kara Is “Rough Around The Edges” And “Unapologetic”

Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira says Milly Alcock brings an “unabashedly herself” version of Kara to the DCU.

DC Studios’ Supergirl is heading to theaters this month with a Kara Zor-El who is not polished, perfect, or eager to carry the weight of being a hero.

Directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira, the new Warner Bros. Pictures film stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. The film follows Kara after an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, forcing her to reluctantly join forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.

That story puts grief, resilience, and responsibility at the center of the film. According to Alcock, Supergirl is about two girls on a mission to overcome their own grief and internal turmoil. Her version of Kara is not a hero who has already accepted her place in the universe. She is someone who is uncomfortable with the life she has been given and the responsibility that comes with it.

“Kara is someone who is uncomfortable with the life that she’s been given and the responsibility that she’s been given,” Alcock said. “She internalizes that by kind of just self-destructing and kind of deflecting any sense of responsibility because it’s easier.”

That makes Supergirl one of the most emotionally charged entries in DC Studios’ growing slate. It is a cosmic superhero movie, but the people making it are describing it as a character-driven story about pain, anger, humor, loss, and the hard road toward becoming the person Kara is meant to be.

Milly Alcock Says Supergirl Is About Resilience, Grief, and Two Girls On A Mission

Alcock called the film’s world “beautiful” and praised the look and illustration of the universe created for Kara’s story. But what stood out most in her comments was not just the scale. It was the emotional core.

The actress said the story is about “resilience” and about two girls trying to overcome grief. That detail gives the film a strong emotional hook beyond the expected superhero action. Kara’s journey is not just about fighting a villain. It is about confronting what she has been avoiding inside herself.

Alcock’s comments also suggest that Kara’s resistance to responsibility is one of the main engines of the movie. Instead of immediately stepping into the role of a hero, Kara pushes away what is expected of her. She deflects. She self-destructs. She tries to avoid the burden because accepting it means facing the pain underneath.

That gives Supergirl a very different starting point from a cleaner, more traditional superhero arc. Kara has power, but she is not at peace with it. She has a legacy, but she is not comfortable carrying it. She has responsibility, but part of her wants to run from it.

Craig Gillespie Wanted A Supergirl Who Is Grounded, Vulnerable And Uncompromising

Gillespie said the film became a process of discovery, especially as it moved through production and into the edit. He described finding the character of Supergirl along the way, with Alcock’s version becoming more and more defined as the process continued.

For the director, one of the most exciting parts of Alcock’s performance was the way she made Kara stronger without removing her vulnerability.

“There’s just, she has this strength about her,” Gillespie said. “She’s not afraid to show her vulnerability, but she does it in this way that’s uncompromising.”

That word is important. Gillespie is not describing a soft or safe version of Supergirl. He is describing a character who is hurt, sharp, blunt, and emotionally exposed without becoming weak.

He also said Alcock’s interpretation of Supergirl is “rough around the edges” and “unapologetic.” Kara says what she thinks. She does not smooth herself out for other people. She is dry, but not in the same way audiences may expect from comedy in superhero movies.

That seems to be one of the key tonal differences in Supergirl. The humor is not there to pull the audience out of the emotion. It comes from Kara’s personality and the way she reacts to the world around her.

Gillespie said the goal was to keep Kara grounded and never move outside of what she is going through emotionally. Even with major action, world-building, and interstellar stakes, the film is designed to stay connected to Kara’s internal journey.

Supergirl Is Designed To Feel Like A Cousin To Superman, Not A Copy

Because Supergirl exists inside the same DC Universe as Superman, Gillespie also spoke about the challenge of making the film feel connected without making it feel identical.

He said the team wanted to honor Supergirl and her world while creating something that could be separate and different. He described the film as close enough to be a “cousin to Superman,” while still standing on its own under the same larger DC umbrella.

That is one of the strongest click reasons for DC fans. Supergirl is not being described as a repeat of Superman with a different lead. It is being positioned as its own corner of the DCU, with a different emotional rhythm, a different visual scale, and a different kind of hero.

Gillespie’s comments point to a film that can belong to the same universe while exploring another side of DC storytelling. Where Superman often represents hope, certainty, and idealism, this Kara seems more bruised, more reactive, and less comfortable with what the universe expects from her.

Kara’s Theme Had To Capture Her Rough, Active, and Impetuous Energy

Gillespie also revealed that the team had been talking a lot about how to capture Kara’s personality through her theme. Since this version of Supergirl is rough around the edges, unapologetic and direct, the music had to match that energy.

He described Kara as someone with a very active quality. She can be spontaneous, aggressive in certain moments, and almost impetuous. That suggests the film’s score and character theme are being shaped around movement, emotion, and impulse rather than a simple heroic fanfare.

That detail matters because superhero themes often help define how audiences understand a character. For this Supergirl, the theme appears to be built around who Kara is emotionally, not just what she can do physically.

Composer Claudia Sarne is handling the music for the film, with Susan Jacobs serving as music supervisor.

Ana Nogueira Says Milly Alcock Was Essential Because Kara Is “Unabashedly Herself.”

Nogueira said she and Gillespie connected immediately when they first met. They loved the same things about Kara and the same things about the comic, which became a creative through line for the entire film.

That shared vision helped shape the movie’s version of Supergirl. For Nogueira, the key to Kara is authenticity.

“I don’t know what we would have done without Milly because Kara is unabashedly herself,” Nogueira said. “She is authentic. To a fault. When she says it, she means it.”

Nogueira explained that kind of character can actually be challenging for an actor to portray. Actors often need to be flexible and adaptable, but Kara requires someone who can make blunt honesty feel natural instead of forced.

That is where Alcock came in. Nogueira said Alcock herself is incredibly authentic, and that honesty comes through in the way she plays Kara. The result is a Supergirl who does not feel like she is performing heroism. She feels like someone speaking from a raw, honest place, even when that honesty is messy.

Milly Alcock Says Craig Gillespie Looks For What Is “Not On The Page”

Alcock also praised Gillespie’s directing style, saying he is always looking for what is not on the page.

She explained that a scene can have clear beats and a clear arc, but Gillespie tries to invert it and find a more unexpected path. For Alcock, that made the process exciting and helped make the film feel unconventional as a superhero movie.

That is another major reason Supergirl could stand apart. Gillespie’s background includes character-driven films with messy, complicated protagonists, and Alcock’s comments suggest he brought that same instinct to Kara Zor-El.

Instead of simply following the obvious emotional beats, Gillespie looked for tension, contradiction, and surprise inside the scenes. That approach fits a character who is grieving, deflecting responsibility, and struggling with the life she has been given.

Craig Gillespie Says Milly Alcock Was Thrown Into The Deep End

Gillespie said Alcock was already signed on before he came aboard, but he could not have been happier with her casting.

He praised her effortless quality, her dry humor, and the emotional weight she carries on screen. According to Gillespie, Alcock’s ability to brush off humor while still holding deep emotion made her a perfect fit for the tone he wanted.

He also said Alcock was “thrown into the very deep end” and still remained present, nuanced, and true to Kara’s history.

That is a key piece of the film’s promise. Supergirl is not just asking Alcock to carry action scenes. It is asking her to carry the emotional weight of a character with a complicated past, a sharp personality, and a painful relationship with responsibility.

Gillespie said he could not have been happier to find an actor like Alcock for the role.

Eve Ridley Plays A Key Role In The Emotional Journey

Alcock also praised Eve Ridley, calling her “such a star” and highlighting how good she is at taking direction.

“She’s so adaptable as an actor,” Alcock said, adding that this quality can be especially difficult for young actors.

While the film’s official plot details are still being kept tight, Alcock’s comments make it clear that the relationship between Kara and Ridley’s character is central to the emotional shape of the movie. Alcock described the story as being about two girls on a mission to overcome their grief, which suggests their connection will be one of the film’s most important emotional threads.

That gives Supergirl a more personal entry point. It is not just about Kara traveling across planets. It is about the person she becomes because of the journey and the person beside her during it.

Jason Momoa’s Lobo Pays Homage To The Comics, Especially The 1990s Version

One of the biggest reasons DC fans will be watching Supergirl closely is the arrival of Jason Momoa as Lobo.

Gillespie called Momoa “a force” and said he fills the screen in a way that makes it obvious why he is a movie star. He also said Momoa had wanted to play Lobo for years and came into the film with major enthusiasm.

According to Gillespie, the team worked closely with Momoa to craft the character, including his look. They wanted to pay homage to the comic book version of Lobo, with a special focus on the 1990s era of the character.

That is an important detail for comic fans. Lobo has changed across decades, but the 1990s version is one of the most recognizable, known for his extreme personality, humor, attitude, and larger-than-life style.

Gillespie said Momoa came in with ideas and wanted to keep the humor and eccentricities of Lobo from the comics. He was ready to play, try things, and push the character.

“Nothing was sort of off-limits,” Gillespie said.

The director also said the range of performances Momoa gave him “blew me away,” and they kept building on that energy while filming.

Ana Nogueira Says Jason Momoa’s Lobo Feels “So Lived In”

Nogueira also praised Momoa’s commitment to Lobo. She said he came in with the energy of someone who had been waiting to play the part for a very long time.

While Nogueira admitted she had moments of wondering if she could pull it off, Momoa’s attitude was different. He was ready.

“He was like, ‘Put me in, coach,’” Nogueira said.

That confidence helped bring the character’s catchphrases, humor, and fun to the screen. Nogueira said she believes fans will be excited by this version of Lobo because Momoa has been preparing for it in his mind for so long.

“It shows on screen because it’s so lived in,” Nogueira said.

She also predicted that people are “just going to want more of it,” which could make Lobo one of the biggest breakout elements of the movie.

Supergirl was built with practical scale, huge sets, and IMAX In Mind

Gillespie also teased the physical scale of Supergirl, including a major focus on in-camera work.

He said the team started with strong imagery for what they wanted the movie to feel like visually. From there, the effort became a collaboration between visual effects supervisor Geoffrey Baumann, the stunt department, and production designer Neil Lamont.

Gillespie said he is a big fan of getting as much in-camera as possible, and that approach led to one of the film’s biggest practical builds. The production took the largest stage at Leavesden and built a town square that was essentially live on set.

He also described using armored assault vehicles that weighed roughly a ton and a half and were launched 40 feet in the air.

That is exactly the kind of detail fans love because it shows the movie is not relying only on digital scale. Even with cosmic world-building and multiple planets, Supergirl is being built with real sets, real stunt elements, and physical action that can be expanded through visual effects.

Craig Gillespie Says Supergirl Spans Five Planets

Gillespie said conversations about IMAX started early in the process, and he was thrilled by the idea of presenting the movie on that scale.

The reason is simple: Supergirl is big.

The director teased massive set pieces, large battles, and major fight sequences designed for the biggest possible screen. He also revealed that the film includes world-building across five different planets.

“The set pieces in this, the scale of these battles and these fight sequences, I can’t wait to see in IMAX,” Gillespie said. “They’re massive.”

He said the idea of audiences being engulfed by the film’s worlds in an IMAX theater is what he is most excited to experience.

That gives Supergirl another strong theatrical hook. This is not being framed as a small side story in the DCU. It is an interstellar film with five planets, big battles, large-scale world-building, and a director specifically talking about the IMAX experience.

Why Supergirl Could Be One Of DC Studios’ Most Distinct Films Yet

Everything Gillespie, Nogueira, and Alcock are saying points to a superhero film built around contrast.

Kara is powerful, but emotionally wounded. She is funny, but not in an easy or familiar superhero-comedy way. She is heroic, but she resists responsibility and even though she is connected to Superman, but her movie is designed to feel separate. The film is massive in scale, but the creative team keeps bringing the conversation back to Kara’s grief, anger, and internal struggle.

That combination could help Supergirl carve out its own space in the DCU.

It is a film about vengeance and justice, but also about two girls dealing with grief. It is a cosmic adventure, but also a character study while being a part of a larger franchise, but Gillespie is making it clear that Kara’s story has its own attitude and emotional language.

Supergirl Cast, Filmmakers And Release Details

Supergirl stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. The cast also includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa.

The film is directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira. DC Studios heads Peter Safran and James Gunn are producing.

The film is based on characters from DC. Supergirl is based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The executive producers are Nigel Gostelow, Chantal Nong Vo, and Lars P. Winther.

Behind the camera, Gillespie is joined by director of photography Rob Hardy, production designer Neil Lamont, editors Tatiana S. Riegel and Fred Raskin, costume designers Anna B. Sheppard and Michael Mooney, visual effects supervisor Geoffrey Baumann, music supervisor Susan Jacobs, and composer Claudia Sarne.

Supergirl will be released in theaters on June 26, 2026.

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