That Cameo In James Gunn's Superman

Well, it's been a week and the news has spread around the internet, so I figure it is okay to comment about that Supergirl cameo in James Gunn's Superman.

First, to level set, I very much liked the movie. Yes, at times it felt a little overstuffed with lots of moving parts and plots. But to be honest, it felt very much like a 'comic book movie', a sort of six issue arc in a title. This chapter is fighting the kaiju while Lex invades the Fortress. Next issue, Superman imprisoned, the breakout from the pocket universe! So I was very pleased with it and plan on seeing it again. 

As for Supergirl, I'll start out by saying Milly Alcock in the Supergirl uniform looks great. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to see my favorite hero in a comic accurate costume on the IMAX screen.

Very cool.

Milly Alcock Hired To Play Supergirl

The news broke on Monday of this week that Milly Alcock was hired by James Gunn to play Supergirl in his upcoming slate of DC movies. There are many links out there covering the story. Here is one from Variety: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/supergirl-milly-alcock-james-gunn-1235891230/

That is pretty much the extent of the news so now it is time for opinion. 

As a longtime Supergirl fan, I like that Kara is going to look like the classic character, as a blond. I have just started watching House of Dragons and have found Alcock to be a very good actor, holding up her end of her scenes. 

So I think the casting is great. 

I also like the reports that Supergirl will appear in the Superman Legacy movie, thus introducing her to the world before her solo movie gets released. Let's see the super-cousins actually interact on the big screen!

The Supergirl movie is scheduled for down the road so who knows if it will actually get made although it now has a star and a screenwriter. 

What I still have an issue with is the source material - Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow.

Remember this quoate?

That makes the character “much more hardcore,” Gunn explained in 2023 when presenting the first 10 titles in the new DCU slate. “She’s not exactly the Supergirl we’re used to seeing.”

I found much of Tom King's book to be terrible, showing us a depressed, angry, isolated Supergirl. She brings a child to witness (and not stop) an execution by stoning. She puts Krem in the Phantom Zone and then allows him to be beaten after he repents. She cries in the sun. Not a lot of heroism there.

But maybe Alcock will bring some pathos to the whole thing. 

One last note. I want to again thank Sasha Calle from playing an excellent Supergirl in the Flash movie. Her look wasn't classic but given the 'Flashpoint' feel of the whole thing, her looking more like Clark worked. And she played Supergirl with a steely determination and one with heart. 

Will I like the James Gunn Supergirl movie? I can only hope.

James Gunn And The Supergirl Movie

Over on Twitter, James Gunn, the co-CEO for DC Studios, unveiled his plans for the next slate of DC projects.  Please listen to the clip as there are a lot of things that sound interesting, like Creature Commandos.

But the last project me names is Supergirl, based on Tom King's Supergirl, Woman of Tomorrow.

I have to tell you, my heart sank when I listened to the clip. He loved King's take on the character. Supergirl is 'much more jaded' than Superman. 

It's as if Gunn, like King, doesn't understand the character and her 60 years of existence.

But it got a little bit worse when I read more of what Gunn had to say.

Woman of Tomorrow was a 'wonderful comic'. 

King, someone who never understands a character or their history, is one of the architects in the DCEU room! Kara is much harsher and much more f**ked up than we've been used to this far. 

He says all those things as if they are good things.

I have been very vocal about my dislike of Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow, so no need to drudge up the comic.

But let me put these other thoughts out there.

One of the complaints about the DCEU movies is that they simply didn't understand the character. A Superman who kills, who flies away when the Senate blows up. A Batman who kills. An overly dour tone to all the proceedings. That take failed, resulting in this whole new slate and take on the universe.

So why hire an architect whose whole oeuvre is deconstructing and destroying characters?

Next, we had a very successful take on Supergirl on television, one where she was the primary hero of her world, an inspiration for others. That DID work.

And, unfortunately, Supergirl is always lucky when she gets some a shot in other media. But they are precious few. They stick.

If Batman does a bad animated movie (like having sex with Batgirl on a rooftop), it is a drop in the bucket. Three weeks later, another Batman movie is on the shelf. 

If Supergirl does something bad, she doesn't get second shots that often. If this doesn't work, there won't be a Supergirl movie for 40 years (proof seen in the aftermath of the '84 flick?).

So why break away from the character and what works and try a harsher take? Why do a harsher take when we have seen that a harsher take in the DCEU has failed horribly in the past? And why pick a Supergirl story which isn't even a Supergirl story to base her movie on?

Moreover, let's say it is a success. Then moving forward, Supergirl will be harsher and more f**ked up moving forward. So, the movie will undo 6 decades of stories. That is scary. 

I would rather have NO Supergirl movie than have a Supergirl movie based on that work with that 'jaded' take. 

Me, the guy who has run a Supergirl site for over a dozen years, doesn't want a Supergirl movie.