The DC Universe version of Supergirl is “a total mess,” DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has said now Superman is out in the wild.
Warning! Spoilers for Superman follow:
If you’ve seen Superman you’ll know that Supergirl makes a cameo appearance at the end to pick up her troublesome dog, Krypto, who Kal-El has been babysitting. She’s drunk, much to Superman’s annoyance, and even calls her cousin a “bitch” as she stumbles out the Fortress of Solitude.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Gunn confirmed this is the version of Supergirl we will see in next year’s Supergirl movie, starring Milly Alcock in the title role of Kara Zor-El / Supergirl.
“Yeah, that’s her,” he said. “She’s a mess. She’s a total mess.”
But why is she in this state? As revealed in Superman, Supergirl got drunk on a planet bathed in the light of a red sun (it’s impossible for Superman or any Kryptonian to get drunk on earth due to the empowering effects of our yellow sun).
But beyond this, clearly Supergirl is suffering from mental health issues that are driving her to drink, the result of a very different upbringing compared to her cousin’s.
“I mean, I think as we learn, she’s had a completely different background from Superman,” Gunn continued. “A much more difficult background. He’s had this wonderful upbringing by these two parents that loved him and were very healthy. And her background was much different than that. And she’s ended up different than her cousin.”
The DCU Supergirl movie is based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s comic, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. “In our story, we have Superman who was sent to Earth and raised by incredibly loving parents,” Gunn has explained. “Kara was on Krypton. She was on a piece of Krypton that drifted away from the planet and she lived there for the first 14 years of her life in a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die. So, she’s a much harsher and more f*cked up Supergirl than you’ve been used to thus far.”
Recently, Gunn has called Supergirl a “space fantasy” — and said it will have a different tone than Superman. Expect Jason Momoa’s Lobo to star alongside Supergirl in the film. The question is, will Superman also appear?
For more, check out IGN’s article, Superman Introduces the Girl of Steel: Here’s Why This Version of Supergirl Is So Different.
In the U.S., Superman got the DCU off to a flyer with a global weekend take of $217 million at the box office. Its $122 million domestic haul was enough to make it the biggest North American launch ever for a solo Superman film, not adjusted for inflation.
Check out IGN’s Superman review to find out what we think, and then head over to our Superman Ending and Post-Credits Explained to find out what it all means.
Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
