James Gunn and Zack Snyder both introduced their own versions of Supergirl in their respective DC universes, but they were wildly different adaptations of the same character. James Gunn’s DCU properly introduced its version of Kara Zor-El through this year’s Supergirl. Though Supergirl lost a significant amount of money at the box office, Gunn has confirmed that Milly Alcock will be returning as Kara, and that she’ll continue being important to upcoming DCU movies and shows.
So far, the DCU’s version of Supergirl is rather similar to her comic book counterpart, albeit with some major changes. Just as in Woman of Tomorrow, the comic Supergirl 2026 is based on, Kara began as a loner with a drinking problem who shirked both her cousin, Kal-El, and any responsibility to be a superhero on Earth. By the end of that film, however, Kara decides to genuinely try to build a new life on Earth and to be a more hopeful figure than she had been.
Milly Alcock’s Supergirl is also significantly different from the version of the character in Zack Snyder’s DCEU. While most fans will remember that Supergirl had her first and only appearance in the DCEU in 2023’s The Flash, that wasn’t actually the only time the character was hinted at in the Snyderverse. Supergirl was secretly introduced in Man of Steel, and that version of Kara Zor-El was very different from the version in Supergirl 2026.
Man Of Steel Subtly Introduced Zack Snyder’s Supergirl
She didn’t actually appear in the film, but Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel secretly introduced the DCEU’s version of Supergirl. Towards the beginning of Man of Steel, Clark finds and investigates a crashed Kryptonian ship. Inside, he discovers several dead bodies locked in presumably cryogenic pods, but one of them is left open and empty. It isn’t said out loud in the film, but a later Man of Steel prequel comic book confirmed that Kara Zor-El was the Kryptonian who escaped from that pod.
As the prequel comic revealed, Kara’s ship crash-landed on Earth thousands of years before Kal-El arrived as a baby. There aren’t a lot of details available about this original version of Supergirl in the DCEU, as any plans to utilize her never came to fruition, but she was presumably still Kal-El’s cousin. There is also some indication that she may have been part of the Justice Society alongside Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, and Hawkman, as the comic Black Adam – The Justice Society Files: Cyclone revealed that Cyclone had drawn a picture of Supergirl when she was a child.
Even though the details are sparse, it’s clear to see that Zack Snyder’s version of Supergirl was significantly different than James Gunn’s version. Unlike Milly Alcock’s character, the DCEU’s Supergirl actually arrived long before Kal-El did, and presumably hid away for millennia for an undisclosed reason. She also refused to join the fight against Steppenwolf in Justice League for some reason, while Alcock’s character is set to help Superman battle Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow.
We may never know what Zack Snyder was originally planning to do with Supergirl in the DCEU. However, it is safe to assume it would have been wildly different from what James Gunn has done with the character so far. Snyder’s version likely would have been much more self-serious, probably more brutal, and likely much more indifferent to humanity than the DCU’s Kara is now after the ending of Supergirl.
The DCEU Eventually Debuted A Different Supergirl
Even though Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel teased Supergirl’s arrival, she never actually appeared in the DCEU before Snyder left the franchise. Sasha Calle played Supergirl in The Flash in 2023, but it technically wasn’t the same version of the character Snyder had set up. Calle’s Supergirl is from the Flashpoint timeline, an alternate version of the DCEU. Her version of Supergirl wasn’t the one from the empty pod in Man of Steel, she was one that Barry Allen found through his time travel.
Though she wasn’t the original Supergirl in the DCEU, Calle’s version of Kara Zor-El was supposed to have a much bigger part to play in the franchise. Rather infamously, The Flash had three different endings throughout its troubled production. In the final ending, Barry resets the DCEU’s timeline, and Calle’s Supergirl essentially returns to her original timeline and universe.
In one of the alternate endings, Supergirl was supposed to join Michael Keaton’s Batman and presumably be a main figure in future DCEU movies. In another, Calle’s Supergirl would have stayed in the main DCEU timeline and joined Henry Cavill’s Superman in a Man of Steel sequel. Those endings were scrapped in favor of The Flash‘s actual ending, and since the DCEU ended shortly after, Calle never got a chance to play Supergirl again.
Though she never got a chance to really shine in the role, Sasha Calle’s Supergirl was also quite different from Milly Alcock’s. Most of that is due to her relation to the Flashpoint timeline, as Calle’s character was captured by Soviets and experimented on relentlessly. She’s also much more focused and less inclined to party than Alcock’s character. Unfortunately, we don’t know if the DCEU’s Supergirl would have been more or less similar to the character in the DCU’s Supergirl, and we’ll probably never find out.
- Release Date
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June 26, 2026
- Runtime
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108 minutes
- Director
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Craig Gillespie
- Writers
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Ana Nogueira
- Producers
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James Gunn, Lars P. Winther, Nigel Gostelow, Peter Safran