Supergirl Looks Like A (Mostly) Faithful Adaptation Of A Great Comic Book Series
by Devin Meenan · /FilmLike how James Gunn's "Superman" was first announced as "Superman: Legacy," the upcoming "Supergirl" originally had a now-dropped subtitle: "Woman of Tomorrow." "Superman: Legacy" was a thematic title; it's clear now Gunn had considered the subtitle "Legacy" because the movie is about Superman (David Corenswet) learning the truth about Krypton's legacy and how it might impact his own.
"Woman of Tomorrow," though, was a title taken from the comic that inspired the movie. Unlike most Marvel/DC films, "Supergirl" is not going to be a general adaptation of its titular character or an amalgam of different stories. The movie is specifically adapting 2021's "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow," an eight-issue comic mini-series by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely.
I attended a "Supergirl" trailer premiere event for /Film on Sunday, December 7, which Gunn oversaw alongside Supergirl actor Milly Alcock and director Craig Gillespie. Gunn told the crowd the story of how he first read "Woman of Tomorrow" while he and Peter Safran were in negotiations to take over DC Studios. Reading the comic, Gunn said, got him thinking it was exactly the kind of tale he'd love to see DC Studios make into a movie. So, it has.
Now the "Supergirl" trailer has debuted publicly, and the movie is following, at the least, the comic's broad strokes. Like in the source material, Supergirl is helping a young alien girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), track down her father's murderer, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Kara's brown overcoat and her boozed-up disposition are taken straight from her first appearance in "Woman of Tomorrow" issue #1, when meets Ruthye in a tavern. Eagle-eyed fans can spot other echoes of, and differences from, the comic even in the brief two-minute trailer.
Where the Supergirl movie does and doesn't change Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Though "Woman of Tomorrow" is a compact read, it's episodic like a good comic series should remember to be. The issues almost all have unique settings and conflicts contained within themselves. How will a two-hour film streamline that, and what beats will get left out?
The trailer includes brief flashes of Supergirl's childhood on Argo City, Krypton, also told in issue #6 of "Woman of Tomorrow." Kara will be haunted by her past in the movie, so it only makes sense for the film to explore that past. Another frame shows Ruthye sitting in what looks like a row of seats on public transport. So, expect the scenes from "Woman of Tomorrow" #2, when Kara and Ruthye deal with some annoying passengers on a space-bus.
Krypto the Superdog is back from "Superman," and the trailer shows Kara looking at him forlorn. In "Woman of Tomorrow" #1, Krem shoots Krypto with some arrows, and Kara supposedly pursues Krem with Ruthye to obtain a cure for Krypto's ailment. (It later turns out Krypto was fine, and Kara really wanted to prevent Ruthye from stumbling down a dark path of revenge.) Considering "Superman" cut a bit with Krypto being attacked after test audiences hated it, one wonders how DC Studios will handle this plot point in "Supergirl."
In the comic, Krem signs up with some marauders called Barbond's Brigands, and the trailer shows Kara and Ruthye fighting space pirates. Krem appears to be an orange-skinned alien, whereas in the comic he looked like a normal human. Another character teased is Jason Momoa's Lobo; originally, "Woman of Tomorrow" was going to be a Supergirl/Lobo team-up, but King & Evely decided to use Supergirl as the mentor of another young girl instead.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is about two young women saving each other
"Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" is an homage to "True Grit," and Ruthye is Mattie Ross; plucky, articulate, and the narrator. The big difference is that in "True Grit," the Marshal Rooster Cogburn who Mattie hires is over-the-hill; he's killed probably too many men for him to remember and is now drinking his last years away. Supergirl couldn't be further from that. "Woman of Tomorrow" adapts "True Grit" but flips the central dynamic; the older tracker is the one restoring the young girl's optimism. Yet, by the end, that dynamic is flipped again.
Spoilers for "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" follow.
In "Woman of Tomorrow" #8, Supergirl (who's seen the worst the galaxy has to offer on her and Ruthye's odyssey) is ready to kill Krem. But Kara's optimism has rubbed off on Ruthye, and she holds Supergirl back. In the end, the two women save each other.
Spoilers end here.
So, while "Supergirl" is sticking close to the comic's story, what about its visuals? Evely's art is painterly and luscious with a golden hue palette — it's a style that doesn't naturally translate to a filmed medium. She gave each "Woman of Tomorrow" issue a distinct identity of setting. Ruthye's homeworld in issue #1 is half American West, half Hyborian. Issue #3 (which spins an allegory about segregation) evokes '50 U.S. suburbia, while issue #5 sees Kara and Ruthye dodging alien dinosaurs. "Woman of Tomorrow" truly feels like a trek across many different worlds, especially since Evely draws on fantasy imagery as much as science-fiction. Let's hope the full "Supergirl" movie has more of the comic's vibrance than this brief tease does.
"Supergirl" is scheduled for wide theatrical release on June 26, 2026.