The superhero genre continues to thrive, and we're still early into the life of the new DC Universe. Created by co-CEO James Gunn, the first slate of projects is titled Gods and Monsters and features both movies and streaming content for those with a HBO Max subscription. The next highly anticipated upcoming DC movie is Craig Gillespie's Supergirl, which stars Milly Alcock as the title character. And while her character Kara Zor-El is kind of a drunk, the actress revealed the deeper message she's hoping audiences will take from the blockbuster.
What we know about Supergirl is pretty limited, but fans are hyped for the cosmic adventure that's headed to theaters this summer. The Supergirl trailer teased some of the adventures to come, and also confirmed that the title character is still hitting the sauce. In an interview and photo shoot with Beyond Noise, Alcock shared what she hopes young people will take from character's flaws. In her words:
I think young girls should walk away from the film knowing that it’s OK to be a bit bad, and messy.
Honestly, I love this messaging. Rather than Supergirl being a symbol of hope and kindness like her cousin, Alcock's character is very different. She's seemingly ruled my trauma related to the destruction of Krypton, and uses booze to help cope with it all. And while the House of the Dragon star doesn't want this to be an example for young people, she does think there's value in her character showing girls it's ok to be less than perfect.
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Moviegoers who have spent years watching the DC movies in order will likely notice that the characterization described by Alcock stands in stark juxtaposition to heroes like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. She was strong, king, beautiful, and anything but "messy." There's nothing wrong with this portrayal, but women contain multitudes and Supergirl will be able to tell a very different superhero story.
As a reminder, you can check out the first trailer for Supergirl below, which definitely shows Kara being rough around the edges (and more than a little drunk).
Over the past few years, there's been a ton of conversation about the power of representation in the media. That includes portraying different types of women, rather than having them be an unrealistic monolith. And Milly Alcock seems to understand the platform she has with her ongoing role in the DCU.
Supergirl is set to hit theaters on June 26th as part of the 2026 movie release list. It should be fascinating to see where Alcock's character goes next in the burgeoning shared universe.
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