Supergirl Screenwriter Couldn’t Crack Sunny Kara—Until Reading Tom King’s Woman of Tomorrow
Screenwriter Ana Nogueira is betting on a Supergirl who is rougher, grittier, edgier—and funnier—in Woman of the Tomorrow.
Supergirl is not going full sunshine-and-smiles this time. Screenwriter Ana Nogueira says the classic chipper take on Kara Zor-El never clicked for her — until she found Tom King’s comic 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow' and everything snapped into place.
"When I read it, I was like, 'There she is.'"
Why this Kara hits different
Nogueira told Variety she struggled with the perky versions of Supergirl because Kara’s backstory is anything but light. She literally watched Krypton get wiped out. She’s technically older than her cousin even if she looks younger. And unlike Clark, she didn’t grow up with human parents smoothing out the edges. In other words: less farm-bred optimism, more survivor energy. King’s comic leaned into that — rougher, sharper, darkly funny — and that’s the spine of Nogueira’s script.
What we know so far
- Source material: The film is based on Tom King’s 'Woman of Tomorrow', which follows a harder, more sardonic Kara.
- Director: Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya; Cruella) is behind the camera.
- Supergirl: Milly Alcock plays Kara Zor-El, leaning into the jaded cousin angle rather than the eternal optimist.
- Story vibe: Expect a planet-hopping revenge journey with Kara on a bloody mission and Krypto the Superdog along for the ride.
- Villain: Matthias Schoenaerts is Krem of the Yellow Hills.
- Cameo: Jason Momoa shows up as Lobo, the galactic bounty hunter.
- Writer status: This is Nogueira’s first produced feature, and she’s already at work on Wonder Woman and Teen Titans projects for James Gunn’s DC Studios.
- DCU placement: This is part of the new DCU Chapter One slate.
- Release date: June 26, 2026, in theaters.
Inside baseball-wise, it’s a bold first feature to take on: steer a legacy character away from decades of smiley portrayals and into something that actually matches her trauma. If you’ve read King’s book, you know that version of Kara can cut — and it sounds like the movie is bringing that edge to the big screen.