One of DC's iconic superheroes will be both powerful and powerless in their leading debut this year. Milly Alcock's Supergirl first appeared in 2025's Superman, ahead of her solo film in 2026, which draws on DC's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic arc. Kara Zor-El has already shown off an expressive display of superpowers in Supergirl's first trailer, but she won't always be at the top of her game in the 2026 movie.
During Supergirl's first press conference in December 2025, director Craig Gillespie confirmed that some moments of the DC Studios film will find the titular hero without her powers. This powerlessness is a result of the Kryptonian being on a "red planet" which means she has "no power." Gillespie spoke on this in relation to choreographing fight sequences on Supergirl, as the location of the red vs. yellow planet would dictate how the combat played out:
Craig Gillespie: "We had about six or seven weeks that was just all stunts... So there was a lot going on, but it was really exciting in a way because in each case it was always a little different, whether [Supergirl] had her full power, whether she had no power, if she's on a red planet, whether she has the fully generated power. And also emotionally where she is in the story dictated a lot of how these fight sequences go.
In DC lore, red planets, or planets orbiting red suns, render Kryptonians powerless, as their powers come from the yellow sun, which is what makes Superman and Supergirl so powerful on Earth. Following Supergirl's cameo in Superman, her cousin commented that Kara "likes to go and party on other planets. Planets with red suns," adding that "Because of our metabolism, we can’t get drunk on a planet with a yellow sun."
While Superman's Kryptonite weakness was on display in Superman, the impact of a red planet has yet to be shown in the new DCU, but it will be a core part of the narrative in Supergirl. Gillespie added that Supergirl's powerlessness is self-inflicted, as she's "trying to find every red planet she can," as they make her feel more normal:
Craig Gillespie: "She's very, very much trying to find every red planet she can."
James Gunn: "Yeah. It is fun watching the movie because she's going in and out of these planets, with red planets and yellow planets. And Superman's powers [and] Supergirl's powers don't work on a red planet. They're just ordinary human beings."
Craig Gillespie: "And that's where she's comfortable."
These comments suggest that Supergirl may lose her powers multiple times throughout the movie, as she wanders the galaxy in search of red planets that will allow her to exist as a normal human. The movie's trailer showed that Supergirl is more invested in drinking than in heroics, like her cousin, which ties to the trauma she experienced when her home planet, Krypton, was destroyed.
It's likely that audiences may find Kara powerless almost immediately. The Woman of Tomorrow comic begins on Ruthye's home planet, which orbits a red star, which is where the drunken hero visits in order to celebrate and get drunk on her birthday. While there, she meets Ruthye, who enlists her help in tracking down Krem of the Yellow Hills. A similar situation plays out in Supergirl's first trailer, which shows the hero celebrating her birthday and drinking at an intergalactic bar, where the red sun keeps her powers at bay.
The flip side is that Supergirl's power loss is only temporary, and she will definitely have all of her Kryptonian abilities on display throughout the film, as soon as she departs a red planet.
Supergirl is the next major live-action release in DC Studios' new DCU, picking up with Alcock's character in her own solo adventure that also features Eve Ridley as Ruthye and Jason Momoa as Lobo. The movie will be released in cinemas on June 26, 2026.
Supergirl's Power Loss Is A Part of Her Journey
While a hero losing their powers would typically be used as a weakness at a critical point in the film, in Supergirl's case, it is self-inflicted and tied to her emotional arc.
Unlike her cousin, Superman, Supergirl is not tempted to be Earth's savior; instead, she is intent on shirking her Kryptonian heritage and trying to be as normal as possible to forget it. This leads her to recklessly chase powerlessness and end up on red planets.
While Supergirl's power loss can easily be rectified by travelling to a yellow sun planet, the decision to accept her superpowers and her Kryptonian status has to also come from within Kara, which is the journey she has to go on in Supergirl by accompanying Ruthye on her mission for revenge.
Supergirl's trailer has already revealed that Kara will put on the red and blue "S" sigil at some point in the film and evolve into the iconic DC hero everyone knows her as. But she has to climb a hill to get there, which is where powerlessness on red planets becomes a crucial part of her development.
