As part of a new interview, DC Studios head James Gunn revealed what DCU project he sees as a Guardians of the Galaxy replacement movie. Before Gunn took over the Blue Brand, he firmly Mr. Marvel, working with Marvel Studios on the critically acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy before moving across the aisle to lead Warner Bros. own comic-based canon. While Gunn's fingerprints have been all over the new super-powered universe, fans have yet to get the full Guardians experience at DC. That may all be changing soon, though.
According to Gunn, he views next year's Supergirl as the most Guardians of the Galaxy movie on the DCU slate. Speaking with Rolling Stone in the wake of his Peacemaker Season 2 finale, the DC Studios head posited, "Supergirl... is a space adventure. It's like Guardians:"
Q: This war, this thread — will we be seeing this in things like 'Lanterns' and 'Supergirl?' Or is this really your arc and not necessarily the larger story?
A: "No, no. Both those things are worked in. We knew both of those stories were a part of what we originally put together, so they’re part of the overall tapestry, but they’re also their own thing. 'Supergirl' especially is a space adventure. It’s like 'Guardians.' 'Lanterns' is its own thing. There’s just a longer, sort of a bigger world we’re building with all these different pieces, and they do all come together and intersect sometimes in a story fashion and sometimes just in a, you know, 'here’s another piece of the world' fashion."
The upcoming 2026 film from I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie is said to take the DCU cosmic for the first time, telling a space-faring story of revenge that will almost surely draw inspiration from Guardians.
However, the similarities between the two will not stop there. Like Guardians, Gunn teased, Supergirl will feature licensed music, but to what extent remains unclear:
Q: "In the upcoming stuff — the 'Supergirl' movie and the HBO Max show 'Lanterns' — are you thinking that way about songs?"
A: "There’s songs in both of those things. But I don’t give a shit if there’s songs in something or not. For me, I use songs like — listen, Superman to me was a score movie. There’s just the one song that is strangely probably the biggest sort of hit song I’ve had out of a show that wasn’t Wig Wam. You know, maybe 'Come and Get Your Love' from the first 'Guardians.' But everybody knew 'Come and Get Your Love.' It was like a rediscovery of a song from a new perspective."
Supergirl comes to theaters on June 26, 2026. The new film from Crag Gillespie tells the story of Kara Zor-El (played by House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock), the 20-something super-powered cousin of David Corenswet's Kal-El, as she embarks on a self-destructive revenge quest across the galaxy. Alcock is set to lead the new cosmic blockbuster, joined by Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, and Eve Ridley.
How Else Will Supergirl Be Like Guardians of the Galaxy?
It is not just the fact that Supergirl will be DC Studios' first space-faring adventure and will (at least in part) feature licensed music on its soundtrack that makes the 2026 DC movie a proper Guardians of the Galaxy replacement.
The movie has also been described as featuring a flawed main character, like Chris Pratt's Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
Pratt's former leader of the Guardians was not the most perfect or morally pure person when he showed up on-screen back in 2014, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl will very much be the same when she stars in her own movie next year.
In a July 2025 interview, Gunn divulged that the DCU Supergirl is "kind of a mess," and has "real issues," making her an imperfect superhero. Fans got a tease of this Superman as the Man of Steel's rambunctious cousin popped up for a drunken cameo at the end of that movie.
Supergirl's journey to being the Woman of Tomorrow will be a long and arduous one (just like Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians' was in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film), but she will get there, maintaining her kick-ass attitude, just with a slightly more altruistic bent to it (read more about the Supergirl plot here).
