DC has officially had two different Supergirl portrayals within three years, but audiences aren't likely to be confused between Sasha Calle and Milly Alcock's characters. Despite the two actresses playing the same comic book character, their versions of Supergirl differ significantly.
Calle brought Superman's cousin to life in 2023's The Flash, the DCEU film starring Ezra Miller's Flash and Michael Keaton's Batman. Meanwhile, Alcock is primed to be the next big star of James Gunn's DCU, bringing Kara Zor-El to the screen in a solo film later in 2026, following her cameo appearance in 2025's Superman.
It's quickly become clear that James Gunn and Peter Safran's vision for the DCU under DC Studios differs significantly from Zack Snyder's SnyderVerse and the DCEU's overall tone. As a result, fans should expect Alcock's Supergirl to be vastly different from the one they met in the DCEU in 2023.
How the DCU's Supergirl Differs From the DCEU's
Supergirl's Personality
One of the most obvious distinctions between Calle and Alcock's portrayals of Supergirl is her personality.
During her scenes in The Flash, Calle's Supergirl is a powerhouse and is mainly seen in combat. She has very little dialogue, and when she does, it's delivered with a quiet and stoic demeanour. Similar to Cavill's portrayal of Superman, Calle's Kara Zor-El was committed to justice, and her personality was very steadfast and resolute.
The character will get a shakeup with Milly Alcock's version, who has already proven herself to be more lighthearted and witty. But that doesn't mean she isn't dealing with her own traumas. Alcock described her Supergirl as "incredibly flawed," and "messy," during a Supergirl press conference, with comparisons even being drawn between Kara and the MCU's Tony Stark.
This personality has been on full display in Alcock's appearances in the DCU so far, first in the cameo scene in Superman where Supergirl arrives, drunk and dishevelled, to pick up Krypto from Clark, and again in Supergirl's trailers, where her party girl demeanour has proven to be a coping mechanism for her past.
Where fans had a taste of the stoic, resolute Supergirl figure in the DCEU, James Gunn's DCU is leaning more into Supergirl's flawed side, allowing her to be more human and humorous, which aligns with the tone he set in Superman.
Backstories
While some points of Supergirl's origins will remain consistent across universes, such as Kara being Kal-El's cousin, a lot of her backstory will be changed for the DCU iteration of the comic hero.
In the DCEU, Calle's Supergirl left Krypton at a similar time as Superman, having been sent by her parents to look after her cousin on Earth. This meant Kara carried the trauma of her planet exploding, but never had to witness it.
That backstory will be shifted in 2026's Supergirl, as Alcock's hero is deeply traumatized by the destruction of Krypton and it's linked much more closely to her character. As Kara says in the Supergirl trailers, she has firsthand knowledge of her planet's destruction, saying, "Krypton didn't die in a day. The gods are not that kind."
All signs point to the DCU incorporating Argo City, from the comics, into its narrative. Argo was a major city-state on Krypton that survived the planet's destruction thanks to a protective dome surrounding it. Thanks to this, the Kryptonians in Argo were able to survive, but their deaths were inevitable as they started to die from Kryptonian radiation poisoning, not before Zor-El and Allura were able to send their daughter, Kara, in a rocket to Earth, following her cousin years later.
While Calle's Supergirl suffered trauma due to her imprisonment by humans, Kara's connection to Krypton and its destruction is what primarily influences her in Supergirl.
Costumes
Another more tangible difference between the two Supergirls is their outfits. In the DCEU, Calle's Supergirl was designed to mirror Cavill's Superman, with a metallic blue-and-red outfit that dispensed with Supergirl's traditional red skirt from the comics, in a way similar to Cavill's hero not wearing red trunks.
James Gunn reinstated these comic book traditions in his version of Superman, ensuring that David Corenswet's character wore his red underwear and that Milly Alcock's Supergirl appeared in a red skirt and red boots. Alcock's Supergirl is a more standard translation of the character from the comics, who features Kara's typical blonde look and hairstyle, while Calle's character was less traditional, with darker, cropped hair.
However, both Superman and Supergirl remain a mirrored pair in the DCU, as were Calle and Cavill's characters.
