DC Studios' Supergirl is avoiding one of Superman's biggest villain problems. Director James Gunn served up a platter of DCU villains in Superman, including Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, María Gabriela de Faría's Engineer, David Corenswet's Ultraman, and, arguably, Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. Despite Superman receiving massive praise, some criticized its lack of true alien villains as a missed opportunity, given how expansive the Man of Steel's rogues' gallery is.
Initially, the decision to open the DCU on the big screen with a one-two punch of Superman and Supergirl in back-to-back years seemed strange. But DC Studios looks to be going a very different direction with Milly Alcock's Kara Zor-El, adapting the Woman of Tomorrow comics and sending her on a cosmic space adventure after she recollected Krypto from her cousin's care in Superman.
Before touching on how Supergirl will fix Superman's biggest villain problem in the 2025 blockbuster's official artbook, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran hyped up Woman of Tomorrow as a "new way to introduce" the Girl of Steel:
"'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow' was always a comic book that we wanted to adapt. We loved it. we thought it was a great story. We thought it was a new way to introduce Supergirl to the audience in a way that they've never seen her before."
Safran made the contrast between Superman and Supergirl very clear, noting that, since the DCU's first movie was "very much based on Earth," the next had to be something "intergalactic and interplanetary:"
"We love the idea that 'Superman' is very much based on Earth, so the idea that the second film out would be something that was kind of intergalactic and interplanetary was really fun."
When fans first met David Corenswet's Clark Kent, he was pitted against Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor and two of his, albeit somewhat otherworldly, creations - Superman clone Ultraman and the nanite-infused Engineer. Fortunately, Superman will face an alien villain next time around, thanks to Man of Tomorrow's Brainiac.
Supergirl's choice of the "space adventure" genre allows it to do what Superman couldn't, and pair its Kryptonian lead superhero against a fellow alien villain.
On June 26, 2026, Milly Alcok's Supergirl will face Matthias Schoenaerts' Krem of the Yellow Hills from the Woman of Tomorrow storyline. The intergalactic pirate and assassin hails from a distant world, coming into conflict with Supergirl after injuring Krypto with a poison arrow and murdering the father of the young Ruthye Marye Knoll, uniting them on a quest for justice against Krem.
Furthermore, one of Supergirl's secondary villains will be Jason Momoa's Lobo, who is known as an intergalactic bounty hunter who rides around on the Spacehog, a space-faring motorcycle, and can rival a Kryptonian in strength.
The DC Studios co-CEO hinted that the DCU will honor Krypto's major role in the Woman of Tomorrow storyline. Safran dubbed the Kryptonian spacedog the "greatest connective tissue" between Superman and Supergirl, noting how he proves the "inciting incident" for the June 2026 blockbuster:
"And then, of course, the greatest connective tissue of them all is Krypto. Krypto has a major role in Superman and is, in many ways, the inciting incident of Supergirl. So that connection really helps an audience move from one film to the next."
Supergirl Is Exactly What DC Studios Urgently Needs
It's safe to say DCU fans are eager for the intergalactic heroics that Supergirl will bring, especially with Lanterns supposedly keeping its Emerald spacecops grounded on Earth with a "terrestrial-based mystery." While that "murder in the American heartland" will lead to some "ancient horror on Earth," it once again begins with a premise that sounds somewhat grounded for sci-fi superheroes.
To some extent, one could argue that the upcoming DCU slate is sorely lacking traditional superhero stories. For one example, an upcoming HBO show will pit Jimmy Olsen against Gorilla Grodd in a true crime docuseries-style, while most would undoubtedly rather see the super-ape taking on his archrival, The Flash.
While DC Studios' confidence is quirky projects like Clayface or the Jimmy Olsen series undoubtedly point to their excellence, it's crucial that they are interspersed with the more classic superhero tales, of which the DCU has few lined up.
One could argue that Supergirl looks to be the most traditional solo superhero blockbuster on the horizon for DC Studios. Unlike other projects that are taking crazy directions or featuring countless superheroes, Supergirl looks to be a more classic battle between good and evil across the stars.
