Supergirl: everything we know so far about the next DC Universe movie (release date, trailer, cast, plot)

Supergirl's release is fast approaching. Indeed, we're less than three months away from its June 26, 2026 launch date — and plenty of new information has come to light since I last updated this guide. It's time to give it something of a spring clean, then.

From this point on, you'll learn more about the movie formerly known as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow's trailers, confirmed cast, story specifics, and potential DC Universe (DCU) impact. So, strap in and let's take a look at what we know about Kara Zor-El's first big-screen adventure in over 40 years.

Supergirl release date

As I mentioned up top, Supergirl will fly into theaters on June 26.

With less than three months to go until it's released, it should be in the final throes of its post-production cycle. As long as there are no last-minute development hitches, it'll come out when we expect it to.

Supergirl trailer

Supergirl | Official Teaser Trailer - YouTube

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The DCU Chapter One movie's first trailer finally landed online last December. Read my definitive Supergirl trailer breakdown to learn more about what it tells us about the superhero film's plot, too.

Supergirl | Official Trailer - YouTube

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Three and a half months after its initial teaser debut, DC Studios unveiled a new Supergirl trailer that gave us an even clearer picture about its story.

For the most part, it looks like it'll authentically adapt Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow's plot. If you're a fan of that comic book series, though, some significant changes you need to be aware of — starting with who'll appear in Kara Zor-El's next silver screen offering...

Supergirl confirmed cast

Potential spoilers follow for Supergirl.

Here's the movie's confirmed cast so far:

• Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl
• Eve Ridley as Ruthye Marye Knoll
• Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem
• Jason Momoa as Lobo
• David Krumholtz as Zor-El
• Emily Beecham as Alura In-Ze
• David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman
• Ferdinand Kingsley as Elias Knoll
• Diarmaid Murtagh as Drom Baxton

There are lots of details about the above, the roles they'll inhabit, and where you might have seen them before in my Supergirl cast and character guide, so head over there for more information.

Supergirl story synopsis and speculation

Possible spoilers follow for Supergirl.

Here's the official logline for Supergirl : "When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice."

That plot brief will sounds familiar to long-time DC comic book fans. Indeed, it draws heavily from Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the eight-issue graphic novel series written by Tom King and drawn by Bilquis Evely.

Originally, this film retained the Woman of Tomorrow subtitle that its comic book namesake has. However, last June, Gunn confirmed its title had been shortened to Supergirl.

Given the character and narrative additions to this movie (more on these shortly), that name revision appeared to be Gunn's way of signalling that it won't be a 1:1 adaptation. However, David Krumholtz told Nerdtropolis that Supergirl is "very true to the graphic novel", so we can expect the same story — give or take a few narrative tweaks for reasons I'll explain later — to be told.

We've already been given a glimpse of how authentic Supergirl will be to its literary counterpart, too. In January 2025, Gunn revealed its first behind-the-scenes image, which showed Alcock's Kara in a place that'll be very familiar to DC fans. Considering the footage we've seen since, it appears this flick will closely follow the plot that plays out in its source material.

That includes the main reason why Kara agrees to team up with Ruthye. During an encounter with Krem, Krypto is badly poisoned, and the only way to save his life is to find Krem, retrieve the antidote in his possession, and administer it before it's too late.

But who are Ruthye and Krem, and why does Kara become wrapped up in their feud? For those who haven't read the comics: Kara crosses paths with Ruthye, a young warrior, who enlists Kara's help in finding Krem, a space pirate responsible for killing Ruthye's dad.

I'll refrain from spoiling parts of Woman of Tomorrow's story that haven't been publicly revealed in the trailers. Those rounds of footage, though, have shown us how Supergirl will expand on the aforementioned comic series' narrative.

The first of those changes is the inclusion of Lobo. The near-immortal mercenary was originally part of the graphic novel, but was cut from the story late on. As Gunn revealed last June, Lobo is now not only part of this movie's plot, but also vital to how it plays out.

Elsewhere, the destruction of Kara and Superman's planet Krypton, Kara's home city of Argo, her first encounter with Krypto, and family life will be explored further in one of this year's most exciting new movies.

"We do really thoroughly investigate Argo and Krypton," director Craig Gillespie told Entertainment Weekly (EW). "It's so fundamental to who she is as a person and what she goes through in her formative years there. It makes you understand why she is where she is with her personality, and the self-destructive nature that she has as we meet her at the beginning of the film."

Away from those storytelling tweaks, we also have an idea of the film's runtime and age rating.

Where the latter is concerned, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a pretty dark and gritty space western, so its live-action interpretation could push the boundaries of what's considered to be a family-friendly or parental guidance (PG) film. Speaking to a roundtable of journalists, which TechRadar attended, last August, Gunn dropped a big hint that Supergirl will carry a PG-13 rating in the US. It won't be child-friendly, then, but it won't be a movie that's off-limits to anyone under 15 years old, either.

As for how long it'll be: last December, Gunn's fellow DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran told the Phase Zero podcast that it'll be under two hours. Things might have changed since then but, considering how extensive Woman of Tomorrow's story, I hope corners haven't been cut from a plot perspective. I've already voiced my slight concerns that Supergirl might not be the comic book adaptation I was hoping for, but I'm nonetheless optimistic that its narrative hasn't been cut to pieces for its big-screen retelling.

How might Supergirl impact the DCU?

The short answer is: I don't know. Chatting to Rolling Stone, Gunn said Supergirl will be "its own thing", so it might be a standalone space opera with, Kara's scene-stealing cameo in 2025's Superman film aside, little to no connective tissue to the rest of the DCU.

That said, last May, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav told investors that Supes and his cousin, plus Wonder Woman and Batman, are the DCU's "big asset builders" (per Yahoo). It's possible, then, that Kara Zor-El's next cinematic adventure will be more important to this franchise than we realize.

Of course, in light of Paramount Skydance's possible buyout of Warner Bros, Zaslav's comments may not ring as true as they did back then. So, we'll have to see what happens if that takeover is approved.

Right now, what's clear that Supergirl won't be the final DCU project we see this year.

Arriving on HBO Max this August, Lanterns, the DCU's first Green Lantern project, will be the next production after this one. For more, find out everything we know so far about Lanterns.

Then, in October, Clayface, a small-budget horror flick from Mike Flanagan, will arrive in theaters, reveal the DCU's Gotham City, and — whisper it quietly — potentially a glimpse at this nascent franchise's Batman. Learn more aboutwhat we know about Clayface.

Lastly, Creature Commandos season 2 and Man of Tomorrow, the latter being the sequel to 2025's Superman, are in development. The former has no confirmed release date, but you can learn more about it via my Creature Commandos season 2 hub. As for the latter, it'll be released worldwide in July 2027 – get the scoop on that flick by checking out what we know so far about Man of Tomorrow, too.

In short: the future of the DCU looks bright and, hopefully, Kara Zor-El will continue to be an integral part of it moving forward.

For more DC Comics-based coverage, read my guides on the best Batman movies, how to watch the DC movies in order, and how to watch the Superman movies in order.