Known for keeping his film comic-accurate, James Gunn might have different plans for Milly Alcock‘s Supergirl. For starters, Superman was a baby when Krypton was destroyed, but she was well into her teenage years, meaning she’s significantly older than Kal-El.
Technically, Kara Zor-El should be older than Kal-El. However, as pointed out on X, Superman‘s opening crawl reveals that he arrived on Earth three decades ago, making him around thirty years old in the film.
In the opening crawl for Superman it says “3 DECADES AGO, an extraterrestrial baby was sent in a spacecraft to Earth, and adopted by Kansas farmers.”
Which is where I got 30 years old from pic.twitter.com/YFWynK6twM
Supergirl is 21 years old in the DCU
Superman is 30 years old pic.twitter.com/9QTXaXisbn
As for Supergirl, we know the film begins with Alcock’s Kara celebrating her 21st birthday by travelling across the galaxy alongside her dog, Krypto. In David Corenswet‘s DCU film, Kara walks into the Fortress, tipsy, looking for Krypto. Even here, she looks pretty young compared to her cousin.
Does this mean that the age difference between the two isn’t comic-accurate in the DCU? Well, here’s the catch. Modern takes on the character state that while escaping Krypton, Kara’s spaceship was knocked off course into the Phantom Zone, causing her and Krypto to be stuck in stasis for years.
So, while Kara is chronologically older than Kal-El, she appears to be physically and mentally younger than him when she arrives on Earth. Meanwhile, her cousin got to live out his complete life on the planet, causing him to age more appropriately. At the end of the day, Kara is still older than Kal, only technically.
James Gunn on Why Supergirl Is a “Mess” Compared to Superman
While both characters originally belong to Krypton, they have grown up to be completely different from each other, and their past has a lot to do with it. While Kal-El is more sorted and mature, Kara is shown to be a little “messy” and jaded. Check out a leaked fight scene from the upcoming film.
Talking about what sets them so apart from each other, James Gunn told ScreenRant that the flashbacks of their lives on Krypton might have something to do with it. Clark Kent grew up on Earth with loving parents, and he had a fairly normal childhood.
Whereas Kara grew up losing one loved one after another and watching her home planet turn to dust. Needless to say, it may have affected her in more ways than one.
Gunn said,
[Flashbacks to Krypton are] always a possibility. But I think those things are really integral to the two characters and the differences between them, and that Clark really does have sort of this really happy childhood. I mean, he had parents who loved him in an easy-going upbringing, and it makes him the least dysfunctional of superheroes in so many ways.
He added, “And Supergirl, especially the DCU Supergirl, she’s kind of a mess. I mean, she’s, she’s had real issues growing up. And it is based on the comic where she watched person after person after person dying in front of her as her piece of the planet disintegrated.” We will soon see how different Kara really is from her cousin.
All About Milly Alcock’s Upcoming Film, Supergirl
Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, Supergirl will be the second film to be released in the new and improved DCU. It was initially named Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, based on the namesake comic book miniseries by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.
Kara roams around the world without much of a purpose, that is, until she comes across a noble galactic warrior, Ruthye Marye Knoll. From there, she sets out on a murderous quest for revenge.
Gunn’s eyes landed on Alcock when he saw her play young Rhaenyra Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon. He describes the character as “pixie-ish, but very attitudinal” (via Comicbook.com), and Alcock was perfect for the role.
The film also contains a cameo from Jason Momoa, not as Aquaman, but as Lobo, an intergalactic bounty hunter. The rest of the confirmed cast includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, and more. Take a look at the characters everyone will be playing.
Additionally, Corenswet is rumored to make a cameo in the film as well. According to insider @MyTimeToShineH (on X), Clark will appear in the film through a flashback of Kara arriving on Earth with Krypto and her cousin opening her ship and greeting him.
The film is produced by Gunn and Peter Safran, and the cinematography is done by Rob Hardy. Principal photography for Supergirl began on January 13, 2025, and the project is currently in post-production. So far, a trailer or teaser has not been released.
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Supergirl releases in theaters on June 26, 2026.
