Warner Bros.‘ Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is taking flight with House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. She will star in the feature as Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Superman.
Alcock screen-tested for DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran last week, along with Meg Donnelly, who was also in contention for the role. The character is expected to appear in a DC Studios project (or two) before her solo adventure, but it’s unclear if that project will be Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, which begins filming this spring, or another DC movie or show. Supergirl is moving like a speeding locomotive and it’s possible the feature could be shooting in the fall, if Warners soon finds a director. Ana Nogueira is penning the script.
Alcock broke out as the younger version of Rhaenyra Targaryen in season one of HBO’s House of the Dragon, a spinoff of Game of Thrones. Now, she enters the comic book realm, with the new feature partially inspired by the Tom King and Bilquis Evely miniseries of the same name.
“Milly is a fantastically talented young actor, and I’m incredibly excited about her being a part of the DCU,” Gunn wrote on social media Monday. “Yes, I first became aware of her in House of the Dragon but I was blown away by her varied auditions and screen tests for #Supergirl” He added that she embodied the character as envisioned by comic book writer King, comic book artist Evely and screenwriter Nogueira.
Gunn and Safran have said this is not the Supergirl audiences are used to. She will stand in contrast to her hopeful cousin, Superman. As Gunn told reporters in late January 2023: “We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off of Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth.”
In the comics, Supergirl dates back to Action Comics No. 252. Created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, the character is Superman’s cousin from Krypton. Helen Slater played the title role while Faye Dunaway starred as a villain in the 1984 Supergirl film, while Melissa Benoist played the hero on the CW for six seasons from 2015-21. Sasha Calle starred as the character in the film The Flash.
Woman of Tomorrow is part of Chapter 1 in DC’s slate from Gunn and Safran. The slate also includes the Batman feature The Brave and the Bold and a TV series starring Viola Davis as her Suicide Squad character Amanda Waller.
Alcock is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, Curtis Brown Group and Goodman Genow.
