James Gunn Teases Big Role For Supergirl in Man of Tomorrow (And She Might Be at Odds With Superman)

Supergirl soars into theaters this week bringing to the screen a take on the heroine a little unlike anything we’ve seen before and certainly one who is very different from her cousin, Superman. The two Kryptonians have wildly different personalities that come from their very different personal histories, with Superman having grown up largely safe and secure on Earth while Kara dealt with the loss of everything and everything she knew and loved back home on Krypton. But while the upcoming film is the first major time we’ll be seeing Milly Alcock’s jaded and cynical Supergirl in the DCU, it’s not going to be the last. According to James Gunn, she’s going to have a significant role in Man of Tomorrow and we might just see her clashing with Superman.

Speaking with ExtraTV at the world premiere of Supergirl, Gunn spoke about how this take on Supergirl is “different in every way” and that difference will be a big deal in the upcoming follow up to Superman.

“It’s a Supergirl who’s a hero like we’ve always known her, but she’s haunted. She’s had a very, very, very difficult life bringing up on a chunk of rock outside of Krypton and she’s damaged because of it and she’s not really ready to accept the suit in a way that Superman was,” Gunn said.

He continued, “I’ve liked a lot of the iterations of Supergirl. I mean, I think Helen Slater was great. All of them really have been great versions, but I do think that this Supergirl is apart because she’s not so much like Superman. She’s very different from her cousin, which puts them at odds, which is a big part of this movie and then an even bigger part of Man of Tomorrow, which we’re filming now.”

Gunn also made it very clear that he was directly referring to Alcock reprising her role as Supergirl in the upcoming Man of Tomorrow film confirming that “Milly’s got a big role in that one. I feel sorry for her because she’s flying around the world, coming to set, shooting with me, coming back, having them do more press, flying back, it’s hard.”

How Could Supergirl Fit Into Man of Tomorrow (And Could a Certain Bottle City Play a Role?)

On some level, Alcock reprising her role as Supergirl for Man of Tomorrow really isn’t a surprise. The DCU is shaping up to be a carefully connected entity as we’ve seen with seemingly deliberate appearances of various characters across the few but growing installments. That said, we still don’t have a ton of details about what Man of Tomorrow will actually be about. Videos from the film’s set in Georgia have shown Lex Luthor in his war suit and both Superman and Lex fighting it out—another element that isn’t a surprise given that the two are arch rivals and fighting is a key component to what they do. But it’s also believed that the two will team up to deal with an even larger threat in Brainiac, a villain so dangerous that even these two foes have to work together to save the world.

It could actually be Brainiac that is the reason for Supergirl’s significant role and for why she will be at odds with her cousin—and it has to do with a particular story from comics. In comics, not all of Krypton was doomed when the planet exploded. Brainiac captured and miniaturized the city and put it in a jar (literally). While there have been various versions of this story in comics, it wouldn’t be a terrible stretch to think that Man of Tomorrow could incorporate some take on the Bottle City concept and, as a result see Superman and Supergirl clash in their belief on what should be done about it or how Brainiac should be handled, especially if there happened to be anyone in Kandor that Kara knew and loved or even possibly family members she had previously believed to be lost forever.

While this is simply speculation, it would certainly provide a high emotional stakes conflict for the cousins and also add an additional element to Brainiac’s villainy, especially if the villain sought to do something similar with Earth which was what prompted Lex and Superman to come together to stop him. It will be some time before we know for sure what is exactly going on, but that would certainly make for an interesting story to see on screen.

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