The news broke on Monday of this week that Milly Alcock was hired by James Gunn to play Supergirl in his upcoming slate of DC movies. There are many links out there covering the story. Here is one from Variety: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/supergirl-milly-alcock-james-gunn-1235891230/
That is pretty much the extent of the news so now it is time for opinion.
As a longtime Supergirl fan, I like that Kara is going to look like the classic character, as a blond. I have just started watching House of Dragons and have found Alcock to be a very good actor, holding up her end of her scenes.
So I think the casting is great.
I also like the reports that Supergirl will appear in the Superman Legacy movie, thus introducing her to the world before her solo movie gets released. Let's see the super-cousins actually interact on the big screen!
The Supergirl movie is scheduled for down the road so who knows if it will actually get made although it now has a star and a screenwriter.
What I still have an issue with is the source material - Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow.
Remember this quoate?
That makes the character “much more hardcore,” Gunn explained in 2023 when presenting the first 10 titles in the new DCU slate. “She’s not exactly the Supergirl we’re used to seeing.”
I found much of Tom King's book to be terrible, showing us a depressed, angry, isolated Supergirl. She brings a child to witness (and not stop) an execution by stoning. She puts Krem in the Phantom Zone and then allows him to be beaten after he repents. She cries in the sun. Not a lot of heroism there.
But maybe Alcock will bring some pathos to the whole thing.
One last note. I want to again thank Sasha Calle from playing an excellent Supergirl in the Flash movie. Her look wasn't classic but given the 'Flashpoint' feel of the whole thing, her looking more like Clark worked. And she played Supergirl with a steely determination and one with heart.
Will I like the James Gunn Supergirl movie? I can only hope.
16 comments:
To change the subject for a moment, there is currently an article about Supergirl on the DC Comics website: "Supergirl's First Solo Comic Is A Retro Romance Delight." Worth a read.
I haven't seen House of Dragons so haven't really seen her but at least she has the right look.
I love King's Woman of Tomorrow (or True Grit with Supergirl...in Spaaaaace!) but I think it's an awful choice for launching a franchise. It's a standalone story focusing on a more mature version of the character, not an origin story.
Very excited about Alcock's casting (though not without regret at the unwarranted ditching of Calle).
Your antipathy for King's "WoT" is well-established, and you're obviously entitled to your opinion. It's unfortunate, though, that one of online fandom's more prominent Supergirl fans is not able to appreciate and enjoy what I believe is the finest Supergirl comic ever written -- and indeed, one of the finer standalone graphic novels DC has ever published. I also think she's plenty heroic in the book, it's just that King complicates her character in interesting ways and makes her heroism feel like something she earns through her spirit, rather than something she's gifted by default.
But again, each to their own. Hopefully the movie version may be more to your liking.
I am glad you enjoyed the book and it certainly has its vocal fans.
So more importantly, I hope you enjoy the movie since you like the source material.
"So more importantly, I hope you enjoy the movie since you like the source material."
Thanks for that. You're a gentleman. And I hope so too!
I don't subscribe to the captioned platform so I don;'t know the artiste from a cord of wood. I wish her well though, given she'll be jobbed out to a tween, watching a public stoning with a Mona Lisa Smile, drinking, cursing, enduring torture scenes...hope she is in shape for it all.
So far as I can tell, no start date has been announced (which is a dead tip off the script isn't finished yet)...so who knows what will happen, and when it will happen, if indeed anthing happens at all.
Remember what happened to Leslie Grace...
JF
Basing the first Supergirl solo movie in over forty years on Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow? Uggh! This is the first time I've ever found myself hoping that executive meddling and scriptwriting by committee will result in a movie that bears virtually no resemblance to its source material. Please, Hollywood, water down and betray Tom King's vision as much as you possibly can.
Re: complaints about Kara cursing in King's "WoT" (as by Anonymous above), I noticed something interesting recently while re-reading the massive "New Krypton" crossover arc among the various "Super" titles. In the "Supergirl" installments -- written primarily by Sterling Gates, who I believe is generally much beloved among Supergirl fans -- Kara also curses, quite a lot. The only difference is, she's cursing in Kryptonian symbology. So I guess cursing in an alien (to us, not her) language is classy and cool, but cursing in English is a betrayal of the character?
Point being, King is not the first to make Kara a bit of a potty-mouth. He's just the first writer despised by a vocal segment of comics fandom to do so.
As for the stoning scene -- man, that really sticks in people's craw, doesn't it? The thing is, it's in NO WAY depicted as normal behavior for Kara. Ruthye is shocked by it, and questions Kara about it. It's explicitly signaled by the narrative to be "out of character." It's intended to show the dark path Kara is starting down in reaction to the Brigands' unspeakable brutality and cruelty -- the path that leads her at the book's climax to be tempted to kill Krem. But Ruthye is able to redeem Kara at the crucial moment, because Kara has redeemed Ruthye from the path of mortal vengeance. In a real sense, Kara's heroism and compassion toward Ruthye becomes her own salvation. To me, that's beautiful, elegant, and powerfully moving.
And while we are on the subject, they have a lead actress cast, but no announced director? As I asked earlier, is the script even finished? If the script was finished wouldn't there be a director attached? What if the eventual director doesn't get along with the priorly cast lead actress...what if they think she is a hack, what if she thinks they are a jobber?
Puzzling creative process...if you can call it that.
JF
As I have said before, if you like WoT I am happy for you. It wasn't a Supergirl I want to read or have read before.
If you are saying that the angry/sad/drunk/cursing Kara in WoT is equivalent to Gates/Igle's Kara, I will tell you that I think you are wrong.
Yes, witnessing a stoning is abnormal behavior for Kara. Not stopping a murder is extremely abnormal for her. And Ruthye redeeming the hero is the wrong way to go about a story about Kara. She should be the hero in her own book.
I think the hiring is more for her appearance in Superman Legacy with her movie happening (maybe) after.
Again though, if you enjoyed WoT, I am happy for you. But don't think you can convince me it was high literature or (in my eyes) a good representation of my favorite character.
Anj, my later comments (8 and 9 above) weren't so much directed at you, but were more in response to comment 6, by a different "Anonymous," and their list of beefs about the book.
The thing about Gates's Kara cursing a lot was just an interesting observation I had by accident during my "New Krypton" reread. I couldn't help but think how it contradicted one oft-heard complaint about the Supergirl characterization in "WoT."
I do feel you're misstating my point on "Ruthye redeeming the hero." My point is that Ruthye can only redeem Kara because Kara first redeemed Ruthye. ("I learned it!" Ruthye cries to her.) It's a perfect case of "paying it forward," only in this case the benefits of Kara's kindnesses to Ruthye accrue back to her. Kara's still the hero, very much so.
Comment 10, about the timing of Gunn's casting of Alcock, was not mine.
Finally, I started to say I wasn't trying to convince you (or anyone) to like "WoT," but I realize that isn't quite honest. It's frustrating to see a work you love attacked and derided constantly, and you wonder why others can't see the beauty in it that you do. But no, I don't actually expect to change anyone's mind. And as always, I appreciate that you respect the book's fans, Anj.
# Six right here, I said what I meant, I meant what I said, and if Sterling Gates wrote Supergirl as badly as did Tom King, I'd revile him as well.
But you will have to put some sweeter tasting chum in the water for me to take any of that bait,
until then I remain
JF
:)
Casting wise see they're going for a classic look for Kara. It would have been nice if Meg Donnelly who voiced Kara in the new animated films had gotten the part, as I like her voice for Kara, but nothing against Milly Alcock getting the role. I'm not watching GoT stuff so just not familiar with her vs Meg who I loved in the Legion of Superheroes animated film.
As to the debating WoT, I can't speak for anyone else, but it's not that I need a perfect good girl Kara. She can swear, get angry, and have growth. I think what I don't like are things that go against the core of a character, and based on Ang's reviews, that seems to be the case. And based on Tom King's previous works...yeah he tends break characters go see poor Wally in Heroes in Crisis. Plus as others have noted, it seems WoT is less about Kara and apparently the character Tom King was really interested in, Ruthe.
But like Anj said, lots of people enjoyed WoT and happy they did. Hopefully it encourages them to go seek out more Supergirl stuff.
I think best path for our latest Supergirl is have in Superman Legacy and not as just a cameo. If the film is supposed to be about Superman and 'legacy' then Kara's a big part of that. She should be a strong supporting character in it, just my two cents.
Plus I think 'Batgirl' and the changes to the 'Flash' have taught us all to not assume ANYTHING is going to happen with a film till we see it in a mass released trailer. All the stories, set photos, and other things in the world mean little when you've WB these days shelving entirely finished movies. So, till the trailer for Woman of Tomorrow a film comes out, I'm not assuming it will be. Plus TBH we have no idea if even Superman Legacy will be successful...or good. Hopefully it will be but, yeah there's A LOT of putting the cart before the horse going on I think in general with the DCU or whatever they're calling it.
Anyway rambling over, good luck to Milly hopefully she's be another excellent Supergirl like Melissa, Sasha, and Meg as we've gotten in the last few years.
Thanks for all the comments and thoughts.
I completely agree that there is a solid chance a solo movie doesn't get made if Legacy doesn't perform. So I won't worry too much.
I watched the Australian show 'UPRIGHT' shortly before this announcement, which Alcock co-stars in. She's great in that, I'd definitely recommend it.
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