As Nogueira notes, Woman of Tomorrow gives her and director Craig Gillespie an even clearer on-road for the character. Despite its mixture of deep space sci-fi and high fantasy stylings, Woman of Tomorrow is fundamentally an adaptation of True Grit, the western novel by Charles Portis and inspiration for John Wayne and Coen Brothers movies. The story is told from the perspective of young Ruthye Marye Knoll, who recruits a hungover Supergirl to help her get revenge against the man who killed her father, a cowardly mercenary called Krem of the Yellow Hills.
Viewers got a taste of that Supergirl at the end of Superman, when she smashed into the Fortress of Solitude to retrieve her dog Krypto. Some viewers might have been surprised by Milly Alcock’s take on Supergirl as an inebriated party girl, but the short scene highlighted the qualities in the character that appeal to Nogueira. Not only did she witness the destruction of her planet, something that Superman only learned about later in life, but she also lives in the shadow of her nearly-perfect cousin.
Certainly, talk of an edgy Supergirl can raise some eyebrows. Evil Supergirl can be just as dull as evil Superman, despite the relatively strong notices directed to Sasha Calle in The Flash. But in her reading of Woman of Tomorrow, Nogueira sees not a character who is mean for the sake of meanness, but rather someone whose attitude comes from a place of real emotion.
If Nogueira and Gillespie can keep focused on that emotion, their gritty and edgy Supergirl can stand out not just next to Superman, but also next to other depictions of the Maid of Might.
Supergirl arrives in theaters on June 26, 2026.
