The first official trailer for Supergirl—the follow-up to 2025’s Superman—has finally landed, and honestly, my reaction is mixed. There’s a lot about the movie itself that seems promising, but the trailer doesn’t quite bring the impact it needed.
For a project that’s continuing the foundation set by Superman, this first look feels surprisingly short and light. It’s not that the footage is bad—far from it—but it doesn’t land the dramatic punches you’d expect from a major early DCU installment that will play in front of huge audiences. We barely get a half-second glimpse of Jason Momoa’s Lobo, and while he shouldn’t be the main focus, ending on a solid five-second moment with him would have been a perfect closer.
The movie is based on Woman of Tomorrow, the graphic novel that reimagines Supergirl as a messy, emotionally battered young woman navigating trauma, attitude issues, and depression. The trailer captures that tone: she’s powerful but unrefined, angry, and nowhere near “Supergirl” in the iconic sense yet. Millie Alcock, though, looks fantastic in the role—she embodies this raw, rough version of Kara perfectly. And, of course, Krypto’s inclusion is always a win.
James Gunn may be overseeing the DCU, but this film isn’t his creatively—he didn’t write or direct it. Instead, Supergirl is in the hands of Craig Gillespie, whose work on I, Tonya and various emotionally driven series (Pam & Tommy, among others) shows he knows how to tell grounded, character-centric stories about complicated women. Pair that with a strong female writer, and this movie’s creative backbone looks rock solid.
That’s why it’s a little disappointing that the trailer doesn’t reflect the strengths behind the scenes. The ingredients are all there: great director, strong writer, promising lead, Momoa in a role he seems born to play, Krypto being awesome as always. The movie looks like it’ll absolutely shine in IMAX, and visually, it seems like it’s aiming for something bold.
Plus, with this being a continuation of the new DCU’s early storyline, there are hints at bigger things—possibly a tease of Brainiac, and it wouldn’t be shocking if Superman makes a cameo, paralleling how Supergirl showed up in Superman.
People love to tear down comic book movies now, especially with fatigue setting in and comparisons to the golden eras of The Dark Knight or Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. But the reality is that those once-in-a-generation films don’t happen every year. With the sheer volume of superhero content, not everything can be a grand slam. Sometimes “solid and promising” is enough—and Supergirl looks like it has the potential to be just that.
So while the trailer didn’t totally win me over, that doesn’t mean the movie won’t. The building blocks are strong, and if the final product lives up to the talent behind it, Supergirl could end up a strong step forward for the DCU—even if the first trailer didn’t bring the thunder.
