Production
Background
Oren Uziel was hired by Warner Bros. Pictures in August 2018 to write a film based on the DC Comics character Supergirl. This came as Warner Bros. and DC Films were looking for new approaches to their DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise following several critical and commercial disappointments. Development on the film was in the early stages, [8] but Warner Bros. was already being "very vocal" about wanting to hire a female director. [9] The studio's shift to focusing on a Supergirl film was given as one of the reasons that Henry Cavill was no longer expected to portray Supergirl's cousin Clark Kent / Superman in future DCEU films after portraying the role since Man of Steel (2013); [10] Cavill later indicated that he still wanted to return to the role. [11] Production on Supergirl was tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2020, [12] but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13]
In February 2021, Sasha Calle was cast as Supergirl for the DCEU film The Flash (2023) and signed a multi-film contract for the DCEU. [14] [15] Supergirl was included on DC's slate of films planned for release in 2022 or 2023. [16] In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. [17] Tatiana Siegel of Rolling Stone reported in August that Supergirl was unlikely to move forward under Zaslav, [18] and it was quietly canceled around that time. [1] Writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October. [19] A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU. [20] [21] [22]
Development
On January 31, 2023, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. One of the films in the slate was an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021–22) by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. [2] [23] Gunn described the project as "a big science fiction epic film" and said it would explore a more "hardcore" version of Supergirl than had been previously seen on screen. [3] [23] King was also revealed to be one of the writers working on the overall story for the DCU. [2] Within days of the film's announcement, copies of the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book had sold out on Amazon and at many different publishing houses and comic book shops. Gunn announced that he was working with DC Comics publisher and chief creative officer (CCO) Jim Lee to ensure more copies were printed soon. [24]
While promoting the release of The Flash in June 2023, Calle expressed her love for the Woman of Tomorrow comic book and said she hoped to reprise her role in the film, but this was not guaranteed. [25] She had met with Safran to discuss her future as the character by then, [26] but Gunn eventually decided to move in a different direction with the character. [27] Calle said she was "heartbroken" and frustrated with the decision because she had filmed a different ending of The Flash that was intended to set up future appearances for her character. She was proud of her work in the role. [14] Following rumors that the DCEU's Aquaman actor, Jason Momoa, would be recast as the character Lobo in the DCU, [28] he was reported in October 2023 to have had discussions with DC Studios about playing that character in the first DCU film, Superman (2025), or a standalone film. [29]
In November 2023, Ana Nogueira was revealed to be writing the screenplay. She was previously attached to write a Supergirl film in 2022 when it was being developed as a spin-off from The Flash. Gunn and Safran enjoyed her work so much that they had her return for their own take, and she signed an overall writing deal with DC. [30] Gunn confirmed Nogueira's involvement and called Woman of Tomorrow a "beautiful, star-spanning tale". [31] He chose to move forward with it as the second DCU film after Superman, which was not originally planned, based on the strength of Nogueira's script. [32] The film was reported to include the super-powered dog Krypto. [7]
Pre-production
By January 2024, Milly Alcock, Emilia Jones, Cailee Spaeny, and Meg Donnelly were being considered to portray Supergirl. Donnelly had voiced the character in the animated films Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One (2024). [27] [33] Jones did not read for the role. [34] Alcock and Donnelly performed auditions and screen tests in costume on the Superman set in Atlanta later that month. [1] [27] Alcock was officially cast at the end of January. Gunn said she embodied how King, Evely, and Nogueira envisioned the character, [4] [35] and he had first mentioned Alcock for the role to Safran over a year prior to her casting after seeing her performance in the series House of the Dragon (2022–present). Gunn believed she had the "edge, grace [and] authenticity" for this interpretation of Supergirl, which he wanted to distance from the more earnest portrayal of the character by Melissa Benoist in the series Supergirl (2015–2021). [36] The studio was hoping to hire a director in the "coming weeks", [1] but prioritized casting Supergirl because the character was set to debut in another DCU project, reported to be Superman. [27] [33] [35]
When Alcock was cast, filming for Woman of Tomorrow was expected to begin in late 2024. [4] [36] Zaslav confirmed in February that the script had been written and further casting was underway. [37] In April, Craig Gillespie entered talks to direct the film and DC Studios EVP Chantal Nong was revealed to be an executive producer. [38] Gillespie was confirmed as director the next month, when the film was given a release date of June 26, 2026. [39] That September, Matthias Schoenaerts joined the cast as the main villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills, [40] [5] and filming was expected to begin in January 2025 in the United Kingdom. [40] The next month, Gunn said the film would follow a three-act structure rather than the structure of the Woman of Tomorrow comic book, but it would retain the major characters and themes from the comic. He had reviewed screen tests for the character Ruthye Marye Knoll by then, [41] and Eve Ridley was cast in that role at the end of the month. [6] In December, Momoa was reported to be portraying Lobo in the film. He confirmed the casting by referencing an interview from a year earlier in which he expressed interest in the role. [5] While the character does not appear in the Woman of Tomorrow comic, King's original pitch for the story was a team-up between Supergirl and Lobo in which they would take on similar roles to the characters Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn, respectively, from the novel True Grit (1968). [42] Anna B. Sheppard is the costume designer for the film. [43]
Filming
Principal photography began on January 13, 2025, at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and London in England. [44] [5] Filming is also set to take place in Iceland, and continue until May. [45] Rob Hardy is the cinematographer. [46]
