Supergirl's Director Says James Gunn Lived Up To His Biggest Promise For New DC Movies [Exclusive]

The first trailer for "Supergirl" has now debuted for the public, but DC Studios held an early premiere event for the trailer on Sunday, December 7, with /Film in attendance. The event included appearances by DC Studios heads James Gunn & Peter Safran, Supergirl herself, Milly Alcock, and the film's director, Craig Gillespie. I briefly got to talk to Gillespie about his experience working with Gunn, of which he had only great things to say:

"The best part, I mean candidly, upfront, [Gunn is] very supportive and he takes chances. So having that and having a studio head like that, that's like, 'No, let's lean into this.' And this [movie] goes to some very heavy places and some very dark places and it's dealing with trauma. And the ending is quite surprising, I think. And that was something that he didn't back down from. And I loved that he supported us in that way."

In Gillespie's words, Gunn wants each DC Universe film to feel like a graphic novel, i.e., a superhero story with a distinct voice that stands on its own. That's how he pitched the experience to Gillespie, and the director said Gunn followed through while they were actually making "Supergirl." As a filmmaker himself, who had to deal with executives' notes while making "Guardians of the Galaxy" at Marvel, I'd say Gunn probably knows the kind of boss he doesn't want to be. 

When I asked Gillespie if he ever leaned on Gunn as a "DC encyclopedia," though, he answered yes.

"In terms of the whole feel and look of it and everything about that, [Gunn] was amazingly hands off. And just came in terms of knowing his universe, he was great in terms of being like, 'You might want to explain that a little bit more.'"

At the "Supergirl" trailer premiere, Gunn specifically mentioned to the whole audience that Gillespie's 2017 movie "I, Tonya" (adapting the scandalous true story of figure skater Tonya Harding) had impressed him. But "I, Tonya" is a very different film from "Supergirl." So, Gunn (who's a veteran of superhero filmmaking) was able to offer Gillespie some advice there. Gillespie explained:

"There is stuff that, in a regular film, we all know how Earth works and what's going on and how strong people are, and what's going to kill them. And there's a lot of exposition that is inherently in the superhero film that was a bit of a learning curve."

That's not to say that "Supergirl" is all up in the clouds. The movie's primary comic source material, "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, is a riff on the classic Western story "True Grit." Supergirl helps a young girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), track down her father's killer. I asked Gillespie if he kept the comic's "True Grit" influence in mind while making the movie; he did, and was also thinking of 2017's "Logan," which itself is a superhero movie inspired by classic Westerns. To complete the comparison: in "Supergirl," Kara Zor-El is Rooster Cogburn or Wolverine, while Ruthye is Mattie Ross or Laura.

"['Supergirl'] is really a road movie in a way," Gillespie said to me. "And it was great to have it be like a [two-hander] in that sense. And go on that journey, it makes it very intimate because it really is the two of them growing and learning together."

Gunn's "Superman" was a movie that reveled in being fun and optimistic. The silliness of "Superman" comics was something to embrace, not rise above. Many loved the movie for that (read /Film's glowing "Superman" review here), but the DCU is not sticking to formula.

At the trailer premiere event, Gillespie and Gunn both called "Supergirl" a darker film than "Superman." They described Kara herself as an anti-hero, and the trailer shows she is not nearly as well-adjusted as her cousin. During the presentation to the audience, Gillespie said:

"What I loved about the script that Ana [Nogueira] wrote and what you guys were supporting is she's got a lot of baggage and a lot of demons coming into this, which is very different than the way Superman is in his life."

Gunn echoed that, saying that: "So many times female superheroes are so perfect, and [Supergirl's] not that at all. She's very imperfect, like male superheroes have been allowed to be for a while. And I was excited about doing it."

While Gunn was the one who first cast Alcock as Supergirl, Gillespie had only praise for his lead actress, too (while joking it's a good thing the casting worked out):

"Having Milly be able to come in and play that, and all the complexity of that, and do it in a very human way, where we can actually have empathy for her, and the dance of the humor, and somebody that has that toughness was such a gift to get. I'm excited for everybody to see that because it's really surprising the headspace that she's in and the journey she goes on for a typical superhero movie, which this is not."

"Supergirl" flies into movie theaters on June 26, 2026.