“Supergirl” Movie Finds Its Director in Craig Gillespie
Milly Alcock’s Supergirl is going to take flight with the man behind I, Tonya and Cruella.
Craig Gillespie has been tapped to direct Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which will star Alcock as Kara Zor-El, a Kryptonian with immense powers and a family connection to Superman. Gillespie will direct from a script by Ana Nogueira in a story that will be at least partially based on the comic series by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. King and Evely’s version of Supergirl is a young woman who steps out of the shadow of her iconic cousin, Superman and boasts a personality more in keeping with a young woman who has seen her family and friends suffer firsthand. Kara Zor-El witnessed the destruction of her home planet and had to grow up in its ruins. As Gunn said on Twitter when he and Safran announced the initial slate for their upcoming films and TV series, Supergirl’s childhood was vastly different from what Superman experienced in many ways: “Superman is a guy sent to Earth and raised by loving parents, where Supergirl in this story, she is a character raised on a chunk of Krypton,” Gunn explained on Twitter. “She watched everybody around her perish in some terrible way, so she’s a much more jaded character.”
Gillespie knows a thing or two about centering powerful, pugnacious women— with I, Tonya he unleashed an inspired Margot Robbie as iconic skating villain Tonya Harding, and in Cruella, he delivered the origin story of the iconic Disney villain with Emma Stone in the title role. His last film, Dumb Money, was a whip-smart retelling of the Game Stop madness that struck Wall Street.
Gillespie joins a growing roster of talented directors set to helm films for DC Studios. It will begin with James Gunn himself, who is currently working on Superman, and includes Andy Muschietti, who will direct the Batman reboot The Brave and the Bold. Gillespie’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow joins those films as part of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, the initial slate of DC’s offerings under the leadership of Gunn and Peter Safran.
As for Supergirl herself, Milly Alcock, Gunn revealed on Threads that he has been a big fan of hers from even before she auditioned, thanks in large part to her fantastic performance in HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon:
“In case you missed this exciting news yesterday. Strangely, Milly was the FIRST person I brought up to Peter for this role, well over a year ago, when I had only read the comics. I was watching House of the Dragon & thought she might have the edge, grace & authenticity we needed for the DCU’s Supergirl. And now here we are. Life is wild sometimes.”
Alcock played Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, the daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and the person he eventually promises the Iron Throne to. If you’ve ever watched Game of Thrones, you know what a death sentence the Throne can be. Yet Princess Rhaenyra becomes one of the prime movers of House Targaryen (she’s played by Emma D’Arcy after a considerable time jump), a strong-willed, doubt-her-at-your-peril force within Westeros who will not allow herself to be bulldozed for the Throne, or for any other reason, by the many schemers around her. Alcock won raves for her performance from critics, fans, and James Gunn himself.
For more on all things DC Studios, check out these stories:
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“Superman” Getting Super-Sized: James Gunn Filming his Man of Steel Pic in IMAX
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Featured image: L-r: Craig Gillespie attends the 7th Annual Australians in Film Awards Gala at Paramount Studios on October 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 15: Milly Alcock attends the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on January 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
