Meet the Three Actresses in the Running for ‘Supergirl’

Now that James Gunn has cast his Superman and Lois Lane (David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, respectively), the co-CEO of DC Studios is now narrowing down his pick for Supergirl. According to Deadline, three actresses are screen testing for the role of Kara Zor-El. Supergirl will make her debut in the film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, part of the new “Gods and Monsters” chapter of the DCU spearheaded by James Gunn.

The frontrunners include Emilia Jones, who wowed audiences as the lead in Sian Heder’s CODA which won 3 Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 94th Academy Awards. Jones also starred in the Netflix series Locke & Key. Jones also stars in Cat Person and will appear in Winner, a biopic of whistleblower Reality Winner.

Next is Meg Donnelly, who starred in the Disney Channel original movie Zombies, along with the sequels Zombies 2 and Zombies 3. She also played Mary Campbell in the Supernatural spinoff series The Winchesters. Donnelly currently voices Supergirl in DC’s animated films Legion of Superheroes and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One.

Milly Alcock is the final actress in contention, best known for her role as young Rhaenyra Targaryen on HBO’s House of the Dragon.

Inspired by Tom King’s miniseries, Woman of Tomorrow will introduce a darker, edgier Supergirl. “We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off of Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth. She is much more hardcore and not the Supergirl we’re used to,” Gunn said.

Ana Nogueira has been tapped to write the screenplay, but a director has yet to be announced. Nogueira was originally hired to write a Supergirl film for Sasha Calle as a spinoff of The Flash. But that plan changed once the DCU was reorganized under Gunn and Peter Safran.

Supergirl was previously played in the 1984 film by Helen Slater. Melissa Benoist played Kara Zor-El in Supergirl for six seasons on The CW as part of the Arrowverse.

No release date is set for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but it will be at least a few years before the film hits theaters. Gunn’s first film in the DCU, Superman: Legacy, premieres in July of 2025.

(featured image: Apple TV+, Skip Bolen/The CW, HBO Max)