Early reactions to Supergirl are in, and they put Milly Alcock at the center of the praise. Members of the film press who have seen the movie say Alcock makes the title role work, while the film itself is being described as rougher, scrappier and closer in feel to Mad Max than to a standard superhero launch.
That matters now because Supergirl is the next film in the DC Universe to reach theaters after Superman, and the first wave of reaction will help set expectations before the July 26 opening. The movie stars Alcock as Kara Zor-El, with Jason Momoa as Lobo, and it is based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King.
One of the clearest early readouts came from Simon Thompson, who said Alcock is “great as the titular heroine” and that Momoa’s Lobo “is a blast.” Thompson added that the movie “isn’t a classic but it’s fun and hits most of the targets it aims for,” which lands it in the camp of a crowd-pleaser rather than a prestige comic-book entry.
Mike Ryan pushed the tone description even further, saying the film “looks and plays more like a Mad Max movie, with dirty worlds, gross villains and a self destructive hero.” That image gives the first responses their shape: less polished heroics, more abrasion, and a world that seems built to test its lead rather than simply celebrate her.
Germain Lussier of Gizmodo and io9 called the movie “highly enjoyable” and said it “doesn’t quite have the resonance of Superman, but it acts as a perfect companion and follow-up to that movie with better characters and more complex relationships.” He also called it “incredibly emotional,” a note that suggests the film is aiming for more than grit alone, even if it does not reach the same emotional register as its predecessor.
That comparison is the catch. Supergirl is clearly being framed as a continuation of the DC Universe that began with Superman, yet the early praise stops short of treating it as a clean match for that film’s impact. The reactions point to a sequel-sized companion piece with stronger texture than polish, and Alcock appears to be the reason it already feels like more than a placeholder.
Alcock herself seemed to understand the gamble. In a Variety cover story last month, she said of taking the role, “Who am I to turn down this opportunity? I knew that it was what I needed to do, because it scared me.” The first reactions suggest that instinct was right: the part asked for risk, and the payoff, at least in this early look, is a Supergirl who arrives with force.
Supergirl opens in theaters July 26, and the question now is less whether the movie has energy than whether its harder-edged style can carry that momentum with audiences the way it has with the first people to see it.
