DC has dropped another trailer for the Supergirl movie, and if you were hoping for something wildly new, well… manage your expectations. The film, starring Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon) as Kara Zor-El, involves space bars, emotional trauma, and a dog in peril. Supergirl hits theaters on June 26, 2026, directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) with a screenplay by Ana Nogueira (The Vampire Diaries).

Krypto gets shot and Supergirl goes full scorched earth – here’s the trailer breakdown

The new trailer wastes no time laying out its premise, and the source material is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Supergirl is a live-action adaptation of Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely’s critically acclaimed 2022 comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The story setup echoes the comic closely, with Supergirl (Kara) traveling across space on a revenge-driven journey, accompanied by Krypto, her loyal dog.

Kara Zor-El, played by Alcock, crosses paths with Ruthye (Eve Ridley), an alien girl on a mission to get revenge on Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), a villainous pirate-assassin who murdered her father. Their first run-in with Krem doesn’t go great as he shoots Krypto with a poison dart, giving the beloved super-dog only three days to live unless Kara can track down the antidote.

So yes, this is essentially a John Wick situation. Krypto isn’t just there for emotional support. He is the emotional trigger. Someone hurt the dog, and now the entire galaxy is about to regret it. Kara and Ruthye team up, bounce between planets, clash with space pirates, and cross paths with Jason Momoa’s Lobo – a loud, reckless, motorcycle-riding bounty hunter who wasn’t in the original comic but honestly looks like the most fun addition here.

The cast rounds out with David Krumholtz as Kara’s father Zor-El, Emily Beecham as her mother, Alura In-Ze, and a cameo from David Corenswet returning as Superman/Kal-El. The trailer sells the action well. The scale feels big, the vibe is punchy, and Alcock clearly has the chops to carry a film like this. But once the excitement fades a little, a nagging question creeps in.

Wait, is this Guardians of the Galaxy again?

Here’s where things get a bit awkward. While the trailer looks good, it doesn’t look new.

Supergirl is the first major DCU movie that James Gunn isn’t directing. The problem is that it looks like the first MCU film that Gunn actually directed. From the jump, the vibe screams Guardians of the Galaxy. So, Gillespie’s vision for Kara Zor-El looks less like the DCU staking new ground and more like a greatest-hits shuffle of Gunn’s back catalog.

Let’s start with the obvious: Supergirl struts around in a trench coat, orange headphones in, carrying the emotional weight of a lost homeworld. Sound familiar? Star-Lord called, and he wants his character arc back! Both protagonists are emotionally stunted by childhood tragedy – Krypton’s destruction for Kara, his mother’s death for Peter Quill – and both cope by being the coolest person in whatever alien dive bar they’re standing in.

Then there are the alien worlds themselves. You have the scrappy space setting, neon-lit alien bars, messy worlds that look like junkyards, and a soundtrack that feels like it raided someone’s retro playlist. The aesthetic has that same lovable messiness that made Guardians feel so distinct back in 2014.

Funnily enough, what’s quietly getting lost is what made Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow so visually striking in the comics. Bilquis Evely’s artwork had a sharp, jagged energy, and Matheus Lopes’ bold color palette with vivid oranges, teal greens, sickly golds, and pronounced pinks gave it a look unlike anything else. The film nods at that palette but keeps things muted and murky. Visually, it ends up looking more like a Guardians sequel than an adaptation of one of the most beautiful comics of the past decade.

There is also the matter of a CGI animal companion, because apparently, no space adventure is complete without one. Rocket had his moment. Now it is Krypto’s turn. The addition of Lobo’s character only deepens the GOTG energy. A ragtag crew, a found-family dynamic, a CGI animal at the emotional center; it’s a formula that worked brilliantly for Gunn in 2014. Using it again this early in his DCU career is a bit of a gamble.

And yes, the whole “go to the ends of the world to save your dog” premise is unambiguously John Wick in space. Which is fun! But it’s borrowed fun.

Maybe it’ll surprise us when Supergirl actually lands

To be fair, this is just a trailer. And trailers are very good at selling vibes, not depth. Supergirl doesn’t hit theaters until June 26, so there’s still plenty of time for it to carve out an identity that goes beyond what two-minute edits can capture.

Gillespie is a genuinely creative director with a track record of making films that subvert expectations (I, Tonya being the obvious example), and Alcock has the star power to make Kara feel distinct. The bones of a great movie are clearly here because the comic it draws from is strong. And sometimes, familiar ingredients can still lead to a great final product if the execution is right. So here’s hoping the full movie shows us something the trailer wasn’t willing to.