The race for the DC Universe's (DCU) Supergirl role has almost been run – and there are only a couple of contenders left on the field, if a new report is to be believed.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), new DC co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have whittled down their list of potential hires to two finalists. The duo in question? House of the Dragon alumnus Milly Alcock and DC movie voice actor Meg Donnelly.
THR's sources claim that the pair took part in screen tests for the Kryptonian, who is set to debut in 2025's Superman: Legacy before starring in her own DCU film, on January 23. Gunn and Safran were, perhaps unsurprisingly, present for the latest round of auditions, which suggests the studio executives are gearing up to install Alcock or Donnelly as Kara Zor-El.
Alcock or Donnelly's likely hiring is just speculation for now, but there is a potential shred of truth to one of them landing the role. At the time of writing, Gunn – who is regularly taking to Threads to shoot down outlandish DCU rumors – hasn't commented on THR's latest report. It's increasingly plausible, then, that Alcock and Donnelly are the only actors competing for the position.
As mentioned, Supergirl will make her first big screen appearance since 1984's Supergirl in a cameo role in Gunn's Superman: Legacy. After that, she'll get her own film – Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow – which, like the Man of Steel's latest flick, will be part of DCU Chapter One.
Details are thin on the ground concerning Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but we know Ana Nogueira will be on head writing duties. Nogueira was hired to write the movie's screenplay in November 2023 and, alongside a couple of other snippets of information provided by Gunn at the time, those Supergirl movie updates proved Gunn is learning from the recently deceased DCEU's mistakes.
In a (Justice) League of their own
Alcock and Donnelly are undeniably top-tier choices to play Kara Zor-El in DC's new-look superhero franchise and beyond, but I'm having a hard time deciding who I'd like to see in the role.
Of the two, Alcock is arguably the more well-known. Her impressive performance as a young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon's first season earned her plenty of plaudits, and proved she has the on-screen presence and natural talent to portray a character as complex, edgy, and emotionally damaged as Kara needs to be.
Donnelly, though, has experience of starring in multiple DC movies, albeit ones in an animated form. Donnelly has voiced Supergirl in two DC flicks – Legion of Super-Heroes and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One – so she's well versed with playing Superman's fiery cousin and knows what it takes to get into the character's headspace.
Of course, voicing Kara in an animated movie is different to playing her in a live-action project, but Donnelly is equally at home in front of the cameras as she is in the recording booth. Indeed, she starred in all of the Disney Channel's Zombies movies, as well as playing Mary Campbell in Supernatural spin-off show The Winchesters. Any concerns about Donnelly starring in a live-action film, then, are unfounded.
As I said, I wouldn't want to trade places with Gunn and Safran over this casting headache. Alcock and Donnelly seem to be perfect fits for the role and, with both actors being 23 years old, they're also the right age to play a member of Clark Kent's extended Kryptonian family. It's going to be an extremely tough call to make – but hey, that's why Gunn and Safran are creatively leading Warner Bros. Discovery's superhero franchise out of the doldrums, and I'm not.
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