Following the success of this summer’s Superman, which translated into major fervor for Season 2 of Peacemaker, all eyes are on the future of the DCU. Though the brand new franchise from Warner Bros. has a lot of catching up to do to in order to be on par with Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s clear that there’s an appetite from fans for a DC equivalent. The good news for fans who have been eagerly awaiting this, however, is that the future of the DCU wasn’t contingent on the success of Superman, and that moves were already being made to keep the train going once it left the station.

2026 will see the DCU moving full steam ahead. Superman set up an entirely new world that audiences are eager to see more of, among them was the just-introduced Milly Alcock as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, who will lead the second DCU feature film in next summer’s Supergirl. Alcock made her DCU debut in a surprise cameo in Superman, and instantly became a fan-favourite and a character that everyone was eager to see more of. Even though an official trailer hasn’t made its way out into the world, news is starting to spread about how much her solo film cost. James Gunn, however, is here to put a stop to it.

New Supergirl Rumor Debunked by James Gunn

In a cover story for Forbes, Alcock was profiled about her meteoric rise from an unknown actress to one of the lead stars of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, which resulted in her landing the high-profile DC role that fans got to see this summer. The text for the story included a surprising detail that DC fans naturally latched onto when the author described the upcoming Supergirl movie as “a $200 million DC feature.” When asked by a fan on Threads if there was any truth to this, Gunn replied, as he his wont to do, writing, “Not even a little bit true.”

Fans concerning themselves with the budgets of major movies is a relatively new phenomenon, and not one that should really shape the discourse of larger franchises, nascent as they may be. That said, knowing ahead of time that Supergirl doesn’t carry a budget on par with Superman (and many other major superhero movies) is a fact that works in its favor.

Ahead of the premiere of Superman, the bar was set incredibly high for its success. It made sense at the time because it was a movie that needed to work to launch a cinematic universe, but Supergirl has to prove something else entirely: it needs to show that Superman wasn’t a fluke and that different styles and stories in the DCU can work. It’s refreshing to know that when the movie debuts it doesn’t carry the burden of “needing” to gross over $500 million to break even, but instead can reach that some and be considered a hit.

Forbes profile for Alcock does include some choice teases from the actress herself about her role in the DCU, noting that her first reaction to learning that she had landed the part of Supergirl “was a mix of jubilation and fear.”

“I thought, ‘What have I done?’,” Alcock told the outlet. “I really struggled to believe I could do it. I even called the director saying, ‘I don’t know how to be that person. I’m just me…Eventually I realised the only way through was to trust myself. I always believe life is right on time. Things happen when they’re supposed to, whether you feel ready or not.”

Supergirl is set to arrive in theaters on June 26, 2026.

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