Besides one very obvious thing, there’s another massive, crucial difference between Supergirl and Superman. Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El, played by Milly Alcock in the new movie from DC Studios, has lived on Krypton. She’s met Kryptonians. Her memories of that place are the last ones in the galaxy. Her cousin, Superman (David Corenswet), has none of that. He was sent off as a baby to live on Earth. And so, just from that one distinction, you can begin to see why Superman is so trauma-free on his home while his cousin is so depressed and miserable on hers.
It’s there that the events of Supergirl pick up. io9 spoke with both Alcock and Supergirl‘s writer, Ana Nogueira, earlier this month in Los Angeles about Krypton, the original comic book, the DC Universe at large, and, of course, David Krumholtz, who plays Supergirl’s father, Zor-El, brother to Superman’s father, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper).
Germain Lussier, io9: Milly, starting with you, something I love about the movie is the juxtaposition with Clark. Clark has never been to Krypton. Doesn’t know any Kryptonians. Kara does. Kara’s lived that. She kind of carries the legacy.
Milly Alcock: Yeah, I think that kind of gives her… it’s the core of her trauma. And I think that so much of the way that we behave in the world in which we live is the things that have happened to us and the way that we view ourselves within that circumstance. So it kind of just became the cornerstone of where to ground her.
io9: Ana, a lot of that is done through flashbacks, some of it inspired by the comics, some of it not. Talk about the conversations you had with [DC Studios presidents] James [Gunn] and Peter [Safran] because you’re kind of creating lore for the overall DC Universe when you’re showing Krypton and what happened to Krypton.
Ana Nogueira: Yes. Some of that, of course, comes from the comics. Some of it felt like lore that had always existed. Honestly, I feel like I did my attempt at it, and they were kind of like, “Yeah, that’s it.” Actually, there’s one thing, but I don’t even know what I can say. There’s one thing in it that in my first draft was slightly different, and James was like, “I think that lore is too complicated.” And so we had to pull it back. And I was thinking, honestly, not even too much about the lore, but about the human relationship between her and her parents. That’s what, for me, was just compelling and moving and something I just wanted to dig into more.
io9: No, it’s great. And David Krumholtz. Thumbs up.
Both: Oh, my God.
io9: The greatest, right?
Alcock: I love him.
Nogueira: I mean, what an icon from my youth.
Alcock: And he’s like the sweetest thing ever.
Nogueira: And now he’s like everybody’s dad. Who knew?
io9: Though, him and Bradley Cooper as brothers? I don’t know.
Nogueira: [Laugh] I don’t know. Genetics are…
io9: Weird. That’s true. Now, I came into this knowing the comic a little bit. I read it, really enjoyed it. For each of you, what is something that you were excited to bring to life and something that you weren’t able to bring to life for whatever reason?
Alcock: I think I was just really excited to bring your writing to life. I mean, you wrote just such a beautiful body of work of this incredibly complex and surprising and yet incredibly human person for someone who was not human at all. So, yeah, I was just really excited to do it.
Nogueira: Yeah. In the comic, for me, the characterization of Kara was so exciting to me. The relationship between the two girls. The like buy-in of the movie, honestly, her going to this planet to have a drink. All of that stuff. All of that stuff was just like, “Oh, my gosh. Yes, yes, yes, yes.” There are some things that like work in a comic and don’t work in a movie that are just like so excellent that I don’t even know. What am I allowed to say?
Alcock: Don’t look at me.
io9: No flying horse.
Nogueira: Exactly. And some of those things are just so great in a comic. And if you bring it into a movie, everyone will go, “What? What’s going on?”
io9: Yeah. Last thing, Milly, obviously, taking a role like this is bigger than just one movie because potentially you’re playing it for many movies, many years. What goes through your mind when you’re taking a role like that, and how much does that impact it?
Alcock: Yeah, I think I just ultimately thought, “Who am I to turn down this opportunity?” Like, I get one beautiful life. I may as well just throw myself into something incredibly scary and incredibly exciting, and could potentially give me problems, but what wonderful problems to have. So I kind of was just like, “Just do it.”
io9: I’m glad you did. You did a great job. Thank you both so much.
Supergirl opens in theaters on June 29. Look for our review later this week.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
