DC Finally Has Its Own Guardians of the Galaxy After 10 Years Of Trying

DC is finally getting its own Guardians of the Galaxy-style film, and fans seem to be vibing with the very first trailer. When Marvel Studios released Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters back in 2014, the film quickly became the Star Wars of a whole new generation of fans. The story of a rascally Earth man (Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord) finding family with an eclectic group of aliens and stopping an evil fanatic (Ronan) hit viewers on so many levels, while James Gunn’s colorful cosmic world, whip-smart script and crazy needle drops became the signature style for the rest of the Guardians trilogy, and all the would-be copycats that followed.

Well, James Gunn isn’t in the director’s chair this time, but it sure does seem like he made a wise decision in handing the reins of the next DC Universe film to director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella). Even though they are very different directors, Gillespie seems to have taken a page or two from Gunn’s playbook, because the upcoming Supergirl movie already looks like it would be right at home in the same universe as Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

What We Know About Supergirl, Explained

In Supergirl, Millie Alcock (House of the Dragon) plays Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Kal-El, aka Superman. Based on the acclaimed miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely, the film sees Kara traveling with her dog Krypto to a far-off planet. There, she hopes to use the planet’s natural dampening of her Kryptonian superpowers to actually get drunk and celebrate her 23rd birthday.

But as so often happens, the would-be celebration veers into several bad places: Kara finds she’s carrying deep unresolved trauma from losing her home and (almost) entire family; being old enough to remember and carry it all prevents her from being the same sunny hero as her cousin. So when Kara stumbles across a young alien girl named Ruthey Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), who is suffering the same kind of dark tragedy she once did, the “Supergirl” decides to use her unequaled power to get Ruthey the justice she never did. However, that side quest turns out to be much crazier and more dangerous than Kara imagined, as she must confront everything from alien gangs, to despots, killers, and the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, Lobo (Jason Momoa).

Supergirl Will Be More DCU Connected Than Guardians of the Galaxy Was to the MCU

Already, there is clear evidence that Supergirl is cleverly introducing some key DCU elements that will be bigger factors down the line, in future projects. That list includes setting up the rivalry between Momoa’s Lobo and Earthy Kryptonian heroes (some of the few who can stand up to the “Main Man”); as well as a backdoor introduction to the villain Brainiac, via flashbacks to when Kara’s Kryptonian home, the city of Kandor, was covered in a force field, presumably to be miniaturized and added to Brainiac’s collection.

That particular story beat, and Kara’s resulting trauma, are both things that seem to be feeding into the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which arrives in 2027. That film is speculated to be about Superman (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hault) having to put aside differences and form an uneasy alliance in order to save Earth from Brainiac. If that’s the case, we expect Supergirl to appear in the film feeling some kind of way, and we’ll fully understand why after her solo film.

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This is, arguably, a more cohesive approach than the MCU has taken. Marvel Studios has generally kept their more “grounded” characters in one corner, while the more fantastical characters (magical, supernatural, alien) have had harder times carving out shared corners of their own to play in. Guardians of the Galaxy was great as a trilogy, but none of those films had much direct relevance to, or connection with, any other MCU films (sans the Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame crossover films). That’s side-stepping the glaring issue with the MCU never even deciding to look at sci-fi/cosmic-based IPs as one brand: Guardians shares no DNA at all (aesthetically or narratively) with, say, the Thor or Captain Marvel movies, even though they all take place within the same Marvel cosmic circles.

It’s ironic to know that it is James Gunn himself behind the scenes, deciding to have Supergirl be tied in so significantly to future DCU projects. Tom King’s story is very much a standalone that exists in its own lane (despite drawing upon decades of mainstream DC lore), but Gunn and the creative team (including King himself) seem to be learning from the past, to create a better balance between the source material, and the demands of a shared universe franchise.

Supergirl will be released in theaters on June 26, 2026. How did you like the trailer? Let us know on the ComicBook Forum!