Superman’s Best Cameo Confirms the Most Exciting Part of the DCU’s Future

Superman helped kick off James Gunn’s DC Universe on the big screen, following the animated Creature Commandos on HBO Max. The movie went a long way to show what Gunn has planned for the DCU, and he set up a world where heroes are heroes, even if the world around them didn’t always accept it. He also showed that he was more than willing to include comic book favorites from Maxwell Lord’s Justice Gang (partially inspired by the Justice League International) to the arrival of Krypto. There were also a ton of Easter eggs, from the Daily Planet staff to Chocos, and all the images on the walls of the Hall of Justice.

However, the best cameo in the new Superman movie shows the most exciting part of the DCU’s future movies. That cameo came at the end of the film when Superman’s cousin, Supergirl, showed up to get her dog back.

Superman’s Supergirl Cameo Sets up an Exciting DCU Future

One of the most prominent cameos in Superman came at the end when Supergirl showed up, crashing into the Fortress of Solitude to get her dog back. It turns out that Krypto was Supergirl’s dog, not Superman’s, and he was taking care of it while she was gone. This entire sequence showed two things. First, it was evident that Supergirl had a distinctly different personality from her cousin. Second, it also gave fans a glimpse of what they might expect from the Supergirl solo movie, which is set to hit theaters on June 26, 2026.

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First of all, Milly Alcock was perfect in her portrayal of Kara Zor-El when she showed up at the end of Superman. This proved that she was nothing like the character as portrayed in The CW TV show (starring Melissa Benoist) or her 1984 movie (starring Helen Slater). That is smart since this is a very different Supergirl from those previous projects.

The portrayal was also perfect since it showed that Kara Zor-El is nothing like her cousin. While Superman is as straight-laced as they come, raised in a small town by Jonathan and Martha Kent, Supergirl has a much more tragic past, as evident by the story on which her movie is based. This indicates that Gunn is creating a distinctly different film for Supergirl than he did for Superman. Directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella) and written by Ana Nogueira, this movie tells the story found initially in the comic book series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a Great Story to Adapt

It might seem strange to see Supergirl appearing drunk when she arrived at the Fortress of Solitude, but understanding the story this movie is based on makes it all clear. While James Gunn and the DCU have retitled the movie as Supergirl, rather than its previous title, the film is still based on the comic book Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. This series, created by the creative team of Tom King and Bilquis Evely, was released in 2021. In eight issues, the series hammered home the true origin of Supergirl in this world.

Unlike Kal-El, who was sent to Earth from Krypton before the planet exploded, Supergirl lived in a city that survived the explosion and floated through space until a radiation leak began to kill everyone there. Like Superman, Supergirl’s parents shot her to Earth to find her cousin to keep her from dying. However, Kara watched everyone she loved and cared about die before she left, and this was something her cousin never experienced. Supergirl is nothing like Superman, and this comic series shows why.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow shows how she deals with her traumatic origin story, and it is through drinking a lot on planets without a yellow sun, so that she can get drunk. However, the big selling point is when she agrees to help a young girl get revenge on the people who killed her father. This allowed Supergirl not only to help save this girl from making a mistake she would never forget, but also allowed Kara to finally start to settle her own traumatic past.

Anyone who has read the comic knows that Milly Alcock is easily the best casting choice that the DCU has made so far, and that says a lot after the incredible performances by names like Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. However, Alcock fits this damaged Supergirl role perfectly, and thanks to her big cameo at the end of Superman, the future is very bright for the DCU.