Jun 16, 2026 6:01pm IST
‘Supergirl’ screenwriter Ana Noguiera on Jason Momoa’s Lobo and writing Kara and Krypto scenes (EXCLUSIVE)
After David Corenswet’s “Superman” ushered in the new DCU era, “Supergirl,” starring “House of the Dragon”’s Milly Alcock as his Kryptonian cousin, Kara Zor-El, is about to crank up the punk rock. The film’s trailer promises a whole new world, which is edgier, more “Star Wars”- level of world-building than DC movies have ever seen and a slew of new characters like Krem of the Yellow Hills and Lobo.
In an exclusive chat with Variety India, screenwriter Ana Noguiera expands on writing a planet-hopping, coming-of-age adventure for “Supergirl”, the backstory that lends it a darker tone than “Superman” and the scenes she enjoyed writing the most, featuring everyone’s favorite superdog, Krypto.
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What about your script convinced James Gunn and Peter Safran that “Supergirl” could be the second film in the new DCU after “Superman?”
I think a couple of things. One, we all had the same vision for the character, and what we thought was exciting, different and fresh about Supergirl, but also felt baked into her backstory and what she came from.
We had an aligned vision that was really helpful because then Gunn and Safran didn't have to give any sweeping notes. From when I pitched the story to when I wrote the script, it really didn't change that much, which is rare. Usually, huge swaths of a story can change. So I think they heard the pitch, read the script, and thought, “Yeah, that's what we meant.”
About the world-building for a film like “Supergirl,” it's definitely darker and edgier than “Superman,” and, might we say, more punk rock?
A lot of the world-building came from Tom King's comic “Woman of Tomorrow.” There were things that I changed to take them from the page to the screen. But for the world-building and the planet-hopping, the impetus and inspiration was “Woman of Tomorrow.”
As for the slightly darker tone, it goes back to what we were all aligned on in the beginning. If you look at the reality of what this young woman has been through, what she has seen, what she has lost, that's going to be a part of her story going forward. She can't shake what happened to her, and this movie is about integrating that, which means there is some darkness that she has to come to terms with.
Everyone's excited for the team-up between Jason Momoa’s Lobo and Milly Alcock’s Supergirl. What’s their beef?
He's just a bad dude! He's somebody you wouldn't really trust. He's a bounty hunter and has a backstory that we don't go into. In the comic, there is some lore that he killed off his entire planet, while the comic canon says he didn't actually do it. But it’s a story that follows him around. And he's just not the kind of guy you're going to mess with.
If he's on your side, he's like a good friend to have in your back pocket. But when Kara first sees him, she just goes, “That's the last person we're trusting!”
What scene did you have the most fun scripting? And was it one that involved Krypto? Because the film starts and ends with the theme of family, and Krypto is such a huge part of it.
Yes, Krypto is also my favorite! I had a lot of fun writing him and Kara, and the scene early in the bar when she's celebrating her birthday, and she's talking to him as if he's just a regular best friend. There's an opening montage of the two of them, like they're the only two people in the universe. And it was wonderful to come up with some of those scenarios.
"Supergirl" arrives in theaters on June 26, 2026.
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