One of the most anticipated movies in James Gunn's DCU, Milly Alcock's Supergirl, a darker, more mature Kara Zor-El adaptation of Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, opened in theaters on June 26, 2026. But the movie, despite all the hype, has failed miserably to impress audiences. The first standalone Supergirl movie in years, and it crashed before it could even fly. This failure has led DC fans to recall a Supergirl project that DC scrapped years ago.

Before James Gunn ever came to the picture, Zack Snyder had different plans for a Supergirl movie - one that never advanced past a prequel comic book.

A tantalizing glimpse of an open pod aboard a Kryptonian ship in Man of Steel sparked rumors that Kara Zor-El might potentially be on Earth. Zack Snyder never addressed it, but it should come as no surprise that he chose to make movies like Justice League and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice rather than a straight follow-up to the 2013 Superman movie.

Naturally, neither of those movies helped in any way with the Supergirl rumors, but the director acknowledged that he had plans for her at his Man of Steel watch party in May 2020. He explained that it was always his intention to take the universe he created and expand it by adding more members of the DC family. His vision definitely included Supergirl and a standalone movie dedicated to the Girl of Steel.

“Certainly, the idea of a standalone Supergirl movie it’s a cool idea. I don’t have a script or anything in mind, but that would be amazing to see,” Snyder shared.

A Supergirl film from Zack Snyder would not have been a bad idea, as the director has a track record of weaving together strong female-centric storylines, as evidenced by his 2011 film Sucker Punch, 2014 epic 300: Rise of an Empire, and the way he introduced Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

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If he were to direct a Supergirl movie, then the official Man of Steel prequel comic book might have been the perfect source material.

In addition to acting as a preface to the entire film, the Man of Steel prequel, a DC comic published in the same year as the classic film, provided further details on Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl. The comic swiftly moved on from Superman and took us back a few years.

On a mysterious extraterrestrial planet, we discovered Kara Zor-El conducting her last pilot test while sporting the family crest emblem on her chest. The comic detailed her early years as a pilot, the betrayal that led to the doom of her planet, and her eventual arrival on Earth. This origin story might never get adapted now that Snyder is no longer involved with the DC projects. Instead, we are now stuck with a subpar version of Supergirl by James Gunn.

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Do you think Zack Snyder’s Supergirl would have been superior to what James Gunn brought to the screen? Go let us know.