“Supergirl” reveals David Krumholtz as Zor-El: Director Craig Gillespie talks life on Krypton (exclusive)

Nick RomanoMon, March 30, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC

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Milly Alcock as Supergirl, David Krumholtz as Zor-El in 'Supergirl'Credit: Warner Bros/DCKey Points -

See a first look at David Krumholtz as the father of Milly Alcock's Supergirl in this summer's DC movie.

Director Craig Gillespie promises to "really thoroughly investigate" Kara's upbringing on the planet Krypton.

"There are five languages in this film, and Kryptonian is one of them," the filmmaker says.

Meet Supergirl's father.

David Krumholtz officially arrives as Zor-El, dad to Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), in Entertainment Weekly's exclusive look at this summer's DC Studios event movie, opening June 26. Krumholtz joins Emily Beecham (Into the Badlands) as Alura In-Ze, Kara's mother, in scenes that will depict our heroine's life on the planet Krypton.

"I was thrilled. He's a big comic book fan, which was awesome," Supergirl director Craig Gillespie tells EW of casting Krumholtz, known to Millennials for 10 Things I Hate About You and the Santa Clause movies. "There are five languages in this film, and Kryptonian is one of them — all original languages. So they had to learn a language. There's some major scenes, like minutes and minutes of dialogue that they've got to work with. You really need actors of that caliber."

Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl with Krypto in 'Supergirl'Credit: Warner Bros/DC

The main story of Supergirl is part John Wick, part True Grit, with superheroes.

A young alien girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), tracks down Superman's tormented partygirl cousin to bring the brute that killed her family to justice, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Kara has a personal motivation to complete the task: During an early encounter with Krem, the adversary poisons her beloved super-dog, Krypto, who will die in three days' time without the antidote he keeps among his personal effects.

The lovable but untamable Krypto is Kara’s last remnant of her life back on Krypton before the destruction of her home world — an event that continues to haunt the comic book strongwoman.

Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem of the Yellow Hills in 'Supergirl'Credit: Warner Bros/DC

"We do really thoroughly investigate Argo [the city where Supergirl was born] and Krypton," Gillespie, also known for helming I, Tonya and Cruella, says. "It's so fundamental to who she is as a person and what she goes through in her formative years there. It makes you understand why she is where she is with her personality and the self-destructive nature that she has as we meet her at the beginning of the film."

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The earlier DC mythology envisioned Krypton blowing up on a single day, but as Kara herself mentions in the trailers for Supergirl, "The Gods are not that kind." To bring the planet and the culture of its people to life, the filmmaker looked back to the 1978 era of Superman movies for guidance on how the Kryptonians carried themselves. He also dug deep into the background of Kara and her family.

"Trying to build on what her status was on Krypton," Gillespie continues, "her father being a scientist and in academia and the connections that they had there, which made it interesting in terms of how opulent that world was."

Jason Momoa as Lobo in 'Supergirl'Credit: Warner Bros/DC

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Multiple other planets will feature in Supergirl as Kara and Eve set out on this space adventure. Gillespie estimates that there are about nine distinct worlds, each with its own language. “There is quite a lot of traveling involved,” he says.

Gillespie references The Fifth Element as one of his favorite movies that created an entire world of colorful characters. Lobo, the intergalactic heavy-metal bounty hunter played by Aquaman veteran Jason Momoa, will be one such figure thrown into the mix here. However, the lingering memories of Krypton will remain.

The filmmaker doesn’t yet want to reveal exactly how those memories will present themselves within the context of Supergirl, but he teases, “I think people will be satisfied.”

on Entertainment Weekly

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