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Supergirl Looks Exactly Like One Of The Best Modern Sci-Fi Movies (& That’s A Problem)

December 12, 2025

Now that the first trailer for DC Studios’ Supergirl movie has come out, reactions and takeaways from the footage are piling up. How faithful it looks as an adaptation of Tom King’s comic Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, how Milly Alcock looks as Kara Zor-El, how Jason Momoa’s Lobo looks, and possible Brainiac teases are but a few of the earliest conversations.

Yet, the first Supergirl trailer also provides a good enough look at the second DC Studios movie to draw comparisons to other films that have come before it. If you’re like me, one of the major takeaways from the footage is how much it resembles another superhero movie that could be considered one of the best sci-fi films of the 2010s.

Practically every movie borrows from other films at this point, with filmmakers inspired by titles they love or studios seeking to create their own versions of immensely popular movies. Supergirl was always going to be compared to other space adventure films, but the specific one that it looks to have been the most influential is a bit troubling.

Supergirl Has Major Guardians Of The Galaxy Vibes

For as much fun as Supergirl looks like it will be, there was a part of me that was genuinely surprised by how much it looked like Guardians of the Galaxy. A scan online revealed that I was not alone in seeing the obvious similarities between these two superhero movies.

The comparisons range from direct copies, like Supergirl being very Star-Lord coded, including having her own set of orange Walkman headphones, a signature accessory of Peter Quill. Everything from their appearance to their more rebellious space hero persona appears close.

Supergirl‘s trailer song choice even screams Guardians of the Galaxy. Not that the 2014 Marvel Studios was the first to ever have a trailer set to a song, but using one so prominently — paired with the Walkman tease — suggests that the movie will use music heavily, just like the Marvel movie did by incorporating Awesome Mix Vol. 1.

Even some of the locations feel very reminiscent of Guardians. If you didn’t know better, thanks to their different cinematic universe settings, it would be easy to wonder if the planet where Supergirl encounters a group of bounty hunters is Knowhere due to how similar they look aesthetically.

It’s the combination of music, humor, flawed heroes, and visual style that makes Supergirl have Guardians of the Galaxy vibes. To some degree, DC emulating elements of the MCU film makes sense.

Lots of movies of the sci-fi and superhero variety have tried to copy Guardians of the Galaxy as a formula for success. Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Lionsgate’s Borderlands did so for popular game adaptations. DC even blatantly did so before by reverse engineering Suicide Squad through reshoots to be more like Guardians.

With that in mind, Supergirl taking some cues from such an influential space adventure action/comedy is not surprising. It’s not even an inherently bad idea. But the strong similarities feel more negative thanks to the film’s direct connection to the entire Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

Supergirl’s GOTG Similarities Look Worse For DC Studios

Supergirl Using Heat Vision n Supergirl Trailer

The key problem for Supergirl is James Gunn, the director of the Guardians movies prior to becoming the co-CEO of DC Studios. His fingerprints are all over this film, even though it was positioned to be the DC Universe’s first breakaway from him.

After Gunn brought his specific tone and style to the first three DC Universe projects (Creature Commandos, Peacemaker, and Superman), Supergirl was passed off to a fresh creative team. Ana Nogueira wrote the script, and Craig Gillespie directed the picture. While Gunn has approval over everything DC Studios does, there was an expectation that Nogueira and Gillespie would give the movie a different feeling.

If the trailer is an accurate representation of Supergirl, then it more so looks and feels like a movie that Gunn wrote and directed himself. That wouldn’t be a bad thing if he had filled either responsibility. But with this film positioned as the first DC Universe production not handled by Gunn, the direct similarities suggest a lack of variance among the franchise’s installments and a potential overreliance on the co-CEO’s style.

Part of what made Guardians such a standout release for Marvel was how Gunn was able to bring his unique vision to life. It was nothing like Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or other previous MCU movies. Perhaps Supergirl will ultimately prove its director had the same opportunity, but the trailer makes it feel more like Gillespie was hired to make a movie as Gunn would have.

If the DC Universe is going to thrive and find success that rivals the MCU, it will need fresh perspectives and different tones. There are promises to do that with projects like Lanterns and Clayface, but Supergirl was believed to be in a similar boat. Rather than being a completely fresh entry in the genre, it already feels quite like a movie we’ve seen before.

Even if Gunn wasn’t at the top of DC Studios, a Supergirl trailer like this would’ve brought the same Guardians comparisons. But with him in that position, his oversight makes the similarities feel worse. His style risks becoming the default approach for the entire DC Universe, with Supergirl taking that approach feeling like the easy or comfortable decision instead of a necessary one.