The Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow News and Discussion Thread

[Dr.]

If Woman of Tomorrow (the book) is a “space opera,” does that mean Supergirl flies around from planet-to-planet Silver Age/Green Lantern style? Or is more of a “tech based” adventure with lots of sci-fi spaceships?

I have a nerdy curiosity about the Kryptonian power levels being established for Gunn’s continuity. :nerdy:

 

[flickchick85]

If Woman of Tomorrow (the book) is a “space opera,” does that mean Supergirl flies around from planet-to-planet Silver Age/Green Lantern style? Or is more of a “tech based” adventure with lots of sci-fi spaceships?

I have a nerdy curiosity about the Kryptonian power levels being established for Gunn’s continuity. :nerdy:

They travel by spaceships in the book. At one point they’re on a very crowded passenger ship - space travel as public transportation, basically.

 

[Dr.]

They travel by spaceships in the book. At one point they’re on a very crowded passenger ship - space travel as public transportation, basically.

Interesting. And does Kara visit some planets with yellow stars (therefore: superpowers) and some with red stars (therefore: no powers)? In the panels I’ve seen, she’s always wearing the costume — implying that she’s always a super Supergirl.

 

[flickchick85]

Interesting. And does Kara visit some planets with yellow stars (therefore: superpowers) and some with red stars (therefore: no powers)? In the panels I’ve seen, she’s always wearing the costume — implying that she’s always a super Supergirl.

She actually spends some time on a planet with a green sun, which was specifically created to target and trap her cousin. So yeah, there’s a period in the book where her powers are drained.

 

[Dr.]

She actually spends some time on a planet with a green sun, which was specifically created to target and trap her cousin. So yeah, there’s a period in the book where her powers are drained.

Neat. :nerdy: At the risk of trying your patience further... another question occurred to me. Given Woman of Tomorrow’s plot framework — an adult Kara recalling an earlier adventure — it seems as if the younger version of Kara must already be established as Supergirl (who then travels off-world for some period of time). Yes? (Initially, I was thinking the flashback stuff was part of a reworked origin story: events that happened before she arrived on Earth and met her cousin. But that seems not to be the case.)

I guess I’m curious about the overall structure of Gunn’s mythos. Apparently, there’s no Superman origin, per se. I.e., he’s already been on the job for several years. And now, it seems Supergirl’s (alleged) cameo in Legacy won’t be an origin either — since she too has to have been around a while in order to set up the WoT narrative.

I think…

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Poor Sasha Calle's IMDb page still says she's attached to this

Sasha Calle | Actress, Music Department

Known for: The Flash, Summers, On Swift Horses

www.imdb.com

Sasha Calle was born on 7 August 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for The Flash (2023), Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and On Swift Horses.

Would have expected that to have been amended by now.

 

[flickchick85]

Neat. :nerdy: At the risk of trying your patience further... another question occurred to me. Given Woman of Tomorrow’s plot framework — an adult Kara recalling an earlier adventure — it seems as if the younger version of Kara must already be established as Supergirl (who then travels off-world for some period of time). Yes? (Initially, I was thinking the flashback stuff was part of a reworked origin story: events that happened before she arrived on Earth and met her cousin. But that seems not to be the case.)

I guess I’m curious about the overall structure of Gunn’s mythos. Apparently, there’s no Superman origin, per se. I.e., he’s already been on the job for several years. And now, it seems Supergirl’s (alleged) cameo in Legacy won’t be an origin either — since she too has to have been around a while in order to set up the WoT narrative.

I think…

Yeah so, the framing device isn't actually older Kara telling the story, it's older Ruthye - the young teen alien girl who travels with her in the story - telling it decades in the future, via a book she wrote, which kind of mythologizes Kara a bit. And that's how she covers Supergirl's origin as well...for the "readers" who might not know it. But older Ruthye does meet up with older Kara in the end, and it's basically Future State "Superwoman" Kara. So yeah, "current" Kara is the one in the main part of the story, who was just off-planet trying to get drunk for her 21st birthday when she encounters this kid. She is already established as Supergirl for sure, but for how long she's been "on-the-job," I'm not sure. She does have an established history with Comet and Krypto, though.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I just want her to carry a goddamn sword.

 

[Dr.]

Since I pestered enough (too much) about WoT plot details, I decided I should procure a copy of the book. Done.

It was a reasonably engaging narrative and — in its own, eccentric way — fairly well written. But I had two immediate reactions:

1) This is an all-in, drink-the-Kool-Aid plunge into heavy-duty fantasy. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, I question whether this is the sort of story that’s the best choice as a movie introduction for general audiences. Typically, the standard superhero template grounds the main character within a familiar context. I.e., our world. From there, all manner of strange things can occur. But the grounding is always apparent and, IMO, very helpful. In this case, it’s all aliens and alien planets. Zero scenes on Earth. Now, it’s possible that Supergirl’s rumored appearance in Legacy could serve the purpose of context and intro — and then do a kind of handoff to the WoT movie. That’s maybe doable.

2) As I interpret it, Ruthye is the main protagonist of the story — with the most page (“screen”) time and the stronger character arc. To be sure, Kara has lots to do. And if this was the basis for a second (or third) movie, it might be very interesting to get an “outsider’s” perspective on Kara’s personality, idiosyncrasies and tragic backstory. (I did quite like the Argo flashbacks.) Indeed, this is probably how savvy comic book readers — already expert in the Supergirl mythos — engaged with WoT: a creative exploration of an already well-known character. But for a first movie (for an uninitiated audience) Kara should be the more dominant presence and have the more dominant arc. Of course, that’s the point of adaptation: making the necessary changes for a different medium.

 

[Invader Joker]

Getting a director for this is gonna be an absolute nightmare.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Pretty sure the director will be female.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Getting a director for this is gonna be an absolute nightmare.

Why?

 

[Invader Joker]

Why?

'Cuz the comic is extremely, extremely beautiful and a great part of what makes it great is precisely how beautiful the visuals are. If Gunn wants a movie that's even remotely as good as the comic is he'll have to get a director with a really great eye and with the proper knowledge/competence to execute very VFX heavy visuals and technically complex sequences. And there are probably not that many directors that could pull that off.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Idk I bet you could find someone

 

[Invader Joker]

Idk I bet you could find someone

Ok

 

[Eddie Dean]

Terence Malick is one director I can think of who makes really good visuals.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

So anyone who has done a competent sci-fi/fantasy movie or show should be fine then if that’s the primary qualifier!

 

[Dr.]

Doubtful that Malick (who's now 80) would ever do a superhero movie.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Getting a director for this is gonna be an absolute nightmare.

Yeah. The controversy if they decided to hire a woman, and maybe even one of color? Best not have any in the running. For their sake.

 

[emielaen]

Wow. Shame on you.

 

[Invader Joker]

So anyone who has done a competent sci-fi/fantasy movie or show should be fine then if that’s the primary qualifier!

Yeah and you can count the numbers of those with your fingers since most of the output from sci-fi and fantasy is pretty atrocious.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Doubtful that Malick (who's now 80) would ever do a superhero movie.

Maybe he’s a big fan of supergirl though

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Yeah and you can count the numbers of those with your fingers since most of the output from sci-fi and fantasy is pretty atrocious.

I can name several even TV directors who would be perfectly qualified to do this with a solid enough script as the foundation. The sci fi/fantasy stuff on an aesthetic level comes more down to budget and the production design than anything else. You also don’t even need a background in science fiction filmmaking to do a good job at it.

Literally any of the big name female directors would do a great job on this. None of them will do it, but it’s not some crazy abnormally difficult project.

Directors don’t make movies by themselves, I’m not even particularly fond of the idea of directors being the primary author of films. There are a million other factors at play in a sci fi/fantasy movie looking good.

 

[Invader Joker]

I can name several even TV directors who would be perfectly qualified to do this with a solid enough script as the foundation. The sci fi/fantasy stuff on an aesthetic level comes more down to budget and the production design than anything else. You also don’t even need a background in science fiction filmmaking to do a good job at it.

Name them. Also, yes, it is true that you don't /need/ to have a background on VFX heavy stuff, but it's a lot better if you do. Amongst the many tidbits of information shown in that article that highlighted everything wrong with how Marvel and other companies handle VFX heavy projects, they point to how first time directors for this kind of stuff that come from indies or whatever typically have no idea what to do and it causes all sorts of problems.

I’m a VFX Artist, and I’m Tired of Getting ‘Pixel-F–ked’ by Marvel

What’s it like to work as a visual-effects artist for the MCU? “I’ve had co-workers sit next to me, break down, and start crying.”

www.vulture.com

The main problem is most of Marvel’s directors aren’t familiar with working with visual effects. A lot of them have just done little indies at the Sundance Film Festival and have never worked with VFX. They don’t know how to visualize something that’s not there yet, that’s not on set with them. So Marvel often starts asking for what we call “final renders.” As we’re working through a movie, we’ll send work-in-progress images that are not pretty but show where we’re at. Marvel often asks for them to be delivered at a much higher quality very early on, and that takes a lot of time. Marvel does that because its directors don’t know how to look at the rough images early on and make judgment calls. But that is the way the industry has to work. You can’t show something super pretty when the basics are still being fleshed out.

Literally any of the big name female directors would do a great job on this. None of them will do it, but it’s not some crazy abnormally difficult project.

Directors don’t make movies by themselves, I’m not even particularly fond of the idea of directors being the primary author of films. There are a million other factors at play in a sci fi/fantasy movie looking good.

Making any great movie is abnormally difficult, and, well I do want this film to be great lmao Sure, you can go and hire some middle of the road hack that's gonna turn out the Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow equivalent of something like Ant-Man and the Wasp which is perfectly competent, but I don't want that for this film based on the source material. The comic is great, a movie adaptation has potential to be great, and with the current state of superhero movies I think the only way this becomes a success is if it's great. I'm not exactly sure why "You need a great director to make a great movie that fully lives up to the potential of this great comic, and there are very few great directors" is such a hot take.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Name them. Also, yes, it is true that you don't /need/ to have a background on VFX heavy stuff, but it's a lot better if you do. Amongst the many tidbits of information shown in that article that highlighted everything wrong with how Marvel and other companies handle VFX heavy projects, they point to how first time directors for this kind of stuff that come from indies or whatever typically have no idea what to do and it causes all sorts of problems.

My choices for this would probably by either Gina Prince-Bythewood or Jennifer Kent, the former because she's almost sure fire the right pick and the latter because I feel like she'd really nail the Western side of the story. Nia DaCosta would also be a brilliant choice but I know everyone hates her now for making an obviously micromanaged Marvel movie that was clearly largely taken out of her hands. But, for TV directors specifically who'd be solid choices: Rachel Talalay or Kate Herron spring to mind immediately.

Obviously Gerwig or Fennell would be the big flashy gets but neither will ever happen. Especially since there's already a script being written that presumably whoever directs this will be signing on to execute.

I’m a VFX Artist, and I’m Tired of Getting ‘Pixel-F–ked’ by Marvel

What’s it like to work as a visual-effects artist for the MCU? “I’ve had co-workers sit next to me, break down, and start crying.”

www.vulture.com

The main problem is most of Marvel’s directors aren’t familiar with working with visual effects. A lot of them have just done little indies at the Sundance Film Festival and have never worked with VFX. They don’t know how to visualize something that’s not there yet, that’s not on set with them. So Marvel often starts asking for what we call “final renders.” As we’re working through a movie, we’ll send work-in-progress images that are not pretty but show where we’re at. Marvel often asks for them to be delivered at a much higher quality very early on, and that takes a lot of time. Marvel does that because its directors don’t know how to look at the rough images early on and make judgment calls. But that is the way the industry has to work. You can’t show something super pretty when the basics are still being fleshed out.



Making any great movie is abnormally difficult, and, well I do want this film to be great lmao Sure, you can go and hire some middle of the road hack that's gonna turn out the Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow equivalent of something like Ant-Man and the Wasp which is perfectly competent, but I don't want that for this film based on the source material. The comic is great, a movie adaptation has potential to be great, and with the current state of superhero movies I think the only way this becomes a success is if it's great. I'm not exactly sure why "You need a great director to make a great movie that fully lives up to the potential of this great comic, and there are very few great directors" is such a hot take.

Middle of the road directors and hacks are not the same thing. At all. Ant-Man and the Wasp is not perfectly competent, it is a deeply poorly executed movie made in an assembly line manner that is by its very nature going to make abnormally ugly slop - Like, even most of the substandard late DCEU movies look substantially better than the uglier Marvel movies

You don't need a great director to make a great movie. You need at the very least a competent director, a great script, a great cast and the right circumstances to all of these things to come together properly. There are countless great movies made by people who aren't auteurs.

Almost every single director or creative involved in the DCU is already middle of the road. That's fine.