While Meg Donnelly is best known from her short-lived time as Mary Campbell on the Supernatural spinoff The Winchesters and for being one of the lead actors in Disney Channel’s Zombies franchise, she also has a little superhero genre experience under her belt. She voiced Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl, in the Tomorrowverse timeline of animated direct-to-video movies, and while she did score the opportunity to audition for the same character in the DC Universe, House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock ended up scoring the role. After hearing Donnelly’s thoughts about how she came so close to being cast in the upcoming DC movie Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which arrives in 2026, I sincerely hope that this franchise finds another role for her down the line.
Donnelly discussed how close she came to joining the DC Universe while speaking with Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum’s title host, who has his own ties to the Superman mythology from having played Lex Luthor on Smallville. When Rosenbaum brought up how she screen tested for Supergirl, which allowed her to meet James Gunn, DC Studios’ co-head and the writer/director behind next year’s Superman movie, and asked if not getting the part was “heartbreaking,” the actress responded:
I definitely can’t lie and say it wasn’t [heartbreaking], but at the same time, the fact that I even got an audition and they liked it… I sent in the tape, and then I tested. The fact that they like it and that I even had a chance was just bonkers.
Meg Donnelly can take comfort knowing she’ll always be a part of Supergirl’s media history, but I can understand why she was disappointed on not getting to play Supergirl on the big screen. After all, like Milly Alcock, she only has one live-action movie credit on her resume, the 2017 independent film The Broken Ones. Playing Supergirl in the DC Universe, which kicks off later this year with the animated series Creature Commandos (which will be accessible with a Max subscription), would have introduced her to the moviegoing community in a big way… well, assuming they hadn’t already seen her in the aforementioned TV projects or American Housewife.
Even though things didn’t work out with Supergirl, Donnelly agreed with Michael Rosenbaum’s assessment that she can still look at that audition experience as an “accomplishment,”as it could open the door for other opportunities. In her words:
That is totally how I’ve been looking at it. Just growing up and being obsessed with superhero movies in general and being able to actually screen test and be in that world just a bit. Everyone there who’s a part of [James Gunn’s] team… they’re really the nicest people. I was so nervous, I was literally shitting my pants [laughs], and they were so nice and made me feel so comfortable. I just will never forget that. That was cool, and also gives hope of, ‘Wow, there’s really dope people and really cool people in this industry that have each other’s backs. That was also a great lesson to learn too.
Given all the movies that are lined up for the DC Universe so far, plus upcoming DC TV shows like Lanterns, Paradise Lost and Booster Gold, surely James Gunn and fellow DC Studios head Peter Safran can find some other characters for Meg Donnelly to play. She came so close to being cast as Supergirl that I find it hard to believe that those two and any others involved with casting would simply forget about her. Donnelly also clearly thinks highly of the people she interacted with while she was testing for Supergirl, so I hope things align in the coming years for her to get another shot at appearing in the DC Universe.
For now, this franchise will get underway when Creature Commandos premieres December 5 on Max, with Superman following on July 11, 2025. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow will then hit theaters on June 26, 2026, and Matthias Schoenaerts is reportedly playing the main villain.
