Launching a superhero universe means being ready for even the most specific fan questions.
James Gunn was reminded of that this week after being asked about one tiny detail involving Supergirl: her earlobes.
The question was put to Gunn on Threads, before the exchange spread widely on X, where fans wondered how Kara Zor-El could have pierced ears if her skin is supposed to be bulletproof.
Gunn did not leave the query unanswered, instead offering a blunt explanation that also fits neatly into the wider DCU mythology.
“As explained in Superman, the same way she gets drunk,” he wrote.
“She goes to a planet with a red sun. Not to mention she was raised on a chunk of Krypton so didn’t even experience super powers until her teens.”
James Gunn responds to random user complaining about Supergirl's ears being pierced pic.twitter.com/7SzbuowbmT
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It is a response that makes more sense than it might first appear.
In DC lore, Kryptonians such as Superman and Supergirl gain their familiar powers under a yellow sun, while exposure to a red sun can leave them much closer to ordinary mortal beings. That means something like an ear piercing would not require a magic needle or some elaborate sci-fi workaround if Kara was on the right planet at the right time.
In Superman, it was established that Kara “likes to go and party on other planets, planets with red suns, because of our metabolism, we can’t get drunk on a planet with a yellow sun.”
That small detail has now become useful for more than just explaining how Supergirl lets loose, as it also accounts for how she could have had her ears pierced.
It also lines up with the character’s origin in Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, where Kara is not simply a Kryptonian who grew up on Earth in the same way Clark Kent did.
Gunn has previously made it clear that this take on Kara Zor-El is not simply a lighter mirror of Superman.
Milly Alcock, who many viewers will recognise from House of the Dragon, plays the character in the upcoming DCU film Supergirl.
In this version of the story, Kara spent the first 14 years of her life on a fragment of Krypton drifting through space, living without powers while surrounded by death and destruction.
Her abilities only manifested later, after she left that environment, which means there was a period of her life when something as ordinary as an ear piercing would not have been an issue.
“She’s a total mess,” Gunn has said of the character when speaking to Screenrant. “A much more difficult background than Superman.
“He’s had this wonderful upbringing by two parents that loved him and were very healthy. Her background was much different.”
The explanation arrives as anticipation builds for Supergirl, which is due to arrive in cinemas and IMAX across North America on June 26, 2026, with international rollout beginning on June 24.
The film was originally developed under the title Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and still takes inspiration from Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s 2021-2022 comic series of the same name. Gunn has since shortened the movie’s title to Supergirl.
The official synopsis teases an “epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice”, with Kara reluctantly joining forces with an unlikely companion after a ruthless adversary strikes too close to home.
That companion is Ruthye Marye Knoll, played by Eve Ridley, whose story is central to the original comic. In the source material, Ruthye’s father is killed by Krem of the Yellow Hills, sending her on a revenge mission that collides with Kara’s own trauma and complicated sense of justice.
The movie is directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for I, Tonya and Cruella, from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira. Gunn and Safran are producing for DC Studios.
Alcock leads the cast, with Jason Momoa appearing as the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, Matthias Schoenaerts playing Krem of the Yellow Hills, and David Corenswet returning as Superman. However, it is not yet known how significant Corenswet’s role will be.
Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham are also part of the ensemble, with Krumholtz and Beecham playing Kara’s parents, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze.
Recent trailers have leaned heavily into the film’s cosmic scale, showing Kara’s bond with Krypto, flashes of Argo City, and a tone that looks more bruised and rebellious than Clark Kent’s first DCU outing.
As far as Gunn is concerned, the mystery of Supergirl’s pierced ears now has an answer. Whether that stops fans from asking even more oddly specific questions is another matter.