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Upcoming DCU film Supergirl is introducing the world's non-comic-reading, wide-moviegoing audience to a little character called Lobo this summer, and when we found that out, we were as excited as we were just a tad confused. See, the Craig Gillespie film is based on the Tom King-written, Bilquis Evely-drawn Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic, in which DC Comics' bounty-hunting Main Man (played in the film by Jason Momoa) does not appear. What you might be even more surprised to learn, though, is that the movie is staying true to that comic's earliest iteration.

Because as Tom King tells it, the book was originally a Supergirl x Lobo team up.

Eisner Award-winner and DCU contributor King appeared on the Word Balloon podcast with host John Siuntres in mid-2023, about a year after the Woman of Tomorrow miniseries wrapped. Getting into the space opera's origins, King revealed that the choice to focus on Supergirl in the lead role came after he had already started developing the project.

"That book began as me pitching a Lobo/Supergirl book," said the Mister Miracle writer, "And it was my editors, Brittany Holzer and Jamie Rich, who were like, 'No, take Lobo out and make Supergirl the Rooster Cogburn character.'"

In case you don't know, King is talking about Rooster Cogburn of True Grit fame, originally played by John Wayne and then in 2010 a remake by Jeff Bridges. Like Supergirl in Woman of Tomorrow, Cogburn is a world-weary hero approached by a young girl to assist in a quest for revenge. And just to clarify - King thinks that the editorial decision to make Kara Zor-El such a character while removing Lobo was the right call. And it wasn't the last one they'd make.

"[The comic] wouldn't exist without without Jamie and Brittany," he continued, "The best issue - issue six - I turned that issue in and it was crap. They told me to rewrite it, which is a hard thing to tell a writer who's a stubborn and arrogant as I am. I threw out an entire issue; I was grumbling and cussing as I rewrote it. Now issue six is the heart of the whole thing."

Four years later, we're curious to see how Lobo does end up fitting into the storyline, and luckily, we won't have to wait long. Supergirl flies into theaters June 26, and to make sure you're prepared to see it, you can pick up Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow wherever you get comics. 

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