James Gunn shuts down fans asking how Supergirl has ears pierced if she's bulletproof with perfect response

When you're building a superhero cinematic universe, apparently no question is too niche for the fans.

This week, James Gunn found himself fielding an inquiry about Supergirl's earlobes.

A user on X posed the question that had apparently been nagging at them: if Supergirl's skin is bulletproof, how exactly does she have pierced ears?

Rather than ignoring it, Gunn fired back with a characteristically direct response that doubled as a piece of world-building.

"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."

It is, in fairness, a pretty airtight answer.

For those who missed the detail in Superman, the film 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."

It was a throwaway line that has now done double duty, explaining both Supergirl's social life and, apparently, her approach to accessorising.

Gunn has been open about the fact that this version of Kara Zor-El is a more complicated figure than previous iterations.

Played by Milly Alcock, best known for House of the Dragon, the character spent the first fourteen years of her life on a drifting chunk of Krypton, with no superpowers and surrounded by people dying around her.

She only developed her abilities after leaving, meaning there was a window, however brief, where getting your ears pierced would have been entirely straightforward.

"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."

When is Supergirl released?

The exchange came ahead of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow's release on June 26, 2026, which is shaping up to be one of the more distinctive entries in the new DCU.

Based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely's acclaimed 2021-2022 comic run, the film is described as a "space fantasy" with a markedly different tone to Superman.

Alongside Alcock, the film stars Jason Momoa as interstellar mercenary Lobo, Matthias Schoenaerts as villain Krem of the Yellow Hills, and David Corenswet reprising his role as Superman, though the extent of his involvement remains unclear. Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham also feature.

As for the pierced ears debate, Gunn appears to consider the matter closed. Whether fans will feel the same way is, of course, another question entirely.